The Student Room Group

Does being 'Able, Gifted and Talented' actually make a difference?

Scroll to see replies

I've been in G+A since the beginning of year 7, im also in G+T for a few subjects, im not aware that it actually affects your chances about uni and 6th form, but being in yr 9 i dont really know. We get taken out of lessons, from the people that are just plain annoying, and put in a group of 17 of us, we basically just get to do things which are meant to stretch us, we dont do acedemic things, but they're more about being independent, thinking intelligently and being creative. It also makes us feel better about ourselves.
I also dont believe that im cocky or bitter or anything haha :smile:
Reply 21
I was luckily put into G&T in my school in year 12 (I am in year 13 now) and we were given extra help with russel group uni applications and we had regular lectures from professors and such from universities or random companies who came into the school and gave us info about their own life. I guess the G&T programmed helped me to gain some extra-curricular knowledge which is very useful. But then again, anyone can go out there and do so by themselves, without being part of G&T.
Reply 22
I was never on the Gifted and Talented register at my school until my final year, but even then I wasn't on the list properly, and I ranked 11th out of my year for my GCSE's. So no, it's just a title but anybody can achieve whatever they set out to, without teachers categorizing you depending upon it.
"able, gifted & talented" is such strong language and I doubt it's true of most of the kids it's applied to.
I appreciate that there genuinely are "gifted and talented" people,who are naturally better at x subjects, but what annoyed me to the nth degree, and still does, is that there was a girl who got a "g&t" in IT, despite often asking me for questions. I don't mean to boast, but for IT, I'd say Im pretty good. At the time, I was VERY annoyed that I didnt get one of those

Now I see it as "meh" I mean I work in a bluechip, and school still doesn't teach real world IT, so screw em :biggrin:
It's just something to make the clever students feel like they are worth something, while ****loads of resources are thrown at borderline C grade students.
Reply 26
So in general then, being AGAT isn't a positive experience for anyone else either? Interesting. Personally, I always thought the idea was good but it didn't really work in practise.

I was first labelled AGAT in y2 (which seems ridiculously early compared to everyone else on here... but then again, I had a really weird childhood) - that was for English. In y3 or 4 they updated that to include maths, and in y6 I became AGAT for science as well. When I went to secondary school, they agreed that I was still AGAT in all those subjects, and over the KS3 period added French, History, Geography and PS. Which I felt was ridiculous. It just isn't possible for one person to be exceptionally talented at all of those things - there were people in pretty much all of those classes who got better results without having to put nearly as much effort in. I had next to no social life, very few friends and an attitude that grades were the be all and end all (pushed by my parents, who have three AGAT children and so don't accept much less than perfection). So I wouldn't have called myself gifted at anything except working too hard.

The AGAT label allowed me to take three extra GCSEs, starting in y9, so I ended up with 13 instead of 10 - and it also meant I did a large number of (unnecessarily expensive) extracurricular courses. My school ran a debate club for all those who were AGAT in PS, but most people just turned up because they gave out free cake, so I didn't really enjoy the experience - I love debating, so I would have liked for others to have actually taken part in that side! Whoever mentioned that AGAT gets you bullied, I completely agree - years 8 and 9 were horrific for me in that respect, but I suppose I didn't really help myself there, what with my lack of social skills and hot temper. It was only once I reached GCSEs and encountered procrastination, therefore gained a sort of social life (key words sort of) that that mostly stopped. Or possibly it was just that everyone wanted to copy my homework, so decided they should try and be friends. I've never worked that out.

Now that I'm in Sixth Form the label makes no difference. No one is AGAT in Sixth Form, really - some people just have higher target grades and higher aspirations. Our Sixth Form promotes independance and doing things yourself, so extra things for intelligent pupils just aren't offered any more. Which is a way, is an improvement, but I think that a little bit of help is never a bad thing.

So that's my bizarre AGAT story. It's actually sparked a thought - do schools get extra funding for AGAT pupils? It might explain why I was labeled in so many subjects...
There are always only 5 at my school one of them was my friend so she told me who the rest were. 4 of them I could clearly see but honestly the 5th girl was a complete idiot.
Original post by LeFailFish
So that's my bizarre AGAT story. It's actually sparked a thought - do schools get extra funding for AGAT pupils? It might explain why I was labeled in so many subjects...


