Are remarks/review of marking just for the wealthy?

I got expelled at GCSE time and the girl who got me expelled (told on me for a relatively small misdemeanour that would be suspension these days) got all of her's remarked and upgraded. I had to leave the school, wasn't allowed to take exams with my peers and had the stress of not having anywhere to live...didn't get any remarks. It's about having parents that want to use any excuse to give their kids a leg-up IMO. My parents were just mortified and labelled me as a black sheep for the rest of my life. I still got better grades than her though

I'm not saying life should be fair, I am explaining why Ofsted don't like it and that it's not the way GCSEs were designed to work. Plus there's only a handful of pupils who do 13 GCSEs

But life isn’t fair. Where has this idea of fairness come from? You can’t make all things equal. Everyone is different.

One girl in my daughter’s year has got 13 grade 9s plus is a musical prodigy with a parent who is a concert pianist who has been able to nurture all her interests. Is that fair on my academic but not extraordinary child? One of the girls in my daughter’s year is a Latin teacher so her daughter for a 9 because of all the extra tuition- is that fair?

No one says GCSE’s are fair nor any qualification for that matter. they are an exam that reflects your ability at the moment you take it. That’s it.

when I was doing my professional exams I was in my early 20’s with no responsibilities so I passed all 18 exams first time with pretty high marks. My colleague had 2 small children and was doing it around them and kept failing. Was that fair? Of course not but everyone is different and has different family lives.

No they won't but is it fair on other candidates for someone to spread some GCSEs out over time and potentially get better results, than those who have no other option than to do 8 or 9 and take them all at once at end of Yr 11?

Ofsted don't like the practice of sitting GCSEs early either. They will challenge and inspect the reasons behind the practice. The concern is that a school's primary motivation for early entry might be to boost its league table performance rather than for the pupil's benefit. So, whilst early entry is permitted for many students, Ofsted will question whether it truly serves the pupil's interests and learning.

I don’t think employers will care how you sit them.

and plenty of people do 2 year course either outside of school (our local dance school does this) or as an extra in school time such as lunch hours or after school. Don’t necessarily have to have done them in year 10 and 11. Sometimes to get the numbers they can offer them to start in year 8-10.

it wouldn't be practical nor good from a boredom point of view for a child to do one after another and in any event the exam sittings are only once a year (aside from resits)

Because GCSEs weren't designed to be sat in Yr 10 and in England you can't sit individual modules, you can only be awarded a GCSE once all component parts are completed.
Some 6th forns won't accept individually sat GCSEs because they were designed as 2 year courses taught in Yr 10 + 11 and then sat together at end of Yr 11. If pupils sit GCSEs individually then they will get higher grades because they only have to focus on that 1 subject, the point of sitting them all together is can you pass multiple tests on multiple subjects sat within close proximity to each other.
Otherwise why not start in Yr 8 and sit 1 each term from Yr 9 onwards?

In your op it seems parent A have 2 children and parent B 4?

the average cost of raising a child to 18 is £275000 (obvo will differ).

I would argue that choosing to have 4 children is what resulted in them not being able to afford the £50 remark.

Wales does more but it has letter grades not Numbers.
Wales has Welsh and 2 Maths GCSEs not just 1, on top of the usual stuff iirc

I think that’s in one sitting. Here it’s common to sit some in year 10, either in full (usually English and Welsh lit) or some modules (sciences and maths) towards the year 11 qualification.

So they still have that many GCSE qualifications but I’m pretty sure that it’s not included in the data that you’ve found.

The process is:
Request scripts back (free or admin cost only)
Ask the teacher to check, they will identify if worth a review and if so which paper
Ask for a paper to be reviewed officially, you get your money back if the grade changes.
Some schools may cover the costs of reviews they think are really worth it.

But yes it is easier for wealthy people to throw money at potentially incorrect grades.

The data shows only 0.1% of the 667,000 pupils sitting GCSEs do 12 and above.
So yes, it's unusual

DS did 12 GCSE’s and additional maths (state school). It’s not that unusual.

