Tensions mount every year as students in England and Wales eagerly await the results of their A level and GCSE exams.
The situation is still tense but for those students, it’s very different this year as the coronavirus pandemic ensured that no exams were actually sat in schools across the country and right here in Derby and Derbyshire.
Instead, centre-assessed grades (CAGs) have been produced based on teacher’s evaluations of how well their pupils were likely to do, based on information including coursework, classwork, mock exams and homework.
But how fair is the quickly devised system? Why are some calling the whole thing a “farce”? And what are the options for students who might be disappointed with the outcomes of their results?
Here, head teachers in Derby have joined together to address some of the questions parents and pupils may have about how their grades have been awarded in this unprecedented situation.
They hope to alleviate fears about the new system and reassure pupils that every teacher wants the best possible outcome for their students.
Neil Wilkinson, who is executive head teacher of Bemrose School, said: “Over the years there have been many changes to GCSEs and A levels, but none have been introduced quite as suddenly as this year, so it’s perfectly natural that there might be some confusion or misconceptions.
These students collected their A-Levels from Bemrose School in 2019 – but things will be very different in 2020.
“We want to reassure pupils and their families that this year’s exam results will be every bit as valid as previous years and that schools across the city have taken their responsibilities with professionalism and integrity.
“It’s important that people understand the rigorous system implemented by the Government to ensure that this year’s results provide a true reflection of the abilities of this year’s cohort and hopefully by answering these questions we will be able to reassure those people waiting for results.”
Here are some of the questions that were put to city head teachers:
Q : My son always does well in the end of year exams, but he can be a bit lazy at his school work. He has lost the chance to cram last minute – how have schools made allowance for this if at all?
A: Teachers across the city are professional in their morality and subject pedagogy. Centre assessed grades at the City of Derby Academy have been driven by staff who have looked a variety of pieces of evidence including assessments, classwork and homework.
When teachers provide predicted grades for school reporting they use the same evidence base and their experience and knowledge to plot the grade they believe an individual will achieve in their exams.
This will also include the appreciate and acknowledgement that students prepare well for the exams. Following that, the school has conducted a thorough moderation process to ensure that the CAG are fair and well balanced.
The moderation process also took into account the prior attainment of the children. This will play a key role in the final exam grades awarded by the boards.
– Phil Smith, head teacher of City of Derby Academy, Sinfin
Q: My daughter worked very closely on her English coursework with a group of girls in the same class. Does this mean they will all get the same grade?
A: No. The CAG takes into account a wide variety of data and holistic judgements. The coursework is not the only predictor of success as the teachers’ professional judgement and understanding of the assessments, the historical performance of the school and the individual subject also play a part.
– Scott Doyle, head teacher of Derby Moor Academy, Littleover.
Scott Doyle, head teacher at Derby Moor Academy
Q: If I don’t agree with the grade that my child has got, can I appeal? How do I go about this if I can?
A: This year at West Park, students won’t be coming into school to collect their results, they will be emailed out to them, but staff will be operating a clinic system for students who have concerns about their grades, or next steps, on the following Friday and Monday.
The advice is the same for every school in Derby – anyone with concerns should approach their school in the first instance. Appeals can be made – through their school – if they believe the process this summer was not followed correctly in their case and centres themselves can appeal if they believe something administrative has gone wrong in relation to their results. It is not possible to challenge a grade simply because you don’t agree with it. However, there is an opportunity to sit an exam in the autumn and the highest grade will count.
– Scott McGregor, head teacher of West Park School, Spondon
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Q: How do I know the process the teachers went through to come to the centre assessed grades? What did they do to get the final grade?
A: Schools have had to go through a detailed process to ensure the grades they submit are fair and can be justified.
At Bemrose School, the process to get to the centre assessed grades (CAG) was rigorous and involved class teachers, the department leader and the leadership team. This level of scrutiny took place over a number of weeks and ensured that grades were looked at both vertically (within a subject) and horizontally (across all subjects for an individual).
Mock exams, assessment, homework and class work data were all taken into consideration and each CAG was a holistic professional judgement, balancing these different sources of evidence and data. In a normal summer, exam boards have several layers of checking and quality assurance in place to make sure that students’ marks are totalled correctly and that the mark they get is the mark on the script that they completed.
This year, exam boards have put in similar checks to make sure that the information we provided matched a child’s records and met the requirements.
The challenge of awarding centre assessed grades meant a great deal of hard work, but, like all schools, we were committed to ensuring an ethical, professional and fair process was in place.
– Neil Wilkinson, executive head teacher of Bemrose School, Derby
Q: I thought results were likely to be better in Derby this year because of all the impact of the Opportunity Area money that has been spent in the city. Is that still going to be the case?
A: Derby city is improving and schools are disappointed that they haven’t had the chance to really prove their hard work is paying off with external results through exam boards. However, the decision was made at national level that historical results from the last three years will influence how a school’s grades are treated by the exam boards.
