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Any tips for me to pass onto students as to how to secure that A*?
Thanks in advance.
Flair is the only surefire way in my experience. I don't know that it can be taught; it has to be harnessed and nurtured.
mancIt is ephemeral; it is as light as air - like pure gossamer: it can be sensed but not touched. It is rumoured but rarely seen, like a shy faun. All you can do is incubate it with magic fairy dust, and bake it slowly in the top oven of the imagination. Sprinkle it with discernment and serve it on a warm bed of aesthetic judgement. I do hope that's as helpful as the marking descriptors we all work from
I think that's an A* answer in itself ;)
Yes, but we'll give it an A grade, just because we can!
Unless you teach WJEC, in which case they want THE MARK SCHEME, THE MARK SCHEME AND NOTHING BUT THE FERKING MARK SCHEME.
A lot is down to marks in an exam. Haven't assessed at that sort of level for a good while. Is it still the case that A* is determined statistically? Something to do with marks between A and A* being determined by mark differential between top A and top B? Somethimg like that.
markuss Is it still the case that A* is determined statistically?
It depends on the examining body, I think. WJEC publishes the grade boundaries, whereas AQA only does so post exam. With AQA the exam = 60% of final mark whereas WJEC it's only 40%.
gruoch With AQA the exam = 60% of final mark
anteater it is now only 40% for English Language
We're doing English - WJEC
gruochanteater it is now only 40% for English Language We're doing English - WJEC
The exam:controlled assessment split is identical for all boards now:
For most boards, the English Language and English exams are identical.
Under the old specs, it was:
I think OCR was the only exception here, as it could be made more exam-heavy if the right modules were chosen.
markussIs it still the case that A* is determined statistically?
I believe so. Certainly, my collection of finalised WJEC grade boundaries for recent years shows the marks needed for each grade to be professionally judged at grades A, C and D on the Higher tier and at C and F on the Foundation tier. The remainder are, as you say, arthimatically determined.
For my low ability kids the 40% is a good thing. They tend to forget everything when faced with a booklet or two and the challenge of not talking for over two hours.
They forget everything in CAs, too. They can tell me loads off stuff about any text they are studying, but having to write it down wipes their memories clean.
gruochIt depends on the examining body, I think. WJEC publishes the grade boundaries, whereas AQA only does so post exam.
All the boards used to publish notional grade boundaries in the exam mark schemes, which were identical every year. WJEC kept on doing this all the way up until the end of the old specs in 2011.
The final grade boundaries, however, are what matter and these are never published until after the exams (because they're not decided upon until then).
"boards"? What sort of "boards"? asks markuss pseudo naively/ironically. I suppose if the awarding bodies smooth everything out, you could think of them as ironing boards!
GloriaSunshineEven the visiting speaking and listening moderator referred to AQA as 'the board'.
I was at a meeting last week where the presenter referred to "The AQA". It was very odd, although factually accurate.
"Boards"? Gosh! How very twentieth century!
You don't still talk about "school boards", do you? We had those in olden times as well.
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