Please or to access all these features

Secondary education

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

IMPORTANT info about remarks (A-Level and GCSE)

29 replies

polarpercy · 27/08/2016 15:08

I've seen a few threads with posters talking about getting remarks where grades were close to boundaries. There have been rule changes this year which mean:

  • marks will only change if there has been an error in marking (in totalling marks or applying the mark scheme)
  • marks will not be changed just because a second marker would have interpreted the answer or mark scheme differently.

The Guardian sums this change up quite succinctly.

Ofqual have also set out their reasoning for this change with the argument being that it creates a fairer system so as not to disadvantage schools or students who cannot afford to pay for remarks.

OCR also set out what this means for parents/students or schools seeking a review (not remark) of papers. Edexcel also provide a handy summary for students.

Please do speak to your school/son or daughter's school before going for a review of the exam paper, as with the changes it would seem that grade changes are more unlikely.

OP posts:
LadyPenelope68 · 01/09/2016 14:08

I agree Fernie, a 1 in 5 paper marked incorrectly is totally unacceptable. Seems these markets need better training.

LadyPenelope68 · 01/09/2016 14:07

We've had a remark back today for DS's AS level. A in one paper, U in another, resulting in an overall result of D when predicted A. Second paper has been remarked and DS awarded an overall A!

Huge cock up/error in marking that paper for sure, absolutely disgusted by the whole thing.

FernieB · 01/09/2016 14:01

It does seem a bit harsh, but just to let people know - we've just had a GCSE paper remarked and got the result back today. DD was 2 marks off the higher grade originally and she has now been awarded it, so you can still be successful. Exam board was AQA.

errorofjudgement · 30/08/2016 07:03

Thanks for the link to the Guardian article. I'm astonished that OFQUAL have made these changes, if I read it correctly, according to the article 506k challenges resulted in 90k grade changes, that's nearly 1 in 5 or 20%!
How the flip are students and parents supposed to have confidence in a system that incorrectly grades 1 in 5 papers? And that's based just on those who appeal so the true figure could be much higher.
My DS would've lost his university place if we hadn't been able to appeal and a re-examiner (who is a senior examiner I think) found that DS had been denied 12 marks on 1 physics paper, so hardly a ringing endorsement of the first marker.