Gemma Penny, head at Allestree Woodlands School
“This means that many of the city’s schools, like Allestree Woodlands, who were expecting improved grades this summer, may not make the gains we were expecting. Our main concern, however, is to make sure that our students don’t miss out on opportunities so we will be here to provide support on results day and beyond.
– Gemma Penny, head teacher of Allestree Woodlands School
Q: My daughter never got on with her teacher and they are bound to have given her a rubbish grade. Is anyone checking to make sure she isn’t disadvantaged by her teacher?
A: Schools have had to put several layers of checking into place to ensure that the grades submitted are fair, are based on sound evidence and do not disadvantage students. Every school in the city has gone through multiple levels of scrutiny to ensure this does not happen.
In many schools the teacher grade was examined by subject or keystage leaders, then faculty leaders and school leadership teams.
At Allestree Woodlands, we made sure that grades were checked through at least three layers and adjustments were made where there was evidence to suggest a grade should be higher or lower. The challenge of awarding centre assessed grades meant a great deal of hard work but, like all schools, we were committed to putting an ethical and fair process in place.
Gemma Penny, head teacher of Allestree Woodlands School
Q: My son/daughter wants to re-sit, can they come back into school and study with their teacher?
A: The answer to this question very much depends on the school and the numbers of children wanting to do so. However, the vast majority will not be able to accommodate former pupils and will be required to support current pupils, including the new year seven students starting in September.
All schools are in different circumstances and will take a different approach, but at Murray Park, we will be providing online tuition for all the subjects where resits are being taken and our teachers will be available to support students.
Although this assistance will not be in the form of taught lessons in the classroom, pupils will still be able to use their resources from last year, including books and online tools, to prepare for the retakes. Schools will also be supporting year 11 students by providing a place for resits, for those children who decide to take them, in the autumn term.
– Nicola Caley, head teacher of Murray Park School, Mickleover
Q: Can my child come back in and do the whole of Year 11 again?
A: This is not recommended by the Government and it is unlikely that any school in the city will be able to offer this to students as the plan is for schools to be open to every year group as from September. However, all schools will offer full support to all year 11 leavers to help them transition to post-16 education, employment and/or training.
At Da Vinci Academy, if any students wish to resit their exams we may be able to provide revision guidance depending on numbers and requests.
– Katie Roberts, head teacher of Da Vinci Academy, Breadsall Hilltop
Q: What are the arrangements for retakes?
A: The autumn series of exams begins on October 5 for A levels and November 2 for GCSEs. These exams will be available to any student wishing to improve their result or results by taking an exam.
These exams will be of the same number in each subject and in the same format as the summer 2020 exams would have been if they’d gone ahead and will be held in the year 11 student’s original place of study.
If students take an autumn exam, they can ask for a new certificate replacing the one for the summer results, if their autumn grade is higher. Some schools usually enter large numbers of students for GCSE English language and maths resits in the autumn and further exams in these subjects will also be held in January 2021.
– Jon Wilding, acting head teacher of Littleover Community School
Q: My child is in year 10 and has missed virtually half of his GCSE course. Will this be taken into account next year when he sits his exams?
A: All schools are putting mechanisms and systems in place to help current year 10 students to catch up with missed work. At West Park, we have extended the school day until 4pm from September so that we can provide these students with an additional lesson every day.
Additionally, exam boards are looking into different ways to ensure that the students are not penalised for missing out on certain topics or faced with examination questions on subjects they have not been taught. This provides a challenge in certain subjects, for example history, where topics are not covered in the same order by every school.
We anticipate that exam boards may take a similar approach to that which is currently implemented in English, where students study different texts and then answer the relevant question from a number of options.
Despite the catch-up measures being put in place, students might not have covered some elements of their course to the depth usually expected by the time they take their exams next summer and it is possible the pandemic will cause some further disruption to education in the next academic year.
It is important to recognise that all this means is that nationally the GCSE pass rate could be slightly lower – pupils will only be competing with themselves. Since all students have faced the same level of disruption, ultimately this should not have a huge impact on the results achieved by next year’s cohort.
– Scott McGregor, head teacher of West Park School, Spondon
Q: Will A level students get the predicted grades that were used for university applications?
A: Not necessarily. The centre assessed grades for A levels have been through the same process of moderation as GCSEs using a range of different measures to decide on the final result. This means that teachers will have issued a CAG that reflects a student’s performance and likely final grade but both the historical school performance and national picture will also have been taken into account.
The UCAS grades are usually more optimistic than the final outcome, so students should expect to see some differences between the UCAS grade and final grade.
– Jon Wilding, acting head teacher Littleover Community School
Q. Will universities, colleges and sixth forms accept these grades? Do they still count as GCSEs in the eyes of employers?
A: All further education establishments and employers will count these grades in the same way as in any previous year. They will be indistinguishable from any other year’s grades on certificates.
– Nicola Caley, head teacher of Murray Park School
