GCSE 2019 support thread 6

@Piggywaspushed just wondering could a teacher ever over rule a re- mark? I had to drop some documents at school yesterday and I ran into the subject teacher whose paper we have requested to remark, she was quite difficult, implying 2 marks off was good enough already and she thought It was unnecessary and just to focus on Alevels. So should we receive an official slip to say it has been reviewed even if for example the grade remains unchanged?

Brilliant - thanks everyone!

I did send him to snappy snaps for the photo and it came with a code that you put in ..and the photo comes up on the screen!!

Just catching up with you .

Been a tough week .
Ds's grades were not good enough so a re think has been going on .

Re passport...ds1 2 years ago when he was 16 . I think I just clicked child renewal and it automatically came with10 years on it .
I ptesume after this it just goes with adult renewal .

Thanks for your input Piggy.

It's DD who first questioned the result so hasn't been driven by me or her dad. In my mind I've ve wondered how the 6 in eng lang might be perceived alongside her other grades - will she not be thought of as a creative thinker or as as someone who has a good grasp of language and can write well but it's not giving me sleepless nights!

She was so very pleased with her lit result that I'm sure she'll move on from this very soon

foslady Like saucery I can't remember which option I chose when renewing DD's child passport to an adult. I just remember it being really simple. I just put in all the existing details, uploaded a new photo, and payed the fee. The new passport arrived within a couple of weeks.

Just to say you can pay for just a clerical check. I can see why you and the teacher would want to see the paper, of course.

Writing too much can be an issue (as can being pithy). The write too much crew, especially girls, have historically been over rewarded. The handwriting shouldn't affect things but it possibly has influenced the examiner. If you are concerned about that going forward, exams officers can apply for laptop use in exams without too much hoop jumping.

The English Language exam is very mechanical. A lot of the students who do better than expected in it are very accurate and very rigid thinkers who can jump through hoops.

I wouldn't call her a rigid thinker but she certainly has an aptitude for applying the correct techniques to fully demonstrate her ability in exams. Jumping through the correct hoops, so to speak. DD2 by comparison doesn't.

But, she's prone to some hastiness, writes too much too fast ( Handwriting is not neat compared to most girls) finds spelling difficult - so, I'm happy to accept she's got a 6 on the day, it would just be good to have her teacher see the paper and confirm that and be sure that a section of marks was not left off the total since she's stood out as an anomaly even with her English teacher.

We won't jeopardise the 6.

berlin what question would concern you? If it's a 'write about language' question and he only wrote about , say, structure, he might well have got very low marks for that Q , but there would be no SPAG.

If he missed the brief on the big final question that doesn't seem to matter quite so much. oddly.

@Foslady she shouldn’t need an interview then. I can’t remember which section ‘first adult passport but not first passport ever’ needs filling in though, sorry. I know I needed to make careful flowchart notes on a bit of paper to work mine out!

I have now seen that there were similar concerns about English language two years ago (and possibly last year too) so I suspect it's just quite a difficult exam and can easily go wrong on the day. However, if I ever hear back from ds' school and he is close to a 6, we might go with a remark.

What I am wondering is whether he just missed the brief slightly with one of the questions, and they were harsh and he ended up with 0 which could have dragged down his grade massively. No good putting together a great answer with perfect SPAG if it doesn't really answer the question.

She is not a rigid thinker. Clever though!

Thank you piggy that is reassuring

@Foslady this time of year is always so expensive it feels like a month of constant paying out! So sorry to hear about your maintenance payments
It will be really interesting to hear what happens with everyone’s reviews. Our school emphasises stresses ‘grades may go down’ we are still requesting one though!

If you are worried, perhaps phone some of he best unis for English and ask them how much GCSE matters : I suspect they will tell you it doesn't.

The English Language exam is very mechanical. A lot of the students who do better than expected in it are very accurate and very rigid thinkers who can jump through hoops. I hate the exam (especially paper 2) as there is little room for flair. And , actually, if examiners slavishly follow and slightly misunderstand AQA's guidelines, they will start actively penalising students for using terminology , even correctly!

It's a dull, dull, dull exam and nothing like an English degree,(it very much came from Gove's fevered memories of a Scottish education!) so the 9 in Lit is a much better indicator of her ability to wow at A Level and beyond.

I taught a girl who got a 9 in Lit and in film, and a low 5 in language!

Ha she got a 7 in maths! And sciences! It's the Eng lang. She did get 8s in Rs and Drama and a 9 in eng lit so it seems odd.

Oh sorry, ligresa just read your post properly..

ligresa, depends on how good you mean and what to study but that really isn't the case. It is perfectly normal , for example, for students applying to do very arty/hums based subjects at high calibre universities to struggle with other non optional subjects , such as maths , and to have 5s or 6s. It's performance in the A Levels chosen that matters most.

Passport will be first adult one, she’s held a child’s one since she was 2 - not sure which link to click on though as it says on first adult passport to be used if never held a passport before

Thanks - sorry, was a bad day yesterday! Managed to source text books second hand, and wardrobe I think finally sorted - most importantly payday tomorrow!!!!
Thanks for the TES link, I’ve now emailed dd’s School. She got an 8 which is great, but has always been her strongest subject and her teacher has always said her grade should be no issues and has been working way above standard so I’m a bit wavering about it now (think the school was collapsing under English remarks on the day!)

I am not remarking but we are getting two scripts back to lool at to see if we can identify things she needs to work on (eng lang and classics). She already thinks a 6 in eng lang has stuffed her chances of a good uni for English.

Just for clarity forty, I am an English teacher!

The reported story (not saying I don't believe it) came from a very disgruntled source, and was refuted by the exam boards.

It is not as unusual as people think to get a much higher grade in Lit than lang (in fact, years ago it was normally assumed a lit grade would be better).

So long as you know you are entering a high risk strategy, and your DC's teachers tell you that, it's your choice.

If I was your child's teacher, I would feel very anxious about looking at a paper so borderline and recommending a remark. I'd be concerned that that would lead to complaints about me if the mark went down.

forty , do you know how many marks your DC needs to gain to go up a grade?

forty , do you know how many marks your DC needs to gain to go up a grade?