Thoughts on Passing and Failing

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The new grading system which replaces the familiar A*-G with 9-1 is giving me a bit of a headache and the recent nonesense about "standard passes" and "strong passes" has really not helped. Rob Webster posted the following on Twitter recently:


1 😱 2 😨 3 ☹️ 4 😐 5 ☺️ 6 😄 7 😆 8 😘 9 👨‍🎓


At least the emojis are easy to understand!

I don't necessarily have a problem with talking about passing and failing exams, but I do have a problem with shifting goal posts and a lack of clarity. 

I also have a problem with a grade 9 that is norm referenced. How do I as a teacher answer the question: "What do I have to do to get a grade 9?" when the answer is, "Be better than the vast majority of other students."?

For this reason, I have a problem with predicting grade 9s. Honestly, I don't think we should do it. It's hard enough to predict the criteria referenced grades, but how do I predict whether or not a particular student will be one of the top 3% (or whatever it ends up being) candidates in the country? Sure, I know who my really talented students are but I don't feel like setting up an expectation of a grade that is going to be as rare as unicorn poop.

Many people found the comment passed by Dr Tim Leunig that he only expects 2 pupils to gain straight 9s rather unhelpful. Maybe on one level it is, but if it stops parents thinking that their child MUST get a 9 and hassling teachers to produce them then good!

I am afraid that I greeted the news that the powers that be have decided that a 4 is now a "pass" with a cycnical smile. 

So - thought to myself - you have realised that a large percentage of pupils are not going to achieve a 5 (top two thirds of a C and bottom of a B in old money) and therefore the number of "fails" reported by the Daily Mail is going to look bad. Answer? Shift the goal posts.

And these are the same powers that have form in the area of grade boundary manipulation, don't let's forget. How many of us were shafted a few years ago when the boundaries shifted without warning?

Smoke and mirrors are great in a magic show, but when they are used to deflect from weaknesses in an assessment system that decides our children's futures then I have a big problem with it. 

In the words of Han Solo - I have a bad feeling about this....



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