The rigorous process followed to determine GCSE grades this year

Head teacher at Fairfield High School for Girls in Droylsden, Mrs Stephanie Bateman, explains the professional processes applied to grade GCSEs this year - as students receive their results on Thursday...

Today (Thursday August 20) pupils will receive examination results from schools across all areas of Tameside. 

Given the global pandemic this year it will be a very different ‘‘Results day’’ but the examination results that our young people receive will always be a testament to their hard work, commitment and resilience.

As many young people and their parents/carers are aware, pupils at our secondary schools were not able to sit external examinations due to COVID-19 and it is important that the community as a whole understand how these grades were determined. 

Schools were asked to follow the guidance from OFQUAL; schools had to make a fair and impartial, professional judgement and award grades they believed pupils would have achieved had they sat their external examinations on a normal day in May/June with a normal paper. This was called a centre assessed grade (referred to as a CAG).

I want to reaffirm that there was a rigorous, robust, evidence-based process for the identification of accurate grades for Year 11 pupils.

No single teacher ever made an isolated decision. Teachers worked together closely in each subject along with the Head of Subject; every single grade was then scrutinised by the Senior Leadership team and finally by the Head teacher herself/himself as the Head of Centre. 

This was methodical, ethical leadership and took several weeks. The intention was that the examination boards would then moderate the centre grades and produce a FINAL calculated grade. 

Unfortunately, as the community will no doubt be aware, the methods the exam boards were using were proving problematic. 

The Government decided on Monday (August 17th) that GCSE (and A level as well) pupils would be awarded the higher of either the centre school grade or the exam board calculated grade. Today, the pupils are receiving the higher of the two grades.

There is much talk in the media around “Teacher Predictions’’ and it is important to me that the community which we serve understands the process. 

The secondary head teachers in Tameside work professionally and collaboratively and I know that we all have worked tirelessly to ensure that the very best processes have been followed. 

Our intention is to ensure that pupils are able to access the next stage of their education, training or employment. 

I am indebted to the professionalism of the team of staff at Fairfield and I wish all the very best to the young people of Tameside.

Main image:

Year 10 pupils at Longdendale High School in Tameside in the classroom. Picture: Anthony Devlin.