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faraway saint

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2 minutes ago, Sue Denim said:

There was absolutely no need to close schools.

The governments in Scotland and the U.K. have killed 000s by denying people access to the NHS, abandoned the elderly in care homes, destroyed people’s livelihoods and ruined the prospects of our children.

Its a man made catastrophe. 

I'm less bothered about schools closing.

Those kids should have been allowed to sit exams after being taught the last part of their courses remotely.

I can't imagine how that young girl feels having her career ended like that because of soneone else.

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Just now, oaksoft said:

I'm less bothered about schools closing.

Those kids should have been allowed to sit exams after being taught the last part of their courses remotely.

I can't imagine how that young girl feels having her career ended like that because of soneone else.

Hopefully the appeals process works for her Oaky, our daughter got 89% for her one of her prelims and was predicted an "A" but was downgraded to a "B" because of the school's previous performance.....the school was on the phone yesterday by 09:00 telling us they were appealing on her behalf without us even asking.

No matter the outcome of the appeal it took the gloss off what should have been a special day

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43 minutes ago, WeeBud said:

Hopefully the appeals process works for her Oaky, our daughter got 89% for her one of her prelims and was predicted an "A" but was downgraded to a "B" because of the school's previous performance.....the school was on the phone yesterday by 09:00 telling us they were appealing on her behalf without us even asking.

No matter the outcome of the appeal it took the gloss off what should have been a special day

That's absolutely shit bud.

A similar story is going to emerge across the country I think.

Good luck with the appeal.

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3 hours ago, TPAFKATS said:
3 hours ago, salmonbuddie said:

Their game in Perth on Saturday won't be on then.

It will.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53668239?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scotland/north_east_orkney_and_shetland&link_location=live-reporting-story

 

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1 hour ago, WeeBud said:

Hopefully the appeals process works for her 

The appeal process won’t work for her.She wanted to do medicine,you need 5 A’s to get in and they don’t accept appeals.

 

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5 minutes ago, HSS said:

The appeal process won’t work for her.She wanted to do medicine,you need 5 A’s to get in and they don’t accept appeals.

 

I think that is at Dundee, there is a six year course in Edinburgh that takes you on three A's and two B's at end of 5th Year and the two Advanced Highers at C or above but it is a Six Year Course...…..strangely we were going through the syallabus last night in light of my daughter's situation. The Widening Access they mention does take Postcodes into account. It is still far from ideal though but hopefully not all lost for her (the girl from the BBC).

https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/degrees/index.php?action=view&code=a100

Standard entry requirement

The standard entry requirement is:

  • SQA Highers: AAAAB by end of S5 and BB at Advanced Higher.
  • A Levels: AAA.
  • IB: 37 points with 766 at HL.

Minimum entry requirement

The minimum entry requirement for widening access applicants is:

  • SQA Highers: AAABB by end of S5 and CC at Advanced Higher.
  • A Levels: AAB.
  • IB: 36 overall with 666 at HL.

More information for widening access applicants

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Hopefully the appeals process works for her Oaky, our daughter got 89% for her one of her prelims and was predicted an "A" but was downgraded to a "B" because of the school's previous performance.....the school was on the phone yesterday by 09:00 telling us they were appealing on her behalf without us even asking.
No matter the outcome of the appeal it took the gloss off what should have been a special day
Thanks WeeBud for given the actual % for her prelim. That is not just an 'A' but classes as band 1 with it being above 85%.

If all the units that were completed were at the same level then the appeal should be successful.

Seen some interesting facts regarding the figures over the last 5 years. Looks like teachers were by far over estimating the grades they submitted as they have every year.

20200805_173242.jpeg
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10 minutes ago, Cookie Monster said:

Thanks WeeBud for given the actual % for her prelim. That is not just an 'A' but classes as band 1 with it being above 85%.

If all the units that were completed were at the same level then the appeal should be successful.

Seen some interesting facts regarding the figures over the last 5 years. Looks like teachers were by far over estimating the grades they submitted as they have every year.

20200805_173242.jpeg

And how does that help individuals whose education was unnecessarily cut short, denied the chance to sit exams and then had their grades arbitrarily downgraded, particularly if they come from a deprived background?

Maybe if you’d paid attention at school you’d have come out with more than just D from Home Economics 😂

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Thanks WeeBud for given the actual % for her prelim. That is not just an 'A' but classes as band 1 with it being above 85%.

