I was one of 4 boys who took English Lit at A-Level in my year.
I struggled with the coursework and essays and never managed to get good marks. I couldn’t figure out why. I’d always been a good student but was now unable to get it right. My teachers predicted me a C at best for my final grade.
I took my AS end of year exam (anonymous and independently marked) and got an A.
The next parents evening, the teacher told me „I didn’t deserve to do as well as I had“
(I still managed to just squeak an A overall in the end, by literally a couple of points)
FungibleConcept on
I can believe it. Long time ago but I was predicted Es and Us at A level but got As and Bs. Probably because I was sometimes a bit of a dickhead in class at 15-16 but hardly the worst and my GCSEs were mostly fine.
Dodomando on
It’s such a terrible system to determine a person’s future based upon a teachers vibes of the teenager. I did much better than what I was predicted because I worked hard
Barkasia on
Every single prediction I had at GCSE and A-level that didn’t match what I achieved was lower – many times considerably so. I can’t blame them – I was a terrible student during term time – but I had to beg my A-level teachers to up their predictions just so I had a chance at applying to the unis I wanted to attend.
Valuable-Ad2028 on
It’s literally crazy this is still the system.
Oh it systematically disadvantages boys? That makes more sense.
dragoneggboy22 on
Easy fix – scrap the predicted grades system in terms of influence over university admissions. Potentially more brutal for students who underperform, but unconscionable to continue this current system where there is a clear gender bias
UKSaint93 on
Wait this is STILL how they do things? In what world are a teacher’s predicted A-Level grades still so vital. Madness
CoolJetEcho117 on
Definitely underestimated mine. Really feel for the kids that had to live through that nonsense.
The only possible good it might have done is cast a light on the massive bias against boys in the system.
Dolphinicity on
Teachers are also criticised for over predicting grades. What happens in the exam (or during marking) is out of their hands. They can’t win.
usemyname88 on
Black people get approx 20% longer sentences for the same crimes and people say this is evidence of institutional racism.
Men get approx 60% longer sentences for the same crimes than women but this is fine and normal.
WinHour4300 on
I don’t think it’s necessarily just boys. It can affect anyone who doesn’t fit the stereotype of the „ideal“ student which is likely more common in boys.
There’s also evidence that teachers mark work worse from lower socio economic backgrounds than when they don’t know (using blind studies).
I was predicted ABCD and ended up getting straight As. Even after getting As at AS Levels, I was constantly being told I wouldn’t.
I found it particularly noticeable in maths and the sciences, where I was consistently underestimated, but the boys were overestimated.
Next-Ninja-8399 on
The whole prediction system should stop. Teachers in state schools underestimate grades systematically. It is also not helping students who excel in exams rather than coursework, including girls. Some girls do better in written exam than coursework. Coursework is too judgemental. Marking is not consistent. No idea why it is still allowed.
Chemistry-Deep on
Some people’s progress isn’t linear, and instead they make big jumps after long plateaus.
I distinctly remember being a C student in GCSE Maths and then suddenly several things just clicked for me about 4months out and I got an A/A* on every paper from then on.
Brido-20 on
How about binning the notoriously unreliable pre-qualification application system and save everyone a whole lot of aggro?
Apply to university with the grades you actually achieved, not with wild guesses designed to boost school league table results.
WillWatsof on
The Mail are trying to paint this as teachers vindictively predicted boys low grades because the girls are better behaved.
The girls are getting higher predicted grades because they more consistently put in effort throughout the year. You can only predict the grade based on the work that that student is turning into you.
Scott_Of_The_Antares on
My Nephew went to a school in Coventry, one named after a famous monarch with many wives…
He was predicted A/B in one particular subject after taking his mocks.
Then covid struck and they could not take exams so the teachers were instructed to give then a grade based on the mock results.
The teachers were given a set amount of grades that could be handed out.
Quelle surprise when he, along with other well performing students received a C whilst the children of teachers recieved A grades despite achieving C grades in their mocks.
