The Student Room Group

45% of GCSE Students taking new exams will have the wrong grades

I find this fact absolutely appalling that after introducing a new grade boundary system they cannot even get the correct grades right. I would love to hear others people opinion on this

Evidence: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/08/20/thousands-students-set-receive-wrong-gcse-mark-new-system-experts/#
(edited 6 years ago)

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English is a subjective subject. Not excusing these exam boards, but it is nevertheless difficult to reach the 'right' mark as you put it.
Top bants.
Original post by ROG375
correct grades write


You wouldn't get away with that if AQA had it their way.
What I find pretty baffling is how someone could have thought that 9 should have been the top grade rather than 1. Oh yeah, he's Number 9 in his subject, said no one.
Honestly, i've lost faith in this system
Reply 6
Typical, I'm not at all surprised by it because the new system was rushed to be implemented.
It's scary but at the end of the day, if one year has to have slightly wrong/bad grades and every other year has better ones which show the new system in a good light then the government will accept that and not ask questions.
Original post by auburnstar
What I find pretty baffling is how someone could have thought that 9 should have been the top grade rather than 1. Oh yeah, he's Number 9 in his subject, said no one.


It's so they can add grades on top in the future to handle grade inflation, e.g. a 10, rather than a 9* or something and then 9**.
Original post by ♥Samantha♥
It's so they can add grades on top in the future to handle grade inflation, e.g. a 10, rather than a 9* or something and then 9**.


Oh right, fair enough, although we might end up with a system where 11 is the top grade haha. (even then, I've never heard someone say "oh he's number 10/11" xD).
Well for one, 'unreliable grade' doesn't mean 'wrong' grade. What they are saying is the proportion of English papers (an already very unreliable subject) which receive a 'definitive grade,' i.e. one with a statistically insignificant probability of being wrong, will fall from 70% to 55%. Whilst this is undesirable, it is an unavoidable side-effect of introducing a new system and of changing/narrowing grade boundaries. Over time the numbers of unreliable grades will subside. But I agree with what Mr Coe says, that grades should be given as percentages (so basically just UMS) like they do in several other countries. Then you could also get an GPA/average of all your GCSE grades which could be like your overall GCSE grade.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by auburnstar
Oh right, fair enough, although we might end up with a system where 11 is the top grade haha. (even then, I've never heard someone say "oh he's number 10/11" xD).


I guess this is one of the main reasons why the government introduced this new grade system.

So that they can add new grades ontop of the pre-existing ones.

If they didn't change the system then they would have to add stars onto the A*.These grades sound rather ridiculous.

So you might get A** or A****.
Original post by auburnstar
Oh right, fair enough, although we might end up with a system where 11 is the top grade haha. (even then, I've never heard someone say "oh he's number 10/11" xD).


But they're not numbers, they're grades. No one calls people letters either. I don't see what's the issue with someone saying they got a 7 or a 9 etc. Numbers as grades are pretty common across the world.
It's a structural issue which favours those candidates at the upper end of the scheme.
Reply 13
Original post by ROG375
I find this fact absolutely appalling that after introducing a new grade boundary system they cannot even get the correct grades write.

That's not what the article says. It says that with more grades there is a higher probability that a student will be the wrong side of a grade boundary. It doesn't mean that marking mistakes will be any worse than they used to be.

Also it's ironic that an article talking about GCSE English makes spelling/content mistakes :smile:
Reply 14
Original post by ♥Samantha♥
But I agree with what Mr Coe says, that grades should be given as percentages (so basically just UMS) like they do in several other countries. Then you could also get an GPA/average of all your GCSE grades which could be like your overall GCSE grade.

Even if they could make a uniform percentage scheme across all exams and exam boards, colleges/universities would still set entry requirements based on a percentage range e.g. 80%+. Is that any different to a having grades? There would still be students who achieved 79% incorrectly so don't get into a college that requires 80%.

as they call for a system where students are awarded percentages rather than grades


It's at this point when you realise that the credibility of the article is non-existent. It only serves to scare uninformed readers in the interest of ad revenue, which seems to be characteristic of the media throughout this exam season.
Original post by Notnek
That's not what the article says. It says that with more grades there is a higher probability that a student will be the wrong side of a grade boundary. It doesn't mean that marking mistakes will be any worse than they used to be.

Also it's ironic that an article talking about GCSE English makes spelling/content mistakes :smile:


Looks like the first draft was rushed out without any proofreading, some of the errors are horrific, unless the article was intended to read like shorthand.
Original post by Notnek
Even if they could make a uniform percentage scheme across all exams and exam boards, colleges/universities would still set entry requirements based on a percentage range e.g. 80%+. Is that any different to a having grades? There would still be students who achieved 79% incorrectly so don't get into a college that requires 80%.


That's one situation, but it would help in other situations. Let's say a university course has a bit of maths content, so they prefer applicants to have an A at GCSE, so having a B counts against you. So now, the same university/course prefers applicants to have 80, but seeing you have 79, they give you an offer anyway. This would be a lot less likely if you just had a B. With current grades universities cannot differentiate between people at the top of the grade range and the bottom, even though they are a whole grade apart. Having a uniform percentage scheme gives more detail, so can make decisions fairer.
(edited 6 years ago)
Not surprised at all really and tbh I don't understand grade inflation at all. So many students getting A* or 9's when "difficult" (subjective to some of course) subjects are coming down from A-level specs? Well, that clearly ****ing means the education system and teaching is getting better and not getting easier. Therefore, our students are getting more intelligent. Therefore more children may have successful future, better jobs, less benefits. However this means less tax which government don't want and so ****s the kids over with this rushed spec.

Its pathetic, its absolutely pathetic. So what if our learning standards aren't like China? Education is the only freedom/pressured into(please don't hurt me China if you read this) ,whereas we are much more free in our career choices in U.K.

If so many children are getting A* good for them. Maybe try give them A-levels a year earlier if they can handle it and make an indication for them to say on a CV "I did A-levels a year early". Its a ****ing disgrace. The graft is ridiculous. Uni prices are ridiculous. You have people in their 50's saying "children nowadays have no clue what a hard graft is" but the truth is they couldn't explain the immune system, or the use of anti-gens themselves. I understand that as technology grows, the more we need to learn but that should be an addition to a harder spec like A-level depending on the difficulty, not bringing difficult subjects down.

I am predicted all 8's and 2 9's, so you may argue i shouldn't be complaining. But **** off. I understand the stress it is for my fellow peers, how annoying and pathetic the new system is and how it will only worsen in years to come. The education system is pathetic and if something isn't done, it will only worsen.
Original post by ♥Samantha♥
Well for one, 'unreliable grade' doesn't mean 'wrong' grade. What they are saying is the proportion of papers which receive a 'definitive grade,' i.e. one with a statistically insignificant probability of being wrong, will fall from 70% to 55%. Whilst this is undesirable, it is an unavoidable side-effect of introducing a new system and of changing/narrowing grade boundaries. Over time the numbers of unreliable grades will subside. But I agree with what Mr Coe says, that grades should be given as percentages (so basically just UMS) like they do in several other countries. Then you could also get an GPA/average of all your GCSE grades which could be like your overall GCSE grade.


The problem with that is that weighting of some kind will need to be applied, to ensure fairness and parity between different subjects, different cohorts and different awarding bodies. After you've created such a weighting, perhaps a numerical scale between 0-100, the system would already be far more convoluted than the 9-1 system, and would cause significantly more uproar and confusion. I personally dislike GPA, as it, to me, implies that the average grade attained across a wide range of subjects, some, perhaps most, completely irrelevant to the chosen path of study, in any way adequately indicates the candidate's competence.

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