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Original poster

GCSE 2022 Results - the moment of reckoning!

807 replies

Rollergirl11 · 24/08/2022 19:48

Hello everyone, here is a shiny new thread ready for DC’s results day tomorrow and a much needed hand hold for us nervous parents. 🥴🤪

Tomorrow is the culmination of an incredibly turbulent 2 year journey that our young people have had to navigate. Fraught with ups and downs. They have done us all proud!!

Here is a link to the previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4566030-current-year-11-2-more-weeks-of-exams?page=37&reply=119483572

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dee73 · 27/08/2022 08:28

I have twins and they had to really work hard for these GCSEs with me sitting alongside and helping or they would just distract each other so I'm delighted with them passing the lot.
One got 7s 6s and two 5s.
Other got 7s 6s 5s and one 4.

Please can I ask the teachers here is grade 5 a b or a c thanks. Internet search suggested it's both....

The grade 5s were in AQA English which was a surprise as the mocks were higher

I'm totally delighted with their results as this was a tough time. 3 kids, me working from home and homeschooling through the pandemic. The 3 of them had a race to finish the set work and were usually finished it by 10.30am.....🙄

Womblesaremyfavouritefood · 27/08/2022 08:07

We've put in for a review of Eng Lang. Also AQA board. The school recommended it as we were all surprised at the grade given.

MumofSpud · 26/08/2022 23:33

MyOtherProfile · 26/08/2022 23:25

In fact next to where the mark should be for English language there's a D. What does that mean? Hopefully not Dunce 😆

D for Distinction (the speaking part?)

MyOtherProfile · 26/08/2022 23:25

In fact next to where the mark should be for English language there's a D. What does that mean? Hopefully not Dunce 😆

MyOtherProfile · 26/08/2022 23:14

NameInUseAlreadyAgain · 26/08/2022 06:02

We are AQA and no mark on the sheet either

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Sorry yes I see now. We have the grade but not the mark. I wonder if we will ever get it.

NameInUseAlreadyAgain · 26/08/2022 21:57

Alsoplayspiccolo · 26/08/2022 12:51

That’s really concerning, tryingmybest.
Do you know whether it was an issue across all AQA subjects, or mainly English? And was it both lit and Lang, or just Lang?

We have just spoken to the exams officer at our school about another topic, but did ask whether this year’s cohort had had unusual English results. She was very careful in her answer, but suggested they had, as had another school in the area (both selective independents).

DS actually got a 9 for language and an 8 for lit, but given that requests for priority copies of scripts are free, it would be interesting to see whether there is a problem among the cohort’s marking.

Our school have said they believed harshly marked in English papers across the board when I asked for a review of English Lit because DS failed it. He was expecting DS to get a 5 in each. He got a 4 and a 3.

NameInUseAlreadyAgain · 26/08/2022 21:52

MrsHamlet · 26/08/2022 21:04

1PN was poetry and the C19th novel. Centres have the mark breakdowns

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Thanks. Guess that was a lower mark with more wiggle room then. Hoping he gets 1 mark credited to then get a grade 4 and all 10 GCSES passed…..

isitme111 · 26/08/2022 21:52

@marmitecake - Thank you

Lemoncurd · 26/08/2022 21:25

How often does this happen statistically? Son managed to get the same grade in all subjects (not 9's, that would be a bit easier to understand).

Happy but a bit upset that he was only 1 mark off the next grade up for two of his A-level subjects, 2 marks off for another subject. Had been convinced he would get the higher grade based on teacher feedback, predictions, mocks and performance on the day.

StColumbofNavron · 26/08/2022 21:19

Gosh, I haven’t properly caught up, but hope everyone is now in a good place with next steps, even if they were unexpected ones.

Things went well here and DS1’s hard work paid off. Two 7s, six 8s and a 9. He is a man of few words usually but actually said he didn’t want us to read them but he wanted to read them out to us.

He has enrolled at his school’s Sixth Form to study Spanish, History, Politics and Classics for now and seems very happy and is looking forward to the next step and even coming clothes shopping!

MrsHamlet · 26/08/2022 21:04

NameInUseAlreadyAgain · 26/08/2022 20:42

Had confirmation the school have sent in a review of marking for DS Eng lit fail (one mark off a pass)

theyve put it in as “Unit 8702/1PN”. Is this paper one then only? Do they have the breakdown of masks for the two papers so know which one to request ?

1PN was poetry and the C19th novel. Centres have the mark breakdowns

marmitecake · 26/08/2022 20:50

isitme111 · 26/08/2022 18:10

Can I ask if a 4:3 is a pass in science. I know combined science counts as two gcse's but is it possible to pass one and not the other, if that makes sense?

My DS got a 4-3 in science in 2019. I emailed the school's exams officer to ask that same question as I wasn't sure at the time and was told that it was one GCSE 'pass' and that the 3 is not a GCSE pass (although it is still a GCSE, just not a 'pass'j. My DS's college accepted and recorded it as ONE GCSE pass for the purpose of the number of passes needed to get on his course. I checked on the exam board pages too and it said the same although it took some hunting through the finer detail to ascertain.

