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Gove to stop pupils sitting same exam several times

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You'll note that you're not the sort of person that I was highlighting in my post. I was talking about people who abuse the retake system to simply get two bites at the cherry and grant themselves a year or so of time to waste (that's the school's and teachers' time). If you have decided that you want to continue with the subject that you repeatedly did badly in, then good on you. In my experience, you aren't in the majority though.

Ah sorry I must have misinterpreted your post!. I agree some people do take the piss and abuse the system. I definitely agree that I'm not the majority, but imposing such a system gove has does not help the minority at all and only caters to the majority (which makes sense politically but still I don't find it fair)

Reply 21

Ripper-Roo

Original post by ColdColourStitch

Resits should be limited to people who score at least two grades lower than their predicted/estimated grade (i.e. a D when expecting a B), with exceptions given under special circumstances.

You have got to be kidding me!!

The grade a computer inputs is not reflective of how well someone can do! :mad:

People may perform not as well as they should have during GCSE at aged 16, this affects their A-level target grades. In two years they would have matured and could aim for A*s and As. Resits can help them achieve this as first exams can be nerve-wrecking and not go as planned.

It's not up to the government to prevent people getting the grade they want.

Reply 22

smile:D

I think they should be allowed to resit, but only once, I think this would put an end to the whole 'resit culture' where people don't care about certain exams, as they know they can retake. Also I know most employers require a C in maths and english, but imo if it's taken you 5 attempts (for example) to get both, are you really the same calibre as candidate who achieved both in the same sitting?

Reply 23

Robbie242

Original post by Maid Marian

I think people should only be allowed to resit if they did really badly, say a D or lower.

It always annoyed me so much when people at school would resit modules again and again to bump their UMS up. I haven't resat a single exam in my life. :s-smilie:

I partially agree - I don't think D or lower is a good cap though, some universities require B or A* in some subjects - it varies from person to person for each course - so it is really hard to determine if an individual is worth being entered for a resit or not. - I certainly had to fight for my History resit in June this yr (everybody got Cs for the a-level exam)

Reply 24

MindTheGaps

Original post by Robbie242

I just don't understand this but fair enough, they did say my GCSEs (4Dist*(media) Merit(Ict) 2B 5C)) were great GCSE grades when I worked at the Bank of England (which surprised me honestly).

It just confuses me how such a qualification taken at 16 is more useful than a qualification that actually requires you to work hard and understand a lot of the subject matter is seen as more useful for employers. Hmm but if that's true then fair enough

I think it's largely because you take so many more subjects, it's supposed to be an indicator of overall intelligence more than success in a specific academic discipline.

gove is a pillock

Original post by Robbie242

No problem, I empathise with your desire to stick at something; if only more people at my school did that! Catering to the majority is unfortunately the best anyone can ever do. It will never be the case that everyone wants the same thing. In fact, I think that if you told Gove that he, as a Tory, was working for the majority, he'd be rather chuffed for once.

Reply 27

FlashForward

More specifically when applying for top law firms, some stipulate that the UCAS points must be gained in the first sitting. Thus limiting the positions to those who consistently achieve high grades.

At the higher levels this idea seems to work well and does not put those who retake on par with first timers. However those with genuine and sufficient extenuating circumstances are still encouraged to apply with lower grades (could be low first time but improved the second attempt to reach the required UCAS points total).

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Reply 28

littlemissmidget123

personally i think that students have too much of a retake culture.

as someone who did igcses (i.e. all exams, no cw at the end of the 2 years) i think that this is fine, and people just need to focus on this and not be thinking "oh well i can always take it again in january"

sitting an exam once, or perhaps twice at the most should be enough, especially when so many people resit to turn an A into an A*...

i might as well go and redo my gcses, im sure i can get all A* now...

Reply 29

cleveradam

1 resit should deffo be aloud because I myself messed up my first English exam and got D. Did it the 2nd time round and got an A. I was able to learn from my mistakes the first time round and did not panic. I think more than 2 resits should be removed.

