Re-Mark of English Language

The teachers will have the question papers

Got the script back, but no question paper, so difficult for me to gauge is response to a question

IsobelRae - is the low mark on the final question (writing?). If so, it is easy to drop the grade for the whole paper.

The writing mark scheme is very subjective and there was quite an outcry this year over marking standards for writing in particular.

Without trying to compare with the mark scheme, have a read of the answer and consider whether it is good quality writing:

• is it an appropriate length for the type of writing? (2-4 sides is usual)
• does it do what students were asked to do?
• is the tone and style right for the intended audience? (Think about who would be likely to read the type of writing, eg an article, and whether they would be attracted or annoyed by the style.)
• does it flow? Are the ideas clearly connected or does it jump from topic to topic? Is there a clear storyline or line of argument?
• do you like reading it? Does it make full sense? Is it varied and interesting?
• is it largely error-free?

If the answers to all of these are 'yes' then send it back. If you answer 'no' to a few, it's quite likely that the mark is accurate enough for the board to make no changes.

Hi IsobelRae23
I reckon Eng is subjective. Son’s teacher is an AQA examiner and he will give a clear view on son’s performance, once we get the scripts next week

I have the paper back and I have worked out the individual marks for each of the five questions, specifically, grade 9, grade 9, grade 3, grade 8 and grade 3 (part level 2 and part level 3). We are in the same position as you Portico and near the lower boundary - don't want to risk the drop to a grade 6 - but really? Grade 2? He got level 9 in English Literature and the other Eng Lang paper. I just struggle to see how it's a level 2, not that I know anything, but it seems so odd. The school is not keen on remarks so I am on my own a bit here. Any AQA Eng Lang examiners I could PM please?

@portico Surely that’s madness when they are closer to the lower and not upper boundary. Or have you wrote it down incorrectly? If not, stay with their marks, or you may find you’ve dropped a grade on them all.

portico Why on earth would you look to remark Eng Lang when you are closer to the lower boundary than the higher one? Similarly English Lit you are 2/5ths of the way down. Why risk the 7s which are excellent grades in their own right?

error - retyped typo in bold

Hi Arewedone
Congratulations on RS. May I ask a qn please. Which board is RS with. Reason I ask, I want to know if anyone has had an AQA remark.
My DS achieved AQA GCSE Eng lang grade 7, 7 points from a grade 8, and 3 points drop to a 6), and Eng lit grade 7, 6 points from a grade 8, and 9 points drop to a 6). We are looking to remark.
Have requested scripts, so can go through with Eng teacher before working out next steps

Hi Arewedone
Congratulations on RS. May I ask a qn please. Which board is RS with. Reason I ask, I want to know if anyone has had an AQA remark.
My DS achieved AQA GCSE Eng lang grade 7, 7 points from a grade 8, and 3 points drop to a 6), and Eng lit grade 7, 6 points from a grade 8, and 3 points drop to a 6). We are looking to remark.
Have requested scripts, so can go through with Eng teacher before working out next steps

@pistachio I would say go for it you are so far away to drop grades. Our surprise that out of the 2 RS papers the one she felt she did better on remained unchanged and surprisingly the one she was unsure of is where she picked up the marks. It’s expensive where there are multiple papers but then you don’t pay if the grade goes up!

@Arewedone That's great news - Really pleased for you. As you say , worrying that it could have been so wrong first time round but good it's all sorted.

We're still dithering about what to do. There are 3 remarks we're considering.

English Lang. 1 mark off an 8. Would need to lose 9 marks to drop to a 6.

Biology. 1 mark off a 7. Would need to lose 18 marks to drop down to a 5.

English Lit. 3 marks off a 7. Would need to lose 13 marks to drop down to a 5.

Just can't decide whether it's worth the risk of them going down! Wish I wasn't so risk averse.

We’ve just had RS back, up 8 marks so from an 8 to a grade 9, was 2 marks off originally.
Out of 2 papers one came back unchanged. It is worrying that this could be a Uni place at risk if it was A levels!

^Mistaken, ignore me!

