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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Secondary education

AS results for English Literature.....tough or just not enough work?!

20 replies

Bossybritches22 · 16/08/2012 17:09

DD1 only got a C grade in Eng Lit today & I'm a bit as it's her best subject, A*/A's all year & on her coursework.

She got 3 B's in her other subjects all 2 points off an A so hopefully enough for an offer, (new to this Uni application lark & very confused) but just wondered if anyone else's DC got lower than expected results in Eng Lit?

Or do just have to do some serious cracking of the whip this next year?

OP posts:

Report

Annunziata · 16/08/2012 17:19

Exam nerves maybe? Seems a bit of a drop.

puds11 · 16/08/2012 17:20

Its so easy to mis-interpret exam questions, or go off on a tangent especially in english. Maybe just a bad paper?

crisisofidentity · 16/08/2012 17:36

Ds scored a c in one of his politics papers which brought him down to a B and similarly to your dd has had A's all year in class and mocks. So was a bit disappointed. Seems a big drop in performance.
I think there are resits available, Im new to this too OP, not sure what to do next.
Do you think if they resit the AS it shows on the final A2 result?
Also, if the school were predicting AAA for these, how will they now predict for uni, ds was -expecting- hoping for Russell group.

Bossybritches22 · 16/08/2012 17:58

Yes she may well have gone off on a tangent {dolly daydream at best of times} She was no more nervous for that than the others so was a bit puzzled & so was she, only 62% where she has always got 80% +

crisis I'm bumbling along as I didn't go to uni & even if I had , it's all so different now

I was quite disappointed TBH (obviously didn't say that!) but being realistic surely the Uni's don't expect them to be getting A's yet even if they're targetted those for next year? Or maybe they do in which case she's stuffed for getting into Cambridge or Durham, both of which she's set her heart on IYSWIM.

Bloody hell why is it so fecking complicated??!

OP posts:

eatyourveg · 16/08/2012 19:08

Was it AQA? I think the exam was probably tough as the student room has lots of talk about english lit grades being much lower than predicted. ds1 got his A2 english lit today which was lower than expected (should have been an A) though thankfully it was still enough to get accepted to do it at his first choice uni, school are sending for his paper to see if it should be remarked as they can't understand it either. You could consider getting your dd's script back to see where she went wrong.

cinnamonnut · 16/08/2012 19:43

I got full UMS in AS English Lit and I was expecting a bit lower, but I know my friend got quite a bit lower UMS than she expected.

crisisofidentity · 16/08/2012 19:52

Sorry,
Realised this was English Lit thread.

Tigerstripes · 16/08/2012 20:25

What board was it? I'm an English teacher and had some grades much lower than expected.

Dominodonkey · 16/08/2012 22:12

I teach English lit and my AS grades were exactly as expected. (That is not to say that they were great) but I could have predicted every one.

If she got an A for her coursework submission as you suggest that would mean she got a D or E for her examination which is pretty poor for someone of high intelligence. There are normally two parts to the paper (I teach OCR board) so I would suggest recalling the paper (it's not too expensive) to see where she went wrong. I know it's not quite the same but one of my A2 students got an E for the exam in January - we recalled her paper and went through where she had gone wrong and she got an A today.

Dominodonkey · 16/08/2012 22:18

Sorry just reread my post and realised it didn't sound quite as I meant it. I meant it is pretty poor which as she is clearly intelligent suggests she did something quite wrong in the exam such as not answering the question.

outtolunchagain · 16/08/2012 22:32

My ds got his A2 eng lit result today , he got his A but not the A* he was expecting . He got a B in one paper , every other piece of work/ exam in the last 2 years was an A . He knew he hadn't done quite as well as normal but was still surprised it was do low, he doesn't need it for his offer but wants to recall the paper anyway just for his piece of mind

Musomathsci · 16/08/2012 22:36

You can get a photocopy of the paper and see if there is an obvious mistake on the marking eg chunk missed out - it happens fairly often. Then if there is a problem, you can ask for a remark. Worth thinking about?

alemci · 16/08/2012 22:38

yes i think it was tough. my dd got a B and she had got As all year round.

outtolunchagain · 16/08/2012 23:05

Yes I think that's what we are going to do

LondonMother · 17/08/2012 07:50

Bossy, unfortunately the AS results do matter for some universities and Cambridge is one. If your daughter is absolutely set on applying there I would suggest:

Get the school to request the return of the paper so they can see if they think the mark was justified, and if there were any obvious problems they can talk them through with her, as others have said.

