Petition - Give students who miss exams due to illness a right to Centre Assessed Gra

[Zourous]

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/633777

 

Seems like a no brainer to me….

 

Can be completed in less than a minute if you want to show your support.

 

Thank you for reading

[Ditto]

I can see why on the face of it looks that way, but I wonder if there is more to it.

 

It's a scary long time since I worked at what is now AQA, but missing an assessment (or indeed an examiner losing exam papers, which unfortunately happened) didn't prevent an award being given. I don't know the details today. But a good while back, I programmed the calculation for what was called is called an aegrotat estimated score. It was fascinating maths and I remember the fun of programming inversion of a correlation matrix using Gaussian elimination. Not my mathematical work, research officers that were far more mathematical advanced than me - I just needed to programme the calculation in COBOL!

 

That reminiscence is perhaps a side topic, but the issue with purely centre assessed scores, is that they over score compared to what a student would get via the more rigorous approach of awarding bodies. The first no exams year, centre awarded grades as a result of covid demonstrates that unequivocally. Ultimately those that miss assessments due to illness would achieve higher grade from purely centre assessed results. The argument then switches to, "that's unfair on all the other students". It's one of those problems that there is no perfect solution, where you need a standardised approach, but where the students circumstances can vary enormously.

 

To conclude, I wouldn't go as far as saying don't sign the petition, but you might want to research the background in more detail, and consider that examination bodies will have had to deal with this situation and similar for decades. They will have given a lot of thought to handling the scenario as fairly as possible.

[Andrew_C]

ONE of the problems with CAGs and the like, is the question that DOE would ask the schools:-

 

1) What would the pupil achieve now?

2) What could the pupil achieve in the exam session?

3) What do you think the pupil would achieve in the exam session if teaching/revision was uninterrupted?

 

Which is fairest to the pupil? Which is most accurate when comparing to previous/subsequent cohorts, or their peers?

[hardtailstar]

When I worked in a school, If a student was ill they took the exam at the end of their GCSE timetable or when it could be fitted in.

 

If it was a more serious illness then an alternative provision was made.

 

Not sure what is happening now as I dont work in a school.

[mikes]

Sounds a good idea but I worry if this was implemented, suddenly half our year 11's would be mysteriously ill on the day of the maths GSCE

[AlistairB1983]

As a former Exam Officer (EO), and as someone who still line manages our school's EO (and is therefore heavily involved with exams), I would agree that this is a no-brainer - but probably not in the same way as you.

 

Personally, this sounds like a horrendous idea that threatens to undermine the very principle of the examination system by creating a 'back door' that any student can access with limited resources as an attempt to 'fix' an issue that is, statistically speaking, non-existent. Whilst I completely sympathise with the few students each year who fail to achieve their qualifications due to missing them through illness, the restrictions already in place to limit this potential impact (timetable spacing etc.) mean that in reality it really is a very, very small number of students each year who are affected.

 

I have already had personal experience of numerous students trying to 'game' the existing system by limiting the number of exams they have to sit by being medically exempted from the remaining, to allow a potential route to not have to undertake any exams risks undermining the entire system as a whole. And whilst it's very much not fit for purpose (another point for another thread), I don't believe that creating such a large and obvious back door for students is the right way to try and change the system.

 

A possible alternative would be creating a larger Autumn resit series covering all subjects, as happened during/after the Pandemic, but restrict that season to students who were entered - but didn't grade - during the previous summer. That would give any students who missed the entirety of their subject's exams the previous summer a chance to sit those papers and be graded accordingly.

[Ditto]

I think I'm pretty much aligned with you @AlistairB1983, but put it less bluntly than you. I do like your idea on resits. As for the 'not fit for purpose', statement, I agree probably another thread, but broadly are you saying that about GCSE/A' levels/Vocational examinations or just processes dealing with students missing assessment due to illness etc.?

[AlistairB1983]

I think I'm pretty much aligned with you @AlistairB1983, but put it less bluntly than you. I do like your idea on resits. As for the 'not fit for purpose', statement, I agree probably another thread, but broadly are you saying that about GCSE/A' levels/Vocational examinations or just processes dealing with students missing assessment due to illness etc.?

Primarily the former (and then primarily A Level & GCSE - vocational exams are somewhat different), however I do find the Special Consideration process to be fairly lacklustre as well.

[Zourous]

This is what started this petition for a better understanding:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001k4ht

 

Go to about 8mins in

[Zourous]

An update,

 

I didn’t mention before but this is for a student in our school with the mother also a teacher.

 

Here is some background:

 

https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/i-am-fighting-for-my-life-not-my-gsces-eastbourne-school-children-with-cancer-react-to-exam-petition-4067310

 

Lara’s case was discussed in a packed House of Commons – with Rishi committing to looking at Lara’s case!

 

Please help by signing the petition

 

Thanks

[Ditto]

I have huge sympathy for the young person and their family and others in a similar situation with young people fighting cancer. I absolutely understand and respect why the schools, colleagues, parents and teachers are fighting their causes. In these sorts of cases, I'd fully support the argument of the school assigning a grade based on the centre assessment. Those views are both an emotional heart based reaction, but also a logical reasonable reaction to this specific cases. However, I'm not convinced it requires a wholesale change that the petition calls for all exam absence to lead to a centre assessed grade being awarded. I do think it is worth debating and given the case has been discussed in the House of Commons, regardless of the petition support numbers, much of the goal has been achieved. More than anything, I hope he and others get the best treatment and overcomes their illness.