Challenging Teacher's Controlled Assessment Mark GCSE

Yes, that was my understanding as well - it's been a while since I've taught but while they couldn't redo one as such they could answer a different question.

Good luck to MasterDancing

Yes, the rules are that once marked, you can't redo another assessment with the same title. But can do another v similar from a selection - e.g describe the scene at a busy market becomes describe an airport terminal.

Most eng depths will offer opps to write additional CAs in year 11 to improve grades. It's in the teacher's interests to get the best grades possible from her group so if she feels your son could have done better, she will almost certainly give him another go.

Calm down op

My DS has redone 2 out of the 4 English Language controlled assessments and the Eng Lit one to improve his marks. It is worth doing so they go into the exams with the best possible start. Most English teachers are very helpful particularly if the pupil is keen. However if your DC is in year 11, then you have very little time left. Contact the school ASAP.

The comparison with the childs work is fair. If my son was getting As and then dropped down to a C I would query it without expecting to be pulled up on my own lack of knowledge about either the subject or my written English! In other words - it isn't about the OP, but about her son.

Oh, and I didn't 'berate' I pointed it out and expanded when asked by the op.

She's claiming to know better than the teacher what grade her child should have been awarded for an English piece - based on comparison with other child's work and checking the mark scheme. Your English needs to be really good to assume a grade from that!

I don't understand why the op is being berated for making mistakes. After all, it isn't her CA but her son's!

I think if I were you I would ask if my son could submit a different piece. :)

mayfriday The OP is quite clearly summarising in shorthand not writing a flippin' essay! Pedants' corner is situated in the topic 'other stuff'.

Moderation takes hours because the exam boards request a random sample of work and therefore the marks awarded have to be as consistent as possible.
Instead of complaining about the marking, a better approach would be to talk to the teacher and ask about whether it is worth re-doing as your DC was very disappointed with their mark. Teachers do make mistakes, but this is why we have internal moderation and it really isn't in anyone's interest to mark down controlled assessed work there is too much riding on it especially in English.

Yes - to get a 9 or 10 the work needs to be almost flawless in terms of grammar, spelling, sentence construction and whole text construction. As you haven't seen the final piece, you have no idea whether this was the case.

If you have written in, the piece of work will have been moderated by the HOD. As other posters have pointed out, whether or not a "personality clash" exists, departments are under huge pressure to get the best possible results, so it is far more likely that marking of CA will be as generous as possible.

I also second the advice that you encourage your child to work whether or not they like the teacher. It's not a personal relationship, it's a professional one... Teenagers (most human beings ) obviously find that distinction difficult.

There are lots, and more in subsequent posts (you don't use 'the' where it needs to be used for example) I don't teach English but it really is obvious that your take on your child's work wouldn't be accurate enough to even guess at a grade.

Believe me the teacher's concern will be for your dc to get the best mark possible as her pay and progression depend on getting good results. Students think that it is personal because they are immature and to them it is personal. Unfortunately by accepting your dc take on the fact that they didn't do as well as they would have liked you are reinforcing this rather childish way of thinking. If your dc has decided that they dislike this teacher then there is every chance that they are not taking her teaching on board and are perhaps not working as they should in class. I have seen this happen. Child dislikes teacher so decides not to work for her or him. Your main focus here should be to get your dc to understand that their attitude may be affecting their progress rather than talk about personality clashes and other such rubbish. I would also imagine that the piece of work has been looked at by now, given your email to the HOD. I think you have done yourself and your son no favours in approaching it like this. As a teacher I would be very offended to be accused of deliberately marking a student down because they didn't like me. I remember a parent telling my then head of year that there was a personality clash between myself and a student. I didn't see it myself. All I could see was a student who wanted to call out, make jokes and generally sabotage the teaching of the others.

Well as you haven't actually seen the work, and don't know what the final grade boundaries are you haven't really got anything to go on have you. Do you really think the teacher is going to risk her cohort getting lower marks and put her career in jeopardy just so she can get her own back on your child?

Here's a thought - he didn't do as well as he could have. You have been told why and what he needs to work on.

Unless you've seen the whole final written piece then you really can't be certain that it has been incorrectly marked.

Individual pieces of work can't be sent for external moderation, a random sample of the whole cohort will be sent which could contain your child's work (but also may not).

It's unlikely that a teacher would and could get away with deliberately marking a students work down. If it is mistakenly marked down then internal moderation should pick this up. If you are certain that a mistake has been made then ask specifically for another teacher (HoD probably) to look at the work and confirm the teachers marking. They may agree to this if you ask, but they don't have to.

No point asking for external moderation - this is part of the process, and as PP have stated, no one wants to risk the whole cohort being affected by a rogue high/low mark.

It is more likely that the marking is accurate than it is that the teacher has an axe to grind with your DC.

It may just be that your DC doesn't do as well in this style of writing. Teachers work to a mark scheme. If you haven't seen the work then I'm not sure why you think it deserves a higher mark.
Oh and please don't go into school blaming a clash of characters. Students are there to learn. Teachers to teach. Suggesting a character clash (unless the teacher is a complete arse) reflects poorly on your DC.