Results Day

Unlike the main August GCSE results day, today probably won't be mentioned much in the news... but thousands of students across the country will be collecting their GCSE English & Maths results today having taken the November resits. I predominantly teach adult learners and we don't normally enter them for the November exams (unless they failed last summer), but this year we tried an experiment of entering everybody. Many adults haven't sat a proper exam since they were in school and requested a "trial run" to better prepare them for the real thing in June. Of course, the November exams are genuine exams, so if they've passed they can complete the course today... but I honestly expected only a handful of them to do so after only six weeks of study in the lead up to November.


A third of my adult learners will be collecting a Grade 4 (or higher) pass at GCSE English today.


It's not the ones who've done that in just 6 weeks that I'm really pleased about though. I have three other adult learners who have been trying... and trying... and trying for over two years now. They must have sat 4 or 5 exams, never quite getting the grade they needed. Those three will be all smiles this morning.


We celebrate the good days in this job. They don't come around very often.

June #9: No Time For Randiness Today...

...because today is the first of two brand new GCSE English exams that I've been preparing my students for over the last twelve months. A parting gift from the wonderful Mr. Gove (remember him?), the new GCSE is a very tough course, suitable for those who want to pursue English to a higher level and becomes novelists, copywriters, bloggers of merit et al... yet not entirely appropriate for those tens of thousands of students for whom an English qualification is mandatory to allow them to progress to a higher level qualification in a field such as health, accountancy or engineering.

Personally, I find the new GCSE fascinating because it's all about words, their power, their connotations, how they can be used to influence, persuade and even brainwash readers. But I do understand why 75% of my students find it difficult, and why many employers might find it irrelevant for their needs (though you do still need it to get a good job!). And let's not even start on the new grading system, which nobody understands at all. You won't be getting an A, B, or C anymore... but a number between 1 and 9. Even the Department of Education can't decide what a passing grade will be: at the start of the year, they told us 5... now, in a blind panic over the expected results, they've revised their pass to a 4. I have no idea how many of my students will achieve that... but I know it'll be a damned sight less than got a C or above last year.

So, I'm just not feeling Randy today. We'll get back to that next week. In the meantime, here's Loudon...

9. Loudon Wainwright III - Final Exam



Best of luck to anyone taking the new GCSE English exam today. You'll need it!