This created a lot of problems for him trying to get into uni; he ahd to settle for one
Corrupt and don’t even try to hide it.
TokathSorbet on
Correct. I had a business studies teacher who absolutely hated me. Dumped me on the foundation GCSE, so I was capped at a C. Annoying, given that I got all but 2 questions right on the exam, and got a perfect score on the coursework.
Simple_Joys on
When I was in secondary school, I was in the middle set of English. I always sort of resented it and felt I would have fitted in just fine in top set, but I just took it on the chin. I was a working-class lad and my predicted grades were based partly on my parents‘ socio-economic background, so I often got predicated lower grades than some of my more middle-class friends.
The day our English Language GCSE results came out, my English teacher approached me privately to tell me she was *pleasantly surprised* with my grade… I got an A.
I know she meant nothing by it. She was trying to be friendly and kind. But I really didn’t like that comment and thought it was very revealing: even when I had just achieved something really good, I was still being subtly patronised and underestimated, even if unintentionally. In my youthful arrogance, getting an A didn’t surprise me at all.
I’m in my 30s now. I haven’t been in school for years. I have a BA and an MA and I have a perfectly happy career. But that comment from my English teacher has stayed with me all these years.
fractal-rock on
No, predicted grades are based on mock exams. It’s very common for pupils to do no work, bomb the mocks, and then beg (and get their parents to beg) for high predicted grades. Grades that are made up, based on no evidence, only the child’s belief that they will be able to cram at the end.
The vast majority live in this denial until, inevitably, they get the E or U grade that they tracked on all along.
Occasionally, one does pull it out of the bag. But it still would have been wrong and unprofessional for a teacher to predict a high grade based on no evidence.
Schools and teachers have a responsibility to make accurate, evidence-based predictions. Pupils have a responsibility to work hard and take mocks seriously. Otherwise the whole system is a farce.
theportyunionjack on
The women are wonderful effect is a very well observed phenomenon
circleribbey on
I was in school in the late 90s to early 00s. It definitely felt that way back then too. The entire faculty bar the PE teachers were women and many of them didn’t even hide the fact that they disliked boys (and men). Some straight up told us to our faces. It was definitely reflected in both discipline and grades which were often very biased
It’s a shame that even after 20 years of hand wringing about boys attainment in schools, very little has changed.
There are plenty of studies that show that when teachers don’t know the gender of the person they are marking, boys perform better than when they do know the gender.
exhauated-marra-6631 on
Daily Mail still pedalling ragebait and rejecting nuance. Must be a day ending in ‚y‘.
llittlelucie on
I remember begging my A level psychology teacher to bump my predicted grade from a C to a B and she refused, I also remember the morning of my first psychology exam when she said “I don’t think you’re going to do very well”. Well fuck you Mrs Lawrence I just got my masters degree
HerculesMulligang90 on
Mock grades heavily inform predicteds. I’d be interested to know if boys are more likely to make significant jumps from mocks (eg due to prior coasting, knuckling down when it matters)
Chaosvex on
Reminder that during COVID, the formula used to predict grades as an exam replacement had an explicit handicap that lowered the scores for boys, purely on the basis of gender. I recall one school that wrote a letter to explain it as they disagreed with it but otherwise silence.
This problem has been known about for decades, but even when it’s covered, nothing is done and it’s often framed as a problem for girls.
> „Is it a good thing [that girls receive higher marks for the same work]? Maybe in the short run, you get a better school certificate,“ said the OECD’s education director, Andreas Schleicher. „In the long run, the world is going to penalise you because the labour market doesn’t pay you for your school marks, it pays you for what you can do.“
Yup.
angryratman on
This is absolutely fine as long as girls aren’t being disadvantaged!
dwaynewaynerooney on
I taught for a few years, and the bias against boys is real. Many girl students–and certainly not all–are a bit less rambunctious, much calmer, and mature faster than their male counterparts. For obvious reasons, teachers favor the calmer, more mature students and falsely assume that they’re more intelligent than the boys. It’s a real challenge for all involved.