If the school thinks the mark is wrong, request a re-mark. Be aware that marks can go down as well as up!

If that doesn't pull the mark up to an A, she should probably re-sit the module. I know the option to do that is being removed at some stage, thanks to Mr Gove, but I don't think it's next year - the school will advise.

Your daughter might be better advised to apply post A level. My daughter's AS results were all over the place and the school advised forgetting about UCAS for the time being and concentrating on the work in year 13. It was very good advice. The stress of the applications on top of the workload, especially with re-takes, is considerable. Applying post A level, if you get an offer it's unconditional so you have a final decision well before the summer and that's also a lot less stressful.

Good luck!

ChinUpChestOut · 17/08/2012 10:25

My DSS was thought "he had done quite well" in his English Lit AS level, but found out yesterday that he had a U........!

Not much you can say about that, really, is there? Personally, I think while he's bright, he's not particularly academic, and would benefit from some time out working. Not much chance of that though, as DH and his mum would prefer him to stay in full time education.

There's been lots in the newspapers though about how the marking of exam papers has been tougher this year. I wish they could have waited another year......

Bossybritches22 · 17/08/2012 10:31

THanks all yes I think wre will ask for a copy & possibly remark.

I know the AS do matter for applications just didn't know if they expect high B's/A's at this stage or how much predicted grades/references can bolster borderline grades. Eg she was 2 marks off A's on the 3 B's she did get.

A chum of DD's says on the Cambridge application there is a chance to add the actual percentage mark as well as the grade so they can see if they are borderline or struggling to get A's.

Bless her she is so chuffed with her grades & I don't think fully realises the implications don't want to rain on her parade but I think she's going to sgrugglwe to get a decent offer from an RG uni with those isn't she?

LondonMother delaying applying until this time next year you mean? For start in 2014? Havinng a gap year hadn't figured in her plans just yet.

I'm going to drop her head of year an email, I'm completely at sea with this.

I have been desperately trying to keep out of the uni thing leaving it to her & the school(who are very supportive) y'know encouraging the independance thing. She seemed to be really on top of it all, we've had some very interesting & inspiring visits.

Now I'm cursing that I didn't chivvy her more with her studies as I know she is capable of better, but she is a Gold medal procrastinator when it comes to homework & studying sigh sadly just like me, only she has the brains, I don't.

OP posts:

aryhian · 26/08/2012 07:51

I have twins that have just had their AS results marked by the same exam boards that the uproar about GCSE'S is currently about, they will have marked AS in the same way. My twins are at two different sixth form institutions both dropped grade levels down from predictions even in their best subjects. One had course work marked down from A to B. I am writing to both sixth forms to ask what results both girls would have got had they taken the June exam in January and how changes in the grade boundaries/ how course work is marked has disadvantaged them. Both are now reviewing their choices of Universities and are very despondent they could not have worked harder.

aryhian · 26/08/2012 07:53

I have twins that have just had their AS results marked by the same exam boards that the uproar about GCSE'S is currently about, they will have marked AS in the same way. My twins are at two different sixth form institutions both dropped grade levels down from predictions even in their best subjects. One had course work marked down from A to B. I am writing to both sixth forms to ask what results both girls would have got had they taken the June exam in January and how changes in the grade boundaries/ how course work is marked has disadvantaged them. Both are now reviewing their choices of Universities and are very despondent they could not have worked harder.

eatyourveg · 26/08/2012 17:45

Didn't realise the AS results were affected in the same way as the GCSEs. Are you sure aryhian that they were marked in the same way as you say? I've only heard of GCSEs being affected. Did AQA change the grade boundaries for the English AS/A2 after January too? If so that might determine wether ds goes for a re-mark

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