You wouldn’t expect me to let this pass without comment would you? Oh yeah you probably haven’t a clue what I’m talking about.

On the 12th August Ofqual wrote to Pearson instructing them to adjust their grade boundaries on the 1MAO H paper this Summer. They were instructed to raise the boundary from 69 to 70. That’s comparable outcomes for you … it really is a zero sum game. I keep coming back to someone telling me how shocking it was that a student could get a C at GCSE with just 35% on the exams and thinking they really don’t understand that even if they all got over 80 or 90% and made super human progress between KS2 and KS4 we get our pass rates capped anyway nationally. Now I’m not saying I have the answers but I know there is much more focus on Maths and so much more collaboration and sharing of good practice out there that it cannot be not making  a difference. Unfortunately we (and it’s my favourite phrase at the minute) are playing of a zero-sum game … where one school does well another will have suffered as a result and next year it will get worse because we are being given zero guidance about grade boundaries from anyone. Actually scrap that … I get the grade boundary thing what we need though is some guidance about where the “drop-off” point will be on the Higher tier … this Summer a student who got about 35/200 in April on an in class assessment went onto to get a really secure C … would I enter him on the Higher tier next Summer? Who knows? I once said that the same impact in terms of raising mathematical ability/attainment (whatever rollocks you want to call it!) could have been done by just changing a “good pass” to a B and saved us all this agro. I need to know what a student needs to get to not get a U on the Higher tier … turning it back on me and my professional judgement is just absolving responsibility back to us teachers on something we don’t know enough about (we have a plan on where we are pitching this cut-off and I promise I will share soon!)

Basically I am so angry that we are being given “jack-sh1t” guidance from anyone (and I know the reasons why – I get it! I really do!). The system sucks in terms of transparency about how boundaries are set … don’t be sending me links to videos and stuff, I’ve watched them – I am a simple girl and people tend to try baffle me with bullsh1t which is why I have just put freedom of information request into Ofqual for more information i.e. the raw data etc that justifies this decision. Not because I feel it could be challenged but because I genuinely want to understand the process.

I’m back!!!