Gcse 2021 anyone appealing?

We've started an appeal for one of DDs grades, if nothing else to than make a complaint about her being led to believe she was going to get a grade 9 (the teachers shouldn't have said anything, plus the kids were told that they wouldn't get a grade lower than the mock), and then being awarded an 8. It took the shine off her results yesterday, as she knew that she'd had a 9 in her mock plus another for one of the three other pieces of evidence used (only one mark lost), but she can't remember exact marks for the other two, just that she was top of the class. The other lad in her class who was also led to believe he'd get a 9 also got an 8. Which is fine, but we're all cross that she was effectively told otherwise.

We have the form for DD to fill in, I'm not sure it's worth pursuing it with the exam board but I do think there's an issue with the teacher/school here.

Following, as we are considering how to proceed with a couple of DD's subjects. Have requested info for main one asking how it was arrived at.
(Another situation where unusual evidence / special consideration has been needed.)

Those mentioning that kids with additional needs have had poor treatment... this is detriment, and having additional needs should not cause detriment. If the way this year’s assessment have been run have caused detriment to them then this is surely grounds for appeal?

The autumn series will be a normal exam series as far as we know. I've been asked about my availability to mark my normal paper.

You contact the school (probably the exams officer if you've not been told someone else) and you ask them what their process is for appeals based on the fact that they do not appear to have followed their own policy.

[quote MrsHamlet]@kackle they have to abide by it BUT each school has their own policy, which you should have been shown.
The JCQ info is here: www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/JCQ-Guidance-for-Students-and-Parents-on-Summer-2021.pdf[/quote]
Yep. That’s the one I have got. Page 35 refers to

As the range of evidence is flexible and can be tailored to an individual student according to coverage of the specification, then instances of special consideration should be limited. Centres should be able to select work completed by a student where they were unaffected by adverse circumstances.

Our school tag policy says

Details of mitigating circumstances are recorded and where illness or other personal circumstances might have affected performance in assessments used in determining a pupil’s standard of performance, HoDs will be directed to take account of this when making judgements. To ensure consistency in the application of Special Consideration, teachers will reference the document:
JCQ – A guide to the special consideration process, with effect from 1 September 2020

*note this document is an old version which talks about normal % uplifts in standard (non covid times exams**

This is also included from the TAG flow chart document from school

‘
Evidence of mitigating factors. Check Deputy Head list and pupil interview comments - if evidence added/substituted, complete a variation form “

No substitution evidence was included for my daughter as per the school tag policy or JCQ guidelines

Where do I go from here please?

@kackle they have to abide by it BUT each school has their own policy, which you should have been shown.
The JCQ info is here: www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/JCQ-Guidance-for-Students-and-Parents-on-Summer-2021.pdf

@MrsHamlet - no data sheets were sent home.

Can the school ignore the JCQ guidance or do they have to abide by it ?

Apologies for my use of the word predicted above - I meant awarded. Summer holiday brain atrophy has already kicked in!

Head of department here - do bear in mind that the exam boards did reserve the right to adjust grades. All schools were asked to send evidence for checking. If the exam board didn’t agree with a school’s grading procedures, and found their marks to be wholly out of line with previous cohorts, the board could have moved grades up or down from the teacher assessed grades. Don’t assume the grades are exactly what the teachers predicted.

A conversation needs to be had with the school. If the grades have been adjusted by the exam board, then the appeals process is going to be different than it would be if you feel that it’s the school that haven’t followed procedure.

@kackle If the policy says it will, and it hasn't been, absolutely.
The school's job is to get the best results for their students. Annoying them really shouldn't come into it! There will be someone on the staff whose job it is to deal with this, probably an assistant or deputy head. I know that our person would be able to explain the process and the steps (because we had some queries when we sent our data sheets home, and I had a very long conversation with them about one of my students). If we've messed up, we will own it.

Subject one evidence used grades of 9,9,9,8 and awarded an 8

That seems odd, unless there's additional evidence.

Subject two grades of 7,7,6,5. Awarded a 6

The mean of these grades is 6.25, so that would seem to make sense.

@MrsHamlet I’ve been through the policy with a fine tooth comb. And am awaiting a reply from school.

My daughter had to sign something to say what grades they would be considering and there was only a box on it with a tick for special consideration

Can I push the school as to why no evidence was substituted and why JCQ guidance wasn’t followed or wil this just annoy them ?

Nothing helpful to add but I want DD to appeal one of her grades too. It was a mark below her mock score. Seems very unfair when they were constantly in and out of school, no revision classes and under so much mental pressure. I don’t know whether a retake might be the best option though.

Posted too soon!
If that gets you nowhere, then you go to the board.

In that case @kackle, you need to start by contacting the school and asking them to review how the grades were awarded.
You should have been told how they were going to do it - I know we sent the policy to all parents and it's on our website.

@MrsHamlet thank you. Mitigating circumstances were accepted by the school and a couple -% awarded.

But they have failed to take account of JCQ guidance

Page 35 categorically says

As the range of evidence is flexible and can be tailored to an individual student according to coverage of the specification, then instances of special consideration should be limited. Centres should be able to select work completed by a student where they were unaffected by adverse circumstances.

Their TAG policy makes mention of substitution of evidence ( I know they have class tests etc as I have copies of them with my daughters marks)

My point is - they don’t appear to have followed the JCQ rules ( so they have to follow them?) and substituted evidence

Is it likely that if school don’t play ball, I can tell the exam board they haven’t followed procedure and they will review?

mine is thinking about it, but we don't know how to proceed.
He says it's more of an ego thing.
He was expecting to get a 9 in Chemistry, got an 8 and he doesn't understand how or why; he finds Chemistry very easy and did finished in 45 mins and is convinced he made no mistakes.
not sure if it's worth appealing

@kackle I had two students who had missed an assessment which subsequently "counted".
Our policy allowed for substitutions under certain circumstances (they had to have been completed under the same conditions as the thing they were replacing, mainly).
For one student, I had that, so it was a case of doing the paperwork and subbing it in.
The other had nothing I could sub in. They also had no mitigating circumstances.

School should have told you how they were working out the CAGs before they sent them off. If they've not followed their own policy, you should definitely appeal.

It's worth a try, @deathbollywood - although I'm surprised that they didn't keep hold of the papers they were using for evidence.

The evidence used for one of ds' grades is the mock exam, however, the mark shown is incorrect and 10 marks lower than he got. he has the original paper. Surely worth appealing on grounds of administration error? can't see how he can be downgraded in this instance?

Worth speaking to the school to find out how close he is to the grade below as an exam board review will not be taking into account how well his teachers know him either.

Lastly it had to come from him if he wants to appeal. If he doesn’t want to you can’t override that. He had to sign the forms.