‘It’s like they WANT me to fail’: Tension rises for GCSE students as exam boards release ‘cryptic’ grade boundaries ahead of results today
- Pupils are sharing their collective anxiety on social media and posting memes
- Half a million 16-year-olds will today find out their GCSE results later today
- Content is more challenging, with less coursework, and a new grading system
Pupils are sharing their collective anxiety on social media and posting comedy memes as they await what could be the toughest GCSE results day to date.
Half a million 16-year-olds will find out at around 10am today how they got on after becoming the first year-group whose exams were almost all in the tougher new format.
The content has been made more challenging, with less coursework, and exams at the end of the two-year courses, rather than throughout.
The new 9-1 grading system replaces A* to E and allows greater differentiation between grades. It means it is harder to score a clean sweep of the highest possible grades.
But one student posted on Twitter: ‘What the f*** is up with these grade boundaries, its like they don#t want me to pass.’
Another tweeted an image of a confused man and a mathematical equation and wrote: ‘Why tf is the English lit boundaries so bloody high??’
Head teachers have warned parents not to make their children feel like ‘failures’ if they miss out on all grade 9s – with less than 0.2 per cent expected to achieve this.
And teaching unions said low-ability pupils were so ‘demoralised’ by the new exams this year that some refused to sit them.
Here we look at just some of the memes and images flooding the internet just hours before the results are announced:
GCSE pupils in England await exams results after ‘tougher’ new 1-9 grading system was rolled out to subjects this year spelling end of A*- G
by Amie Gordon
Tough new GCSEs are ‘demoralising’ for lower-achieving students, headteachers have warned ahead of results day tomorrow.
Teenagers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are preparing to pick up their GCSE results on Thursday.
Under the biggest shake-up of exams in England for a generation, GCSEs have been toughened up, with less coursework, and exams at the end of the two-year courses, rather than throughout.
In England, traditional A*-G grades have been scrapped and replaced with a 9-1 system, with 9 the highest result.
A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 broadly equivalent to an A.
Students sitting their GCSE mock exams in Brighton, East Sussex
GCSE RELIGIOUS STUDIES INCREASING IN POPULARITY
The number of entries for GCSE religious studies has soared in the last decade, driven by young people’s increasing interest in ‘exploring world views’, it has been suggested.
Last year, there were more than a quarter of a million entries for the subject, up around 42% on 10 years ago, according to analysis of exam figures.
The analysis of annual UK figures shows how the most popular GCSE subjects have changed between 2008 and 2018.
History and geography have both grown in popularity – this is in part likely to be driven by the English Baccalaureate, a government benchmark which recognises youngsters who take one of these two subjects along with English, maths, science and a language.
French and design and technology have both fallen in popularity, but Spanish and art and design subjects have now entered the top 10.
Drama has fallen out of the 10 most popular subjects.
This analysis excludes maths, English and science, which are taken in some form by all pupils.
Religious studies has moved from fifth most popular 10 years ago, with 179,139 entries, to third last year, with 253,618 entries.
The most popular subject in 2008 was design and technology, with 332,787 entries.
By last year, it had dropped to fifth with 127,232 entries – a fall of 62%.
At the same time, art and design subjects entered the top 10 last year in fourth place, with 178,891 entries.
Drama was seventh most popular 10 years ago, but has now dropped out of the top 10.
Figures published by exams regulator Ofqual in May suggest an increase in entries for arts and design subjects this summer compared with last year.
History and geography have risen from second and third most popular in 2008 to first and second respectively last year.
And while French was the fourth most popular option in 2008, with 201,940 entries, it has fallen to sixth, with entries down 37% to 126,750.
But Spanish is rising in popularity, and was the eighth most popular subject last year, with 95,080 entries.
Ofqual’s figures indicate there has been a 4% increase in modern foreign language entries this summer.
Eight in 10 school leaders believe the reformed courses are having a detrimental effect on struggling students.
And a similar proportion are concerned that they are causing higher levels of student stress.
Ahead of results day, the Association of School and College Leaders said it is concerned that the overhaul has ‘sacrificed the interests’ of the most vulnerable students for the ‘supposed benefits of raising the bar for the most able’.
A survey of more than 500 ASCL members in England, found that virtually all (98%) think the new GCSEs are more difficult than the old courses.
The most commonly given reason for the increased difficulty was that the GCSEs now contain more content, followed by students having to remember more, and harder exam questions.
The majority of those questioned – 80% – believe that students with lower prior attainment are detrimentally affected by the new courses, while 79% said the GCSEs are causing higher levels of student stress.
One assistant headteacher told the union: ‘These have been designed without a thought for low prior attaining or SEN students.
‘I cannot think of anything more dispiriting than going through school thinking every day ‘I cannot do this’ – but that is the reality for many students.’
Another school leader said: ‘A large proportion of students are being failed by the new GCSEs.
‘Not everyone is suited to them and, while they may be a good pathway for those students going on to A-level or degree level, they are simply not fit for purpose for students who may thrive with a more vocational route.
