What will A-level, GCSE and Vocational Qualifcations look like in 2023

Ofqual has today announced their plans for the 2023 exam season. This will impact all Year 11's and all students sitting A-level, GCSE and Vocational Qualifcaiton exams this summer.

The main points are:

•

Grading will return to pre-pandemic levels for 2023 - with the examiners who set grade boundaries allowing students to experience some leeway if exam performance is ' a little lower ' than before the pandemic. Broadly speaking a student who would have achieved an A grade in their A-level exam in 2019 will be just as likely to get an A grade this summer. This decision does however mean that the results in 2023 will be lower than in 2022.

•

Students will not be provided with advance information on the focus of exams this summer.

•

GCSE Mathematics, Physics and Combined Science students will still be provided formulae and equation sheets.

•

A return to pre-pandemic arrangements for all non-exam assessment, fieldwork and practical sciences.

•

VTQ's ( Such as BTEC's ) will also return to pre-pandemic levels.

You can read the full letter here.

How are Year 11 and 13 students feeling about this news? Do you feel this is fair? Do you have any questions about what your exam season will look like?

Reply 1

RushingRiver

16

Original post by Evil Homer

Ofqual has today announced their plans for the 2023 exam season. This will impact all Year 11's and all students sitting A-level, GCSE and Vocational Qualifcaiton exams this summer.

The main points are:

•

Grading will return to pre-pandemic levels for 2023 - with the examiners who set grade boundaries allowing students to experience some leeway if exam performance is ' a little lower ' than before the pandemic. Broadly speaking a student who would have achieved an A grade in their A-level exam in 2019 will be just as likely to get an A grade this summer. This decision does however mean that the results in 2023 will be lower than in 2022.

•

Students will not be provided with advance information on the focus of exams this summer.

•

GCSE Mathematics, Physics and Combined Science students will still be provided formulae and equation sheets.

•

A return to pre-pandemic arrangements for all non-exam assessment, fieldwork and practical sciences.

•

VTQ's ( Such as BTEC's ) will also return to pre-pandemic levels.

You can read the full letter here.

How are Year 11 and 13 students feeling about this news? Do you feel this is fair? Do you have any questions about what your exam season will look like?

Wait… do we get all the equations?! Or are there some we still have to memorise?

Reply 2

salosalo

15

Original post by RushingRiver

Wait… do we get all the equations?! Or are there some we still have to memorise?

This! I mean we always get a sheet for physics with some of the long equations on it so its usefulness could vary...
I like the maths equation sheet inclusion though!
Plus the external examiners are back, which won't be as supportive to see in an audience as your regular teacher :frown:

Aw..

Reply 3

cherryblossomed

16

This is so unfair. Most of us don’t even have experience sitting exams, and now they’re making it harder for us to do well.

The current year 11s were disrupted during Years 8 and 9 due to school closures. Granted they weren't studying GCSE material at that time, but getting back into the swing of normal learning may have had a knock-on effect.

Current Year 13s were disrupted during Years 10 and 11. They've therefore never done any formal examinations properly, so they're going into their A Levels as a new experience, without having first experienced GCSEs in exam conditions.

My gut feeling is that it's probably about 12 months too soon to go back to pre-pandemic grading, on that note, but it is what it is I suppose.

Reply 5

thrivingfrog

Chat Forum Helper, Study Forum Helper

21

If you're upset about not getting advanced info, don't be. It was useless in most cases (and completely wrong in some)

Reply 6

IbbyIbs

8

Original post by cherryblossomed

This is so unfair. Most of us don’t even have experience sitting exams, and now they’re making it harder for us to do well.

I agree with this, most yr 13s didn't even do gcse exams

Reply 7

cheeky0806

This was my major worry! As a parent of a child in Year 11… I was always concerned that the students sitting their exams in 2023 will be the ‘forgotten year’! “Covid, what’s Covid’ mentality… these students have had missed education on the lead up to the vital years and are going to have to sit exams as if nothing has happened. Poor show… 12 months too soon in my opinion.

Reply 8

AliceCartlidge

1

i fully agree with you, however, some schools (e.g. my school) start GCSE material in year 9, and so we learnt a whole section of it online, and in every test on it since we havent been able to get the grades we wpuld have if it wasn't for this situation. that's why I think we should be allowed advanced information

Original post by thrivingfrog

If you're upset about not getting advanced info, don't be. It was useless in most cases (and completely wrong in some)

Yeah AQA pulled some shenanigans like they like to do in my opinion.