If all the units that were completed were at the same level then the appeal should be successful.

Seen some interesting facts regarding the figures over the last 5 years. Looks like teachers were by far over estimating the grades they submitted as they have every year.

20200805_173242.jpeg.152a2cd22c13553f262069875d283d0b.jpeg


Are the grades not done on a curve, hence the %age of A's, B's, etc being roughly the same every year?
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I'm less bothered about schools closing.
Those kids should have been allowed to sit exams after being taught the last part of their courses remotely.
I can't imagine how that young girl feels having her career ended like that because of soneone else.
If that is genuine she will surely win an appeal ?
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Are the grades not done on a curve, hence the %age of A's, B's, etc being roughly the same every year?


From the bold.

Not sure if you've understood the % I was referring to. From memory all pass marks are split into bands.
A1 100-85
A2 84-70
B1 69-65
B2 64-60
C1 59-55
C2 54-50.....

Your reply is correct regarding the actual pass mark's as can be seen in the attachment.

Not sure if FTOF and barrhead teachers can reply but would be interested in their take in the whole regarding the process and results. [emoji106]
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Wasn't it the case that had the grades not been downgraded we would have been sitting here slating a system whereby the attainment had sky rocketed by an unprecedented % level. It appears schools / teachers have taken the opportunity to make fantasy grading submissions leaving no option but to apply some sort of downgrade taper which in turn has affected some pupils adversely. Without sitting the actual exams this was always going to be seen as an opportunity by certain teachers and schools to try to play the system and that had to be countered somehow.

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5 minutes ago, Ayrshire Saints said:
2 hours ago, oaksoft said:
I'm less bothered about schools closing.
Those kids should have been allowed to sit exams after being taught the last part of their courses remotely.
I can't imagine how that young girl feels having her career ended like that because of soneone else.

If that is genuine she will surely win an appeal ?

Not necessarily. And she'd need the appeal to overturn 3 B grades which I can't see happening.

I must admit that I didn't see this scenario happening. I thought that some students who scored poorly in prelims but would have scored higher in the actual exam would have lost out (also scandalous) but I didn't expect blanket downgrading like this because of the exam boards trying to fit scores to the usual bell curve for the school.

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6 minutes ago, Ayrshire Saints said:

Wasn't it the case that had the grades not been downgraded we would have been sitting here slating a system whereby the attainment had sky rocketed by an unprecedented % level. It appears schools / teachers have taken the opportunity to make fantasy grading submissions leaving no option but to apply some sort of downgrade taper which in turn has affected some pupils adversely. Without sitting the actual exams this was always going to be seen as an opportunity by certain teachers and schools to try to play the system and that had to be countered somehow.

Then presumably they would have to expect that a small percentage of higher attainers would appeal meaning they had a tiny number of exceptions to deal with.

Maybe that's the light at the end of the tunnel for those kids.

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Not necessarily. And she'd need the appeal to overturn 3 B grades which I can't see happening.
I must admit that I didn't see this scenario happening. I thought that some students who scored poorly in prelims but would have scored higher in the actual exam would have lost out (also scandalous) but I didn't expect blanket downgrading like this because of the exam boards trying to fit scores to the usual bell curve for the school.
Why ? If the submitted evidence proves she was at A standard she will get an A on appeal, there is no tapering applied at that stage. It's exactly cases like that the appeal process is designed for.
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Then presumably they would have to expect that a small percentage of higher attainers would appeal meaning they had a tiny number of exceptions to deal with.
Maybe that's the light at the end of the tunnel for those kids.
It was pretty much damned if the do, damned if they don't. The original submissions are ridiculous unless you buy into a theory that the one year exams are cancelled just happened to coincide with a Scottish golden generation that was set to see exam passes soar by 13% after years of flattening ! Schools really left the SQA with no option.
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I've been telling you for years that the SQA haven't got a clue what they are doing. 

I remember one particularly ignorant poster telling me that was nonsense.

Unfortunately the figures in Slarti's table shows that some pupils in schools with lower SIMD's have suffered because their school has over estimated other pupil's grades. So, not entirely the SQA's fault.

I really can't fathom why wee bud's daughter, with 89% in her prelim has been downgraded. Her school must have predicted an A1 at the higher end of the scale. At worst she may have ended up with an A2. If she had been on the bottom of the scale for an A2, with a prelim score near the grade boundary, in the high 60's low 70's, then it would have been more understandable. In this case I think that there must have been a clerical error. There's no other rational explanation.