NameInUseAlreadyAgain · 26/08/2022 20:47

Marks even

NameInUseAlreadyAgain · 26/08/2022 20:42

Had confirmation the school have sent in a review of marking for DS Eng lit fail (one mark off a pass)

theyve put it in as “Unit 8702/1PN”. Is this paper one then only? Do they have the breakdown of masks for the two papers so know which one to request ?

PugInTheHouse · 26/08/2022 20:37

Managed to get marks off the school for DSs PE exam. He got a mark off an 8 in paper 1 and a 6 in paper 2. It was the practical that pulled it down. He was marked at a very very low 4. I thought that was the case as they failed to use half of what was submitted to them in error, the teacher basically tried to cover this up but the fact that he is county level in his main sport and the footage submitted was basically of an achievement that was one of the highest achievements he could submit in that specific sport so God knows how it was marked so low. He got a 5 overall with the 2 papers and practical, 5 marks off a 6.

Nothing we can do now but I am so cross with the school, at least DS knows he did well in the exam. He also was a couple of marks off 8s in other subjects so he is feeling quite confident which is nice. I am more angry about it all than he is. I guess the amount we pay for the school and the nearly 9% increase in fees this year leaves a bitter taste!

DianaGarageDoors · 26/08/2022 20:14

CornishGem1975 · 26/08/2022 19:59

I hear that @DianaGarageDoors about how rare but practically 90% of parents on my FB said their kids got an A*!

Sorry, I expressed myself poorly. 6% of candidates for a given subject (maths, say) get a 9. But of course they take more than one subject.

It may also be that your friends have clever kids. It may also be that the people who got lower grades are less likely to post on FB 😉

Watapalava · 26/08/2022 20:03

This year 22-25% of all grades were 7+

Watapalava · 26/08/2022 20:01

Cornish

im same - more than half I’ve heard got multiple 9s in northern comp

CornishGem1975 · 26/08/2022 19:59

I hear that @DianaGarageDoors about how rare but practically 90% of parents on my FB said their kids got an A*!

pinkroseapp · 26/08/2022 19:18

ShanghaiDiva · 26/08/2022 15:28

Weird results for English for dd too: 9 in one paper and 5 in the other, neither grade being representative of her ability/mock grades. School has requested her scripts. Several other students in the same situation.

Same here, we will be requesting the script.

isitme111 · 26/08/2022 18:10

Can I ask if a 4:3 is a pass in science. I know combined science counts as two gcse's but is it possible to pass one and not the other, if that makes sense?

TheMarzipanDildo · 26/08/2022 17:06

MrsAvocet · 26/08/2022 11:30

I've been thinking about why perfectly good grades are seen negatively. Do you think it is because we are conditioned to only think about things in 3s? I guess a lot of people did exams when A was the top grade, so A, B and C were the passes, and quite a lot of other things are graded as Distinction Merit Pass Fail. And of course in races and sports competitions there tends to be gold silver bronze and unplaced. So is there a subconscious belief that for any result the highest grade is good, the second is ok, the 3rd just a pass and everything else is failure?
I also think it's something to do with the frequency with which the top grades are awarded. If I recall rightly, the A* grade was orginally touted as being something that would be fairly unusual and was meant to be a discriminator between those who had done extremely well in an exam and those who were exceptional. I thought 9s were supposed to be the same, and should be a relative rarity. But they seem to have morphed into something different. Getting all or mostly 9s seems to be viewed in much the same way as a complete set of As at O level was in my day. I didn't really think that was supposed to be the idea, though I could be wrong.
Possibly attitudes will change as this system gets more bedded in and less people remember the old one, but I have to say, I don't think it's been a resounding success so far. In particular I really feel for kids who are getting 4s and treated like failures. I honestly don't think C in the old system was viewed as negatively. My eldest really struggled with maths. When she got a C we, and she, were over the moon. Even though she had higher grades in everything else, that was her big achievement. Everyone knew a C was a pass. Not a great one, but a pass all the same. Good enough, and never questioned. But I think that it would be very different were she getting her results today and receiving a 4. I wonder if things will revert at some point?

I think you’re right. It’s depressing to think that some kids are upset because they didn’t get straight 9s, when they still got straight A stars (or going back further, straight As). Such unnecessary angst really. I don’t see the point of the genius-on-a-good-day grade.

Alsoplayspiccolo · 26/08/2022 16:57

At A level, an A* is awarded when a student scores 90% of the available UMS marks. Depending on the difficulty of the paper, the actual raw marks that equates to will vary but it’s a way of standardising awards from year to year.

DianaGarageDoors · 26/08/2022 16:44

About 6% of candidates are awarded a 9 so it's fairly rare. I'm not sure there's much point having a grade that is awarded only to genius level candidates. How many marks you should be able to drop obviously depends how hard the paper is!

AmyandPhilipfan · 26/08/2022 15:53

I thought that when the new number system was introduced the 9 was going to be a super rare feat. But seeing the grade boundaries it looks like you can miss out on more than 50 marks on a paper and still get a 9. Surely that shouldn't be the case? I would have thought those that miss maybe 0-10 points should get a 9 because they have done truly, truly exceptionally, which is what a 9 should show. And obviously an 8 would also be brilliant but not at 'genius' level.

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