How to Get Good Teacher-assessed Grades: Guidance from Teachers
When exams get canceled, and new assessment criteria and grading systems are put in order, getting good grades becomes harder and seems more haunting than before. This is what happened when the 2021 summer exams for Cambridge International O-level, AS, and A-level students got hanged up due to coronavirus disease.
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How to Get Good Teacher-assessed Grades: Guidance from Teachers
When
exams get canceled, and new assessment criteria and grading systems are put in
order, getting good grades becomes harder and seems more haunting than before.
This is what happened when the 2021 summer exams for Cambridge International
O-level, AS, and A-level students got hanged up due to coronavirus disease.
Students, since then, have been severely contemplating their study strategies
and were looking for sincere advice from their teachers on how not to lose
motivation nor go short on hope. If you are a grade 11 or grade 13 student and desperately
looking for tricks to keep your home-study game strong, read on till the end to
find out what you can do to get the best possible grades from your
teachers.
What Happened to the Cambridge Exams 2021?
The
UK Government, along with the constituent Exam Boards, has decided to call off
O-level, AS-level, or A-level exams for summer 2021 sitting. Instead, they have
agreed that students will be receiving expected grades assessed by their
teachers. If the students feel that they have not received the grades they
deserved or that their teachers have not decided it according to their
performance, they can appeal it or appear for improvement by taking the same
exams in autumn. These exams will be completely optional. If you think you have
got the rightly deserved grade and are happy with your results that are issued
in August, you don’t need to appear in the autumn exams.
Teachers
are open to choose any means of academic evaluation which they think is the best,
but they will be required to have enough evidence to support their decision
regarding the grades. The government has proposed several ways in which
teachers can prove their calculated grades. These include assessment material
provided by the exam board, coursework, any classwork or homework done,
including work you’ve done while studying online, class tests, mock exams, and
records of your capability in performance-based subjects such as music, drama,
and PE.
Teacher-recommended strategies to be well-prepared for exams
1. Ask your teacher
Although
teachers are instructed to assess students on flexible conditions, it is still
important to know what your teacher will base your performance on. With
different ways in hand to prove your assessment, teachers are pretty open to
judge your progress and make your final grades. But how they’re going to do
that is up to you to question. Ask your teachers what areas of evaluation you
need to focus on more, which topics are included and which ones are not, and
what ways you can implement to sweep through your grades. Teachers also suggest
talking to your parents and form tutors to gain help and support and have all
your questions answered.
2. Study as you would for routine exams
It’s
pretty clear and repeatedly emphasized by teachers that ‘there will be no new
learning.’ Hence, revising what’s already been taught is all you need to be
well prepared for any kind of assessment. Teachers suggest solving part papers,
specimen papers, or previous mock exams of your school or college to see where
you stand. Also, refer to the additional assessment material provided by the
exam boards GCSE and A-levels because these are what teachers might look at to
get an idea of the sorts of questions they need to ask in their tests.
3. Focus on what you are studying at
the moment
Teachers
are making sure that the students are left as free from stress as possible.
They keep reiterating that students should “try not to worry,” and that
“Colleges are going to be very understanding,” because everyone is experiencing
the same trying times. You don’t need to catch up on lost learning. However,
you should try to build your concepts around the stuff you’ve already been
taught. Focus on what you’re learning currently, and don’t stress on how you’ll
cover up the previous lessons. That’s how teachers put it: “take one step at a
time” and revise small chunks of your course topics each day. You don’t want to
overburden yourself and end up forgetting the “too much” you’ve studied in the
“too short” time you had.
5
Tips to keep up with your home studies
- Don’t lose your drive
In
these trying times of Covid-19, it is normal to have your studies affected due
to obvious uncertainty and aggravating circumstances. As a student, what’s
primary to your academic and mental wellbeing is to not put too much pressure
on yourself. Finding motivation can be a difficult process to undertake, but it
is not unachievable. When hopes are down, and the drive for learning is at its
lowest, you should consider making a vision board, such as putting a mobile
screensaver of photos that motivate you and keep you going. Also, you should
reflect on your future ambitions, possibilities, and opportunities and how you
can accomplish them by putting in the maximum effort now.
2. Make a timetable and follow
it.
The
lockdown and quarantine situation has definitely pushed the pause button in our
lives. When normal routines are affected, the feeling of being lost and purposeless
comes naturally, and learning and finding the right time to learn becomes a
challenge. To help this issue, students should structure their day, dedicate
specific hours to study, set themselves rewards so that they have something to
look forward to at the end of their hourly studies, and also build in breaks to
relax, so they don’t end up exhausting your mind.
3. Set your daily or weekly
targets
Do
you feel overloaded looking at the huge pile of books at your study table? Try
out this easy way to manage your time: set yourself simple and accomplishable
goals that you can get done with easily. You can also do this by breaking your
targets into small chunks to make them more convenient and less burdensome.
Again, plan yourself a reward. Maybe putting chocolates after every 10-15 pages
of your course book (with a strong pledge that you won’t munch on them before
you are done with that set of pages) would help. But if chocolates are too easy
a distraction, decide to treat yourself with McDonald’s after you finish your
daily chunk of study. Now that’s more like it. ;)
4. Shut down the nuisance
As
reported by a significant proportion of the student population, studying
outside a normal classroom setting is greatly distracting and demotivating.
According to students, studying was “easier at school,” but it’s “much harder
at home” because they “don’t feel like there’s anyone in the room” with them
during online classes. Also, learning at home can also be made troublesome with
noisy construction sounds from the house next door, your mother schooling a
sibling or two, or Uncle Smith’s car engine that he’s been struggling to start
for the last two hours. The next thing is your buzzing phone, Snapchat lighting
up your screen every now and then, and YouTube notifications making you regret
tapping the bell icon. To avoid this, put your phone out of reach, turn on its
‘do not disturb mode, shut all doors and windows, put on your headphones, and
study.
5. Go for peer-motivation
Most
students also hold social distancing responsible for their lack of study
motivation. Quite true, not seeing your friends in a long time loosens your
sense of competition and hence, your willingness to perform well. So what can
you do to stay connected and pumped up with all this distance? Schedule
facetime catch-ups with your friends and plan online study sessions with them
to support each other. This way, you can learn from one another, have a fun
time studying, stay driven, and look forward to studying more often in a day or
week.
Coronavirus and university applications: Ease your
concerns.
If you are thinking that university applications can hardly be
impressive this year and that your chances of convincing the admission tutor
are low, here are your stress-relievers:
1) Everyone is in the
same boat,
2) Universities already
understand that applications and personal statements may not demonstrate as
much work experience as they did in previous years, and
3) You have a lot more
than just work experience to talk about: show your understanding of your future
course, talk about the qualities or skills you have that suit your course,
write your everyday applications of these skills, add in details about your
previous studies, state reasons as to why you’re passionate about your chosen
subject, and discuss any online training, virtual events and general reading
you have gone through that relate to your course. And that’s how you’ve filled
all those worrisome work experience gaps on your essay!
Also, you can always attend virtual open days if the lockdown
has hindered your visit to your favorite university in person. These open days
will educate you and help you through your choices by giving video tours of the
university campus, facilities and accommodation, and conducting online Q&A
sessions, webinars, and talks. You can also find course details on your chosen
university’s official website as well as build connections with its alumni or
current students who have studied on-campus. Once you’ve made your application,
you may also be invited to attend an applicant’s day that is held in spring,
whereby you’ll be provided with a more in-depth tour of the department you’ll
be studying in and given a chance to interact with fellow applicants.
***
References
4.
https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/advice/student-life/home-study-survival-tips