With AQA, if you recall the paper you can’t then request a review of marking can you? Has anyone had a GCSE AQA review back yet?

we are having a look at eng language aqa too. Son got 9 in Eng Lit and 7 in Eng Lang BUT in Eng Lang one paper was a 9 and one was a 5! So it is strange he did so well in one paper and not as well in the other. We are recalling paper he got 5 in just to check!

portico our school won't look at anything that is greater than 2 marks off the next grade up. The only deviation to this, is where one paper is vastly different from another, and from the students usual mark. We have this with one of our subjects, with a 90% paper and a 60% paper. We are getting the 60% paper back to see what went wrong, either with DC's answer, or with the examiners marking.

As I stated in an earlier post, the appeals process is deeply unfair. And it will remain so until one of two things happens.

(1) Someone takes Ofqual to court on the grounds that the statement they made on 11 August that "more than one grade could well be a legitimate reflection of a student’s performance" (see www.gov.uk/government/news/response-to-sunday-times-story-about-a-level-grades) is an admission of their failure to fulfil their statutory duty "to secure reliable assessments", as defined by Section 22 of the Education Act 2011 (see www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/21/section/22).

(2) Parent, schools, universities and employers kick up such a fuss that the authorities have to listen.

If you know a good lawyer, try (1).

And under all circumstances, how can as many people as possible be made aware of this great injustice? See, for example, www.thetimes.co.uk/article/revealed-a-level-results-are-48-wrong-xsj33jvnh, www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/can-children-trust-a-level-results-used-think-son-opened/] and www.hepi.ac.uk/2019/07/16/students-will-be-given-more-than-1-5-million-wrong-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-this-summer-here-are-some-potential-solutions-which-do-you-prefer/.

It is a possible A-level choice, and it is a grade 7, one mark off an 8. Performance was similar on both papers so I’d be paying to send both off

My son was predicted 9's last year and got two 7's - both just a mark or two from an 8. Teachers advised us to get the papers back for them to look at which we did. Teachers reviewed them and said they were both worthy of a 9. So we applied for a review, and they both came back unchanged. So, in our case, lots of money wasted for nothing.

Surely a 7 will still get them into sixth for to take it at A level?

@SqueakyPig Have you made a decision about a remark or not yet?

We're in the same position as you. 1 mark off an 8 for English Language and trying to decide whether it's worth going for a review of marking.

His teacher thinks it could be worth having a go so we have requested online scripts of both papers back for him to look at before making a decision. But anecdotal advice from the exam officer at school is less encouraging. Apparently none of the AQA A-level scripts they sent off for review came back with a positive change and one even went down by a couple of marks.

Just wondered if anyone else has gone ahead with a review yet this year and had the paper back yet?

Am being spooked by all the tales you can find on the internet of marks going down by huge amounts too. (Am usually hugely risk averse).

We had DS’s eng Lang paper reviewed last year. He only needed a couple of raw marks to go up to an 8 but he was awarded 15 extra marks. Crazy.

Got that all wrong... 1 mark from a 6, 1 mark from one 8 and 3 marks from another 8. If school are suggesting we pursue this, should we?

School have said that we should request a ‘review of results’ (remark) as he is 1 mark from an 8 in Chemistry and 3 marks from a 6 in Spanish. Are you all saying that we shouldn’t? He’d have to lose around 10 marks to go down a grade. He’d be devastated if the current 7 that’s 3 marks from an 8 went down to a 6 esp as wanting to do at A level. Likewise if the current 5 went down to a 4 when it’s only 1 mark from a 6!

Hi Darbs76

Yes, my first step is to request the marked scripts for papers 1 and 2 - then get the English Teacher to review. We will then take it from there

I wouldn’t take the risk if he can drop into a 6 with just a few marks. We are getting a review (1mark off a 9) but need to drop 18 Marks I think to get a 7. We are (on advice of teacher) requesting the 3 papers and teacher will advise which one. Can you do that?

It does not affect His A Levels, but he is keen on Oxbridge - and he wonders whether the 7s in Eng Lang and Lit are a deal breaker.