I think that exams should go back to normal but things like giving equations sheets should be a permanent thing. Students shouldn't be expected to memorise science equations in my opinion, what should matter should solely be the application of the equations and knowing when to use each equation along with knowing the unis and symbols of each thing not the act of being able to memorise them. Strongly believe that all A-level and GCSE students should be provided with the equations in their exams (they shouldn't be told what the symbols mean or when to use the equation, just simply a printed handout of all/most of the equations like you get for A-level physics and mathematics).

Also think that students should be allowed to have the anthology along with the novel/play in all English literature exams in general like you could in the old syllabus.

Original post by Talkative Toad

I think that exams should go back to normal but things like giving equations sheets should be a permanent thing. Students shouldn't be expected to memorise science equations in my opinion, what should matter should solely be the application of the equations and knowing when to use each equation along with knowing the unis and symbols of each thing not the act of being able to memorise them. Strongly believe that all A-level and GCSE students should be provided with the equations in their exams (they shouldn't be told what the symbols mean or when to use the equation, just simply a printed handout of all/most of the equations like you get for A-level physics and mathematics).

Also think that students should be allowed to have the anthology along with the novel/play in all English literature exams in general like you could in the old syllabus.

So I really hope that the act of giving GCSE students the equations becomes a permanent thing and not a temporary one. Sucked being in 2019 and prior trying do a GCSE question but realising you can't do it all because you don't know the equation/didn't rearrange it the right way round and not because you didn't know the methodology to tackle the question i.e you would have easily been able to attempt the question in full if you had not forgotten the equation.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 12

018muhaema

3

So does this mean that the grade boundaries, this year (2023) will be lower or higher? And so are the exams going to be harder?

Original post by 018muhaema

So does this mean that the grade boundaries, this year (2023) will be lower or higher? And so are the exams going to be harder?

The grade boundaries will be roughly back to how they were pre-Covid.

Reply 14

018muhaema

3

and so were they high? Im sorry but I'm really worried. Ive heard that the exams are going to be hard this year

Original post by 018muhaema

and so were they high? Im sorry but I'm really worried. Ive heard that the exams are going to be hard this year

They were higher than they were during the pandemic, yes.
However everybody who took the exams before Covid coped with them.

Reply 16

018muhaema

3

thankyou really helpful

Original post by 018muhaema

and so were they high? Im sorry but I'm really worried. Ive heard that the exams are going to be hard this year

Could be chatting codswallop but I think that for my 2019 GCSE exams, the grade boundaries were high (high in general I think and definitely higher than the 2020-2022 ones), can't speak for the 2018 GCSE exams or 2017 ones.

Original post by Talkative Toad

Could be chatting codswallop but I think that for my 2019 GCSE exams, the grade boundaries were high (high in general I think and definitely higher than the 2020-2022 ones), can't speak for the 2018 GCSE exams or 2017 ones.

AQA grade boundaries:

Maths Higher
2017: Grade 4 = 46, Grade 6 = 98, Grade 9 = 198
2018: Grade 4 = 47, Grade 6 = 107, Grade 9 = 201
2019: Grade 4 = 43, Grade 6 = 105, Grade 9 = 206

English
2017: Grade 4 = 72, Grade 6 = 93, Grade 9 = 123
2018: Grade 4 = 76, Grade 6 = 97, Grade 9 = 128
2019: Grade 4 = 76, Grade 6 = 97, Grade 9 = 127

Not that dissimilar really. Obviously much higher than 2020-2022 but otherwise I wouldn't say there's much difference there.

Original post by PinkMobilePhone

AQA grade boundaries:

Maths Higher
2017: Grade 4 = 46, Grade 6 = 98, Grade 9 = 198
2018: Grade 4 = 47, Grade 6 = 107, Grade 9 = 201
2019: Grade 4 = 43, Grade 6 = 105, Grade 9 = 206

English
2017: Grade 4 = 72, Grade 6 = 93, Grade 9 = 123
2018: Grade 4 = 76, Grade 6 = 97, Grade 9 = 128
2019: Grade 4 = 76, Grade 6 = 97, Grade 9 = 127

Not that dissimilar really. Obviously much higher than 2020-2022 but otherwise I wouldn't say there's much difference there.

fair

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What will A-level, GCSE and Vocational Qualifcations look like in 2023

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