Asking for a remark

[hornsofadilemma34]

DD is bilingual, native speaker of a language A level she took this year. She already had an A in the first part taken last year. For some reason she appears to have scored only 50/60 in the oral section bringing her grade down from a predicted A to an A (which I appreciate is a good result). Looking at the mark scheme neither she nor I can see how she could have lost so many marks. She felt the exam went well so she did actually speak! And even if she spouted absolute rubbish - which I doubt- she would still have got full marks for language intonation etc. Listening and reading comprehension etc are in another module. She got an A in English so there is no indication she is hampered by her bilingualism.
Is it worth asking for a remark? It will probably not impact on her university place - she is taking a gap year- as her other results are good enough.

[RedHelenB]

You could ask if it is possible. I'm having papers back for dds maths only because she has never scored that low in her life and didn't feel it had gone any worse than her mock. If there is some major error then we ll obviously go for the remark even though she has got a good set of results and is on the course she wanted.

[RedHelenB]

Oh one more thing they will only remark of the marking scheme has been applied incorrectly not if it is a difference of opinion which might not help your dd.

[sadusername2]

Redhelen I had heard that a remark was only to check marks added up correctly, but according to these AQA guidelines they do remark the content.
www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/results-days/post-results/review-and-priority-review-of-mark

My Dd had unexpected B, luckily first choice took her anyway. But by the time she knew she had her place we had already paid.

[hornsofadilemma34]

We understand that another student in the same group of examinees, a non native speaker, predicted a C/D, got full marks in the oral module....which suggests something odd was happening....

[RedHelenB]

I am thinking for something like history or English if the original examiner had applied the mark scheme properly but was a bit less generous than another marker would have been they will not remark it.Dd s is maths which hopefully should be more straightforward.

[cansu]

I would have expected that she lost marks for the content / relevance of what was said as opposed to the accuracy and intonation etc. I really wouldn't bother.

[hornsofadilemma34]

@cansu

yes but looking at the mark scheme even if she had been given no marks for content/relevance she could not have dropped ten points.

Also highly unlikely that she would have said nothing relevant.

[cansu]

Other than the satisfaction of knowing she has an a star what would it achieve for her? That is really the only consideration. I would also be worried that her mark could go down if she had a remark.

[jeanne16]

If she is a native speaker I would go for a remark. At the school where I teach, we had a French native speaker that got a D initially. After a remark it went up to an A*. Our Head of MFL suspected that the initial marker hadn't understood what was written.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

It seems a bit off to me to do a language A level in a language you are a native speaker in. Why not actually try to expand your horizons and learn something? I'm not sure that Uni's are very impressed either.

[hornsofadilemma34]

Yes, thanks everyone.

It was her fourth A level - and it was the school rather than us who encouraged her to do it. She has high grades in her other subjects and will apply for uni next year. At the moment she is looking at law/european law and both she and the school thought an extra A* would strengthen her application. I agree it is a bit of a cop out to do your native language - but many do and she certainly enjoyed the cultural aspects. It is not obvious from her name that she is a native speaker and she has been in a Uk school from13 onwards so admissions officers would not automatically think she was a native speaker.

It is just that the marks for the oral are difficult to grasp given the mark scheme.

We think we will go for a remark as she is on the A*/A boundary so she will not go down.

[whiteroseredrose]

This happened to boys in DS's class studying Spanish and Mandarin.

With your oral exam it's not just about speaking fluently with the right intonation etc. You have to make sure you use a mix of tenses and complex grammar and more unusual vocabulary. Actively demonstrate your understanding so that the teacher can 'tick' off a list. It takes planning and strategy not just fluency!

[sadusername2]

Does anyone know how long a remark can take? I noticed on TSR that one student already had theirs. On the Aqa website it says it can be up to 17 days which goes over the deadline 31st August for UCAS.