‘These students are made to feel they are constantly failing no matter how hard they work because they struggle to retain the list of endless facts they need for their exams.’
The poll found that the most commonly cited benefit of the new GCSEs was that they better prepare students for their future education and careers, followed by a greater level of challenge being more fulfilling for students.
ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton said: ‘The findings of this survey reflect widespread concern that reformed GCSEs have sacrificed the interests of the most vulnerable students for the supposed benefits of raising the bar for the most able students.
‘The Government has seen increased rigour as an end in itself without fully considering what it wants the exam system to achieve for all students of all abilities.
Eight in 10 school leaders believe the reformed courses are having a detrimental effect on struggling students. Pictured, teenagers taking mock GCSE exams (file photo)
Differences between England, Wales and Northern Ireland
GCSEs across the three countries are of the same size and rigour. However, there are some key differences.
In Wales:
- Grading scales remain A* to G.
- Some GCSEs will be linear with all exams taken at the end of the course; some will be modular.
- Students must retake all of their exams when retaking a linear GCSE; non-exam assessment marks can be reused.
- Students can only retake each unit once in modular GCSEs.
In England:
- Grading scale is 9 to 1 (9 being highest grade).
- All exams taken at the end of the course (linear qualifications).
- Students must retake all their exams when retaking the qualification; non-exam assessment marks can be reused.
In Northern Ireland:
- In general students may take GCSEs graded A* to G (including a new grade C*) and those graded 9 to 1
‘As a result, we now have a set of GCSEs which are extremely hard to access for students with lower prior attainment. This is incredibly stressful and demoralising for these young people.’
A separate survey, by the National Education Union (NEU) of its members, has found that 73% think that the assessment method of the new GCSEs has made student mental health worse.
In addition, 54% of the 650 teachers polled said reformed GCSEs reflect students’ abilities less accurately than the old courses, while 19% said they better reflect abilities.
Nansi Ellis, NEU assistant general secretary, said: ‘It is incredible that Government has managed to create a new GCSE system that the majority of teachers (54%) do not believe gives a true reflection of student ability.
‘Assessment in the majority of subjects by end-of-year exams only, and excessive content crammed into too short a time, is resulting in an exam system that is largely about regurgitating facts with very little time for thinking or deeper learning.
‘Not only does this fail to reflect students’ ability but is leading to many feeling disillusioned, disengaged and stressed.’
– The ASCL survey questioned 554 ASCL members in England in July. The NEU survey, which took place between July 26 and August 2, questioned 650 NEU members teaching GCSE classes.
Changes felt in schools across the country as GCSEs undergo drastic reform
GCSEs in England have undergone sweeping changes as part of education reforms that began under the coalition government.
These changes are now being felt in schools and colleges across the country, with one of the biggest being a new grading system.
As teenagers prepare to receive their results, we explain the key change and what it means for students.
So, what is the new grading system?
– Traditional A* to G grades have been replaced with a 9 to 1 system, with 9 the highest mark.
– English and maths GCSEs – core subjects taken by all teenagers – were the first to move to the new system, with numerical grades awarded for these courses for the first time in 2017.
– Last summer, another 20 subjects had new grades awarded for the first time, including core academic courses such as the sciences, history, geography and modern foreign languages.
– This summer, new grades will be awarded for the first time in a further 25 subjects including business, design and technology, and many languages such as Chinese and Italian.
– This change is only happening in England.
Why was the grading system changed?
– The move is part of a wider reform of exams which has seen a complete overhaul of the content and structure of GCSEs.
– Schools and colleges have been teaching these new GCSEs for the last three to four years, and it is only now that grades are starting to be awarded.
– The new courses feature much less coursework than the old GCSE qualifications, and modular courses, which saw pupils sit papers throughout their studies, have been scrapped in favour of ‘linear’ GCSEs in which pupils take all of their exams at the end of the two-year course.
– The new grading system is meant to clearly distinguish new courses from the old qualifications.
What does this mean for students?
– In general, a grade 7-9 is roughly equivalent to A-A* under the old system, while a grade 4 and above is roughly equivalent to a C and above.
– Fewer students will receive a grade 9 than would have received an A* under the old grading system. This is because part of the reason for introducing a new grading system was to allow more differentiation among the brightest students.
– Last year, 732 16-year-olds in England taking at least seven new GCSEs scored a clean sweep of grade 9s in all subjects.
– This year, most teenagers are likely to get numerical grades for all of their subjects, as almost all subjects have now moved over to the new grading system.
Isn’t this all confusing?
– There have been concerns raised in the past that the system may be confusing, for example to parents, or businesses presented with potential job candidates with different types of grades.
– Different bodies, including England’s exams regulator Ofqual, have been publishing materials about the change and working to publicise the reforms.
How have we got to this stage?
– Education reforms in England began in 2011, led by then-education secretary Michael Gove. A review of the national curriculum was announced first, with the overhaul of GCSEs starting in 2013.
– In 2014, Mr Gove said the new tougher GCSE courses ‘set higher expectations’, adding ‘they demand more from all students and specifically provide a further challenge to those aiming to achieve top grades’.
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