What do the ‘made in Wales’ qualifications changes mean?
A-level and AS results are out today and GCSES next week. For the first time the new made in Wales qualifications will not be directly comparable with those in England. There are even more changes with GCSE grading. While Wales is keeping the A* to E GCSE
ALL A-levels are being reformed, updated and revised to make them more fit for the 21st century.
For 15 subjects, this year’s results at A2 will be the first under the new system, nine AS subjects are also being examined for the first time.
The final six subjects will be taught for the first time in September 2017 and examined in the following years.
All GCSEs are going through a similar process, with six subjects being examined for the first time this year, and a further 23 coming on stream over the next two years.
These new examinations will be quite different to the old ones, and require students to deal with “contextual” style questions, in which the information that is needed to answer the question is contained within a portion of text.
This means students will have to read and understand the “context” before being able to answer the question.
The six new GCSE examinations being examined for the first time this year are the most significant
HOW GRADES COMPARE...
THIS is how the new GCSE nine to one grading system in England compares to A* to E grades in Wales.
9, 8 and 7 are equivalent to A* and A grades in Wales;
6,5 and 4 are equivalent to B and C grades;
3, 2 and 1 are equivalent to D, E, F, G.
English language, English literature and maths will be the first 6 to be graded from 9 to 1 in England in 2017.
Another 20 subjects will have nine to one grading in 2018, with most others following in 2019.
During this transition, students in England will receive a mixture of letter and number grades. as they herald a new look to our core subjects, with mathematics being divided into two examinations (numeracy and mathematical techniques), and a new look to English/Welsh language and literature.
This is the first year of assessing the new Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification at both Key Stages four and five which measures not only students’ academic outcomes, but also their ability to utilise skills in things like teamwork, problem solving and communication.
The standards that schools are expected to achieve, (known as “performance measures”), are also being changed from this summer.
They will include a new “capped 9” points system, where each student’s GCSE grades in both maths, English or Welsh language, two sciences and their best four other subjects (including up to two vocational GCSE equivalents) are turned into points and averaged across all students who are finishing their compulsory education.
The old target of 5 A*-C GCSEs including maths and English/ Welsh, (known as the Level 2+ measure) will continue to be used, but English or Welsh literature will no longer be counted, and students will have to get maths numeracy and English/Welsh language instead.
So, how does this affect the results we will see this year?
There is well-documented evidence from bodies like Qualifications Wales that shows a significant level of variation in results is a normal part of the process during a period of such significant change.
Where generations of students and teachers have become used to exam questions relating to a longstanding qualification it is reasonable to expect results to improve incrementally.
Where qualifications change, there is little or no evidence to help predict what the questions are going to be like, and under these circumstances it is normal for results to look very different.
Overall, it is likely that national scores at each grade are likely to be similar to those of previous years; however, it is also to be expected that there will be significant local variation.
We will need at least another two years before we are able to identify and be sure of the veracity of any trends.
In the meantime, we should be patient and focus on what matters most: the achievements of the students.
No doubt there will be more work to do on the exam system. But schools will build on these results and continue to do everything they can to help their students achieve the best possible results.”