Annual_Restaurant405 on
This is really interesting, I thought it was just me. All the way through English my teacher (a woman) gave me Cs and the occasional B. Did the mock exam, which is marked by a different teacher and got an A. Sat the final exam and also got an A.
Majestic_Fan_7056 on
A lot of teachers are anti-male feminists.
My experience of the education system is encountering a lot of women who enjoyed putting men down.
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I was one of 4 boys who took English Lit at A-Level in my year.
I struggled with the coursework and essays and never managed to get good marks. I couldn’t figure out why. I’d always been a good student but was now unable to get it right. My teachers predicted me a C at best for my final grade.
I took my AS end of year exam (anonymous and independently marked) and got an A.
The next parents evening, the teacher told me „I didn’t deserve to do as well as I had“
(I still managed to just squeak an A overall in the end, by literally a couple of points)
I can believe it. Long time ago but I was predicted Es and Us at A level but got As and Bs. Probably because I was sometimes a bit of a dickhead in class at 15-16 but hardly the worst and my GCSEs were mostly fine.
It’s such a terrible system to determine a person’s future based upon a teachers vibes of the teenager. I did much better than what I was predicted because I worked hard
Every single prediction I had at GCSE and A-level that didn’t match what I achieved was lower – many times considerably so. I can’t blame them – I was a terrible student during term time – but I had to beg my A-level teachers to up their predictions just so I had a chance at applying to the unis I wanted to attend.
It’s literally crazy this is still the system.
Oh it systematically disadvantages boys? That makes more sense.
Easy fix – scrap the predicted grades system in terms of influence over university admissions. Potentially more brutal for students who underperform, but unconscionable to continue this current system where there is a clear gender bias
Wait this is STILL how they do things? In what world are a teacher’s predicted A-Level grades still so vital. Madness
Definitely underestimated mine. Really feel for the kids that had to live through that nonsense.
The only possible good it might have done is cast a light on the massive bias against boys in the system.
Teachers are also criticised for over predicting grades. What happens in the exam (or during marking) is out of their hands. They can’t win.
Black people get approx 20% longer sentences for the same crimes and people say this is evidence of institutional racism.
Men get approx 60% longer sentences for the same crimes than women but this is fine and normal.
I don’t think it’s necessarily just boys. It can affect anyone who doesn’t fit the stereotype of the „ideal“ student which is likely more common in boys.
There’s also evidence that teachers mark work worse from lower socio economic backgrounds than when they don’t know (using blind studies).
I was predicted ABCD and ended up getting straight As. Even after getting As at AS Levels, I was constantly being told I wouldn’t.
I found it particularly noticeable in maths and the sciences, where I was consistently underestimated, but the boys were overestimated.
The whole prediction system should stop. Teachers in state schools underestimate grades systematically. It is also not helping students who excel in exams rather than coursework, including girls. Some girls do better in written exam than coursework. Coursework is too judgemental. Marking is not consistent. No idea why it is still allowed.
Some people’s progress isn’t linear, and instead they make big jumps after long plateaus.
I distinctly remember being a C student in GCSE Maths and then suddenly several things just clicked for me about 4months out and I got an A/A* on every paper from then on.
How about binning the notoriously unreliable pre-qualification application system and save everyone a whole lot of aggro?
Apply to university with the grades you actually achieved, not with wild guesses designed to boost school league table results.
The Mail are trying to paint this as teachers vindictively predicted boys low grades because the girls are better behaved.
The girls are getting higher predicted grades because they more consistently put in effort throughout the year. You can only predict the grade based on the work that that student is turning into you.
My Nephew went to a school in Coventry, one named after a famous monarch with many wives…
He was predicted A/B in one particular subject after taking his mocks.
Then covid struck and they could not take exams so the teachers were instructed to give then a grade based on the mock results.
The teachers were given a set amount of grades that could be handed out.
Quelle surprise when he, along with other well performing students received a C whilst the children of teachers recieved A grades despite achieving C grades in their mocks.
This created a lot of problems for him trying to get into uni; he ahd to settle for one
Corrupt and don’t even try to hide it.