If the school's prelim meets the standards required by the SQA, then she will be upgraded to an A. The universities must take this unprecedented situation into consideration, in relation to the acceptance of appealed grades.

Also, anyone with pupils sitting SQA qualifications next year should be very worried. With less than a week until pupils go back, schools still have no idea what will be demanded of them in relation to SQA qualifications next year.

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24 minutes ago, Ayrshire Saints said:

Wasn't it the case that had the grades not been downgraded we would have been sitting here slating a system whereby the attainment had sky rocketed by an unprecedented % level. It appears schools / teachers have taken the opportunity to make fantasy grading submissions leaving no option but to apply some sort of downgrade taper which in turn has affected some pupils adversely. Without sitting the actual exams this was always going to be seen as an opportunity by certain teachers and schools to try to play the system and that had to be countered somehow.

You've hit the nail on the head.

I processed my department's estimates, after poring over assessments, prior attainment ,pupil work etc. for over two weeks. When I compared the percentages of grades with several previous years,  they were a close match, give or take a few percent both up and down. 

The HT told me on Tuesday that our results proved that we had got it right, and that we certainly hadn't over-estimated pupil grades.

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10 minutes ago, FTOF said:

I've been telling you for years that the SQA haven't got a clue what they are doing. 

I remember one particularly ignorant poster telling me that was nonsense.

Unfortunately the figures in Slarti's table shows that some pupils in schools with lower SIMD's have suffered because their school has over estimated other pupil's grades. So, not entirely the SQA's fault.

I really can't fathom why wee bud's daughter, with 89% in her prelim has been downgraded. Her school must have predicted an A1 at the higher end of the scale. At worst she may have ended up with an A2. If she had been on the bottom of the scale for an A2, with a prelim score near the grade boundary, in the high 60's low 70's, then it would have been more understandable. In this case I think that there must have been a clerical error. There's no other rational explanation.

If the school's prelim meets the standards required by the SQA, then she will be upgraded to an A. The universities must take this unprecedented situation into consideration, in relation to the acceptance of appealed grades.

Also, anyone with pupils sitting SQA qualifications next year should be very worried. With less than a week until pupils go back, schools still have no idea what will be demanded of them in relation to SQA qualifications next year.

Thanks FTOF

Re the bit in bold, there were three pupils who got A’s in their prelim and all predicted A passes, all three were awarded B’s.........probably what we get for living in Inverclyde.

 

 

 

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Just now, WeeBud said:

Thanks FTOF

Re the bit in bold, there were three pupils who got A’s in their prelim and all predicted A passes, all three were awarded B’s.........probably what we get for living in Inverclyde.

The SQA have issued schools with lists of pupils who can appeal. Your daughter will be on that list.

I can't see any reason why she would not get upgraded.

I also can't imagine that there will be many pupils who were higher on the predicted grade list than your daughter. So if she was awarded a "B", just how many pupils got an "A"?

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You've hit the nail on the head.
I processed my department's estimates, after poring over assessments, prior attainment ,pupil work etc. for over two weeks. When I compared the percentages of grades with several previous years,  they were a close match, give or take a few percent both up and down. 
The HT told me on Tuesday that our results proved that we had got it right, and that we certainly hadn't over-estimated pupil grades.
Likewise my sons deputy head who I'm friendly with, no real dramas with any of their grades an odd appeal here and there. They seemed pretty happy with the outcome compared with their submissions.
I'm just surprised some schools actually thought they would get away with it as they weren't even subtle about it given the massive pre downgrading % rise.
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The SQA have issued schools with lists of pupils who can appeal. Your daughter will be on that list.
I can't see any reason why she would not get upgraded.
I also can't imagine that there will be many pupils who were higher on the predicted grade list than your daughter. So if she was awarded a "B", just how many pupils got an "A"?
Can't anyone appeal - wasn't aware of any list or qualifying threshold ?
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Just now, Ayrshire Saints said:

Likewise my sons deputy head who I'm friendly with, no real dramas with any of their grades an odd appeal here and there. They seemed pretty happy with the outcome compared with their submissions.
I'm just surprised some schools actually thought they would get away with it as they weren't even subtle about it given the massive pre downgrading % rise.

Our LA had the headteachers in for a grilling, for several hours, about their predictions before they were sent off, in order to ensure that this didn't happen.

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