Reply 30

Fuzzy12345

A part of me does agree with Gove's desire to change this re-sit culture. At the risk of coming across as bitter, I did IB but went to a school that did IB and A levels. There were so many people at my school who just dossed around for ASs/ January exams because they just thought "Oh I can resit later". For IB we have no Jan exams, no year 12 exams, we sit everything, 2 years worth of work packed into 3 weeks. I realise that I knew exactly what I was getting into with IB but it can get infuriating watching people doss around because they think they can just resit anytime they feel like, they don't feel any real sense of risk. Know what happens if you fail in IB? You have to take a year out and re-sit in November/ next May, you have to sacrifice a year out of your life if you fail.

I'm not saying abolish resits, I can sympathise with people who had extenuating circumstances/ can appreciate that everyone has bad days. But something needs to be done about people who just laze around all year and don't take exams seriously because they just feel like they can resit.

Reply 31

Tibbit

Original post by Robbie242

I agree - bumping up grade retakes at GCSE should be severely restricted

thats what u did tho, just that you got crap grades the first time

Reply 32

monkyvirus

I think resits for GCSE should only happen once a year (i.e. you repeat the whole year) this is the only way to be sure you have been taught properly and understand everything required. I also think only maths and english language should be considered for resits at GCSE in schools (outside of school it's your personal choice if you want to resit them) and then only if you've failed to get a C (as these two subjects are crucial if you want to succeed in life and work).

At A-level I think you should also have to redo the year and the whole exam (not just a module here or there) to resit. However I believe pupil resits are driven by university offers and not ( as in the case of GCSEs) by schools' selfish need to get a certain amount of passes. Resits at A-level would be reduced if students applied after receiving their grades, it was a huge shame to see this idea shelved recently seeing as it would have solved a lot of problems.

I also believe my schools system of end of year exams (which happen at a lot of private schools) prepared me for formal exams very effectively and I think state schools should do these as well. I took exams seriously but I wasn't worried about them and I think this gave me an advantage.

Reply 33

Robbie242

Original post by Tibbit

thats what u did tho, just that you got crap grades the first time

True but it was a bigger difference, I was aiming for the C requirement and pushed further for a B but yes your post makes logical sense

Reply 34

Hopple

Resits are only justifiable if they're shown to be resits. Someone who passes first time should definitely be seen above someone who took several attempts to do so.

We all know that unless exams are 10 hours long, they're a bit of a lottery with which questions come up. It's like the Olympics, you get one attempt to get the best start possible, run as fast as possible or pace yourself properly and so on. Why should some people get extra attempts then present their best one as if it were their only attempt?

Reply 35

TenOfThem

The GCSE exams are designed to be taken at the end of KS4

The courses are designed so that students take about 20 months learning the content, then revise for an exam, then sit an exam

The early entry+repeated retake approach means that students are not taught well as they content is squeezed and students take the exam before they are ready

Taking time out to revise and sit an exam is not helpful in the bigger picture

If a student is capable of achieving a C at the end of Y11 then they will get a C - sitting earlier will not have helped this and it may have prevented a B

Reply 36

figuresk8rstudent

I cannot believe this. I got a U 13 years ago. I had multiple teachers in Year 10/11. One supply teacher after another. One saying Intermediate Level for gcse entry, Advanced the next no wonder I failed!
I started from the bottom Key Skills then Gcse. I eventually got a Grade C. Without that I wouldn't be planning on going to Uni to better my life and to become a Teacher! An absolute shocker with Mr Gove - can't believe he's saying these things!

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Reply 37

und3niable_

Original post by lllwllms

I think if someone fails Maths then yes, they should be able to retake. I find it more annoying though when people resit A Level exams multiple times then come out with A* and As.

But their grades are less credible because it took them longer to actually pass! No top unis would take them

Reply 38

Robbie242

Original post by TenOfThem

Then foundation GCSEs should be abolished - They are a barrier to exceeding a C grade, if somebody spent 20months learning then they could probably get an A or B (or A*).

So if this approach is scrapped then so should foundation exams