Correct. I had a business studies teacher who absolutely hated me. Dumped me on the foundation GCSE, so I was capped at a C. Annoying, given that I got all but 2 questions right on the exam, and got a perfect score on the coursework.
When I was in secondary school, I was in the middle set of English. I always sort of resented it and felt I would have fitted in just fine in top set, but I just took it on the chin. I was a working-class lad and my predicted grades were based partly on my parents‘ socio-economic background, so I often got predicated lower grades than some of my more middle-class friends.
The day our English Language GCSE results came out, my English teacher approached me privately to tell me she was *pleasantly surprised* with my grade… I got an A.
I know she meant nothing by it. She was trying to be friendly and kind. But I really didn’t like that comment and thought it was very revealing: even when I had just achieved something really good, I was still being subtly patronised and underestimated, even if unintentionally. In my youthful arrogance, getting an A didn’t surprise me at all.
I’m in my 30s now. I haven’t been in school for years. I have a BA and an MA and I have a perfectly happy career. But that comment from my English teacher has stayed with me all these years.
No, predicted grades are based on mock exams. It’s very common for pupils to do no work, bomb the mocks, and then beg (and get their parents to beg) for high predicted grades. Grades that are made up, based on no evidence, only the child’s belief that they will be able to cram at the end.
The vast majority live in this denial until, inevitably, they get the E or U grade that they tracked on all along.
Occasionally, one does pull it out of the bag. But it still would have been wrong and unprofessional for a teacher to predict a high grade based on no evidence.
Schools and teachers have a responsibility to make accurate, evidence-based predictions. Pupils have a responsibility to work hard and take mocks seriously. Otherwise the whole system is a farce.
The women are wonderful effect is a very well observed phenomenon
I was in school in the late 90s to early 00s. It definitely felt that way back then too. The entire faculty bar the PE teachers were women and many of them didn’t even hide the fact that they disliked boys (and men). Some straight up told us to our faces. It was definitely reflected in both discipline and grades which were often very biased
It’s a shame that even after 20 years of hand wringing about boys attainment in schools, very little has changed.
There are plenty of studies that show that when teachers don’t know the gender of the person they are marking, boys perform better than when they do know the gender.
Daily Mail still pedalling ragebait and rejecting nuance. Must be a day ending in ‚y‘.
I remember begging my A level psychology teacher to bump my predicted grade from a C to a B and she refused, I also remember the morning of my first psychology exam when she said “I don’t think you’re going to do very well”. Well fuck you Mrs Lawrence I just got my masters degree
Mock grades heavily inform predicteds. I’d be interested to know if boys are more likely to make significant jumps from mocks (eg due to prior coasting, knuckling down when it matters)
Reminder that during COVID, the formula used to predict grades as an exam replacement had an explicit handicap that lowered the scores for boys, purely on the basis of gender. I recall one school that wrote a letter to explain it as they disagreed with it but otherwise silence.
This problem has been known about for decades, but even when it’s covered, nothing is done and it’s often framed as a problem for girls.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31751672
> „Is it a good thing [that girls receive higher marks for the same work]? Maybe in the short run, you get a better school certificate,“ said the OECD’s education director, Andreas Schleicher. „In the long run, the world is going to penalise you because the labour market doesn’t pay you for your school marks, it pays you for what you can do.“
Yup.
This is absolutely fine as long as girls aren’t being disadvantaged!
I taught for a few years, and the bias against boys is real. Many girl students–and certainly not all–are a bit less rambunctious, much calmer, and mature faster than their male counterparts. For obvious reasons, teachers favor the calmer, more mature students and falsely assume that they’re more intelligent than the boys. It’s a real challenge for all involved.
This is really interesting, I thought it was just me. All the way through English my teacher (a woman) gave me Cs and the occasional B. Did the mock exam, which is marked by a different teacher and got an A. Sat the final exam and also got an A.
A lot of teachers are anti-male feminists.
My experience of the education system is encountering a lot of women who enjoyed putting men down.