@runner2023 yea, I think remarks are quite elitist and due to the cost implication not an option for many families. Some schools used to fund them iirc but with budgets so tight now that sadly seems to be a thing of the past

Its approx 25% who get reviews of marking. That's not "rare".

@FatherFrosty - that seems like a lot - I thought it was usually around 50/60 quid - guess it depends on the board though.

Is this a state school? Shame there's no provision for pupils who can't afford it and are a) within a couple of marks off the boundary (I think only worth it if less than 3/4) and b) have a firm university place riding on it.

I think numbers of pupils who genuinely find themselves in that scenario might not be that huge tbh, the schools really should plan for the rare cases.

I think they are and you raise an important point.
Dcs school want just under £90 for a remark, the school won’t cover it. Not even for pupil premium kids.

It does. OP listed 13 grades ie 13 GCSEs

It doesn’t

At my DC's (independent, highly academic) school they will suggest a review of A-level papers if a candidate got lower than a predicted grade and is very close to the boundary. If it impacts their first choice of university (ie they need AAB but got AAC) they would actively encourage it obviously. It is expensive, and I would hope that a state school would be able to help a young person in the second scenario with the cost.

I do think it's a bit questionable tbh. I see a fair few parents like those the OP mention - ie kids who already have an Oxbridge/RG place but get a review because the want another Astar. Or GCSE students hoping to get from 7/8s to 9s when it's really kind of irrelevant.

Parents should remember than in any review, examiners aren't looking to award extra marks, but to decide whether marking is fair. If a candidate hit a particularly tough or picky examiner the first time around, the second examiner just needs to 'agree' with their marking - which they are more than likely to. Bottom line is that some candidates can and will be marked more generously or harshly in the exams than others - it can't ever be a completely perfect system.

Yes 0.1% do over 12.
390 pupils out of 667,000 sit over 12. The number who sit 13 is even lower. Potentially 100 pupils each year.

Of course most don't. But some do! One of our local state schools puts kids in for 13 routinely and reduce the number if necessary. One of the reasons I wouldn't send my kids there to be honest. My 13 were done back when English was 100% coursework, one of mine was a paver for a second so was the same subject and curriculum, and two were 'fun' ones done in my own time during Lower Sixth.

The average number of GCSEs taken are 9 in the UK.
Average means some will take more/fewer.

This is overview of how many children sit 13 GCSEs: In England during 2022, making up only about 0.002% of the total. For 2024, statistics show that 390 students took 12 or more GCSEs, which is 0.1% of 667,340 students, though a specific number for 13 GCSEs isn't broken out.

Gov.uk data shows that 1.7% of children sat 11 GCSEs and 0.1% sat 12 or more GCSEs.

So like I said, most don't.

At my school (comprehensive) in the early 2000s I did 12, along with about 1/4 of the cohort who did triple science. The remaining 3/4 did double science and did 11. Only a few did less than this - everyone did a language as standard, I’m guessing a few who struggled may have dropped this. Everyone did 3 options, I remember one option basically being a free period but again only certain pupils were allowed to take that. 11 was very much the norm with a significant number doing 12. A friend did Latin in her own time and got 13. She also went on to do 5 levels.

Cutting state school budgets only increases the inequality too. Back in the days before austerity, I’d look at all the years results and any glaring anomaly, as well as anyone close to the next grade boundary, I’d send off for review and the school would foot the whole bill. Nowadays, school budgets can’t afford it, so it’s only kids who’s parents can afford to pay for it that get the review.

I did 13 GCSEs and got 11As and 2Bs… it was in 1998.

dd1 is now 17 but are had a remark as she was 2 marks off a 6 in one subject (all other grades were 7s and 6s). Grade didn’t change. School suggested it and paid - state school.

For something like this, I'd have begged and borrowed and found the money as parent B-and definitely spoken to the school to see what they advised. This had the potential to affect placement significantly.

Loads of grammars do 13 GCSEs, my eldest did. They all do 4 A levels to begin with (and 5 if they are doing FM). Some drop one, many don't,