Special Report: The flaws in Attainment 8 - Part 1

Over the last couple of

Over the last couple of years the regular half a million or so teenagers who nervously open their GCSE results witnessed a change in the grading system that has typically left their parents confused (and possibly them too). Today’s parental generations would have known the traditional A* to U grades, these have been replaced with a numbering system from 1 to 9 for English and maths exams, all other subjects are being phased into this new system. By 2019 most other exams will follow, the Department for Education has said. Level Being 9, who will attain this level of excellence? Unfortunately, just a tiny amount of pupils are expected to achieve a grade 9 and people fear that the examinations authorities have made it too hard for students to gain top marks. In maths it is guessed that only just 3% of students will achieve level 9, a standard of excellence that is said to be equivalent or even beyond the former A*, and only 2% of pupils are expected to achieve this in English. Are these predictions a reflection of our national excellence or a strategic capping by the Department of Education of the top level award so as to build in its premium value. Grades 9, 8 and 7 are close to the current top grades of A* and A. Grade 6 is the equivalent of a B while grade C is split between a “strong pass” at grade 5 and a “standard pass” at grade 4. The Department for Education has claimed that the new system cannot be directly compared to the lettered marking system. However, the current grade C and the bottom of grade 4 is a key point of similarity between the two. What about the bottom end of the scale? Grades D, E and F correspond to grades 1 and 2. The lowest current grade G equals to the bottom of a grade 1. How will schools be ranked? Schools will be assessed on the number of pupils achieving a grade 4 or above. They will also be measured on those getting a grade 5 and above. If significant amounts of a school’s student body are achieving less than the national average this factor could induce inspections from the government so all schools also have institutional pressures pushing them to try their best to push their students to get the best results and rankings perceived possible. The flaws in Attainment 8 – Part 1: page: 20 of 39 Should schools be most accountable to the community or the government? This is a special feature report published with The Futurist (Haringey) - Episode 01 – 2018 https://www.futuriststeam.co.uk/doclinks/201807-0001.html | View the digital version online | Get all the helpful links and extra resources | [ v1.0 ] 10 th Aug 2018

Are the exams harder? The Department for Education actually called on exam boards to make the tests more “challenging” and the way in which maths questions were set out is now notably different to previous years. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said that reformed GCSEs would leave pupils sitting more exams within a six-week summer exams season. ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton, said: "The new GCSEs are more challenging, and there are more papers, and this is putting severe pressure on young people”. Seeing these red light warnings our Trust carried out a review of how these reforms were being received community wide, we found that many teachers and school leaders felt ill prepared for the new system. [ CLICK to VIEW ] in 2015 we prepared this mind map to give insight to the UK’s then upcoming educational reform The flaws in Attainment 8 – Part 1: page: 21 of 39 Should schools be most accountable to the community or the government? This is a special feature report published with The Futurist (Haringey) - Episode 01 – 2018 https://www.futuriststeam.co.uk/doclinks/201807-0001.html | View the digital version online | Get all the helpful links and extra resources | [ v1.0 ] 10 th Aug 2018