I'm fairly sure schools don't get extra funding for AGAT pupils, it would just encourage them to label everyone as AGAT.
Reply 29
I was in the 'Gifted and Talented' scheme. It makes absolutely no difference; it's hardly a sentence on your Ucas. All that matters are grades, extra curricular activity and interview skills :biggrin:
Reply 30
Original post by PythianLegume
I'm fairly sure schools don't get extra funding for AGAT pupils, it would just encourage them to label everyone as AGAT.


Hmm. Perhaps my school was just in competition with the school next door for who had the most AGAT pupils then. (Yes, there are two state schools next to each other where I got to school, and there is so much rivarly it's insane. We're currently just ahead academic performance wise but I believe we fell behind last year on Ofsted marks).
Original post by LeFailFish
Hmm. Perhaps my school was just in competition with the school next door for who had the most AGAT pupils then. (Yes, there are two state schools next to each other where I got to school, and there is so much rivarly it's insane. We're currently just ahead academic performance wise but I believe we fell behind last year on Ofsted marks).


Or perhaps they just felt it was the best way to identify and help their most able students? I mean, it's probably rubbish, but I hear some teachers actually do things to help students learn, not just to get promoted or make the school look good.
Reply 32
Original post by PythianLegume
Or perhaps they just felt it was the best way to identify and help their most able students? I mean, it's probably rubbish, but I hear some teachers actually do things to help students learn, not just to get promoted or make the school look good.


I know that some teachers actually want to help their students learn. The trait of selflessly wanting to help does still exist - the number of people possessing it has simply potentially diminished. (Not that I would really know, not being old enough to say how much it was present a few decades ago). :smile: I suppose it's possible, but the system needs to be drastically altered to be truly helpful. I don't know. I'm not an expert on these things. :biggrin:
Original post by LeFailFish
I know that some teachers actually want to help their students learn. The trait of selflessly wanting to help does still exist - the number of people possessing it has simply potentially diminished. (Not that I would really know, not being old enough to say how much it was present a few decades ago). :smile: I suppose it's possible, but the system needs to be drastically altered to be truly helpful. I don't know. I'm not an expert on these things. :biggrin:


I think you'll find that the majority of teacher still have this trait, and are often annoyed that bureaucracy gets in the way of teaching. It's the system more than the teachers that turns children into data.
Reply 34
Original post by PythianLegume
I think you'll find that the majority of teacher still have this trait, and are often annoyed that bureaucracy gets in the way of teaching. It's the system more than the teachers that turns children into data.


Ahh, that sounds likely to be true. My view is likely to be somewhat biased by the fact that my primary school headmistress was one of those who only saw children as data and a way to get her school numerous awards, rather than actually helping us learn. Several of the teachers left in the years after she arrived, the older ones especially, and she replaced them all with young, just qualified teachers who she could bend to her way of thinking. My youngest brother was homeschooled for the last year and a half of primary school because of her.
Yes I am one of these, but tbh all I did was the work set and actually read over it, i'm sure most people can fit this category if they try, loads of people just don't bother in state comprehensive high schools.
Ive never been bullied about being in AGAT but i guess im kind of a nerd anyway haha.
I dont even notice when people are mean to me tbqh. +ALL of my friends are in AGAT, so its kind of a win-win situation!
Reply 37
Of the 30-odd people labelled as G&T from my secondary, all are a sixth form and most will go to Russell Group unis, I think. But they weren't all straight A* people. The only benefit we got from it was the top half of the G&T people being offered AS Critical Thinking a year early.
Don't remember G&T making me work harder or feel special way back when I was in secondary school, I wasn't really too interested (as I would have thought most kids are) in showing off how smart I am back then though.
I've been labelled AG+T for ages but the school does nothing about it. I remember in year 8 getting a letter home listing all of the subjects I was AG+T in (even some that I was **** in, but I just got high marks bc my writing was good), they got us to go to a computer room and fill out an online survey about how challenged we felt and that was the last I heard of it.

I went on a two-day trip to Cambridge in Year 10, but I think that was selection based on grades and teacher bias (judging by some of the people that went) as opposed to anything to do with AG+T

Quick Reply

Latest