GCSE 2022 Results - the moment of reckoning!

Posted too soon somehow - I meant @Akite although it's a shame that she felt crushed by not getting 9s. I think @TeenDivided has a very good point about schools not predicting 9s.

I would probably do it in your shoes too, @NameInUseAlreadyAgain and @House1999 as it could make a difference for their future course. I guess I can see the confidence thing too @aki

I think schools should be banned from predicting 9s. They really seem to cause unnecessary stress and lead kids with 8s to be disappointed. If they were never predicted but were just a bonus everyone would be happier.

Here my DD is 1 mark off on 2 subjects. Neither of them 'matter' as in, she's not doing them at A level and she passed all of them. But she was predicted loads of 9s and didn't get any. Her confidence is crushed. If she could get at least one 9, it would give her a boost.

I think there are various reasons.

I have requested a review, even though 5 marks off a grade 6, because my DD needs a grade 6 to do A levels.

She was achieving higher in her mocks. 5 marks is quite a lot to find but there can be clerical errors and unreasonable marking. She scored about 50 marks less than in her mocks and she said the questions that came up were similar to past papers that she has done. So felt confident that she had done well.

We’ve done it because DS got a 3 In Eng Lit and was one mark off a 4 and a pass

I wouldn’t on any he had passed

I'm interested to know why people request a review. I understand if they were 1 or 2 marks off and it makes the difference between a pass or fail, or if they need the higher grade for an A level or something. But other than that what's the point?

As I mentioned up thread DS missed a couple of 9s by 1 or 2 points but there's nothing to be gained really by requesting a review since it won't affect his A levels or anything.

DD's English was also hugely off from her mocks, though she sat Edexcel - went from 8 in her mocks to a 4. She's gutted as felt it had gone well, so v confused as to how she misjudged it so wrongly. We are not requesting a review unless school recommend it next week, she doesn't see a point as she has passed, so it's fine, but does seem v strange.

That’s interesting to hear, NancyJoan. So not here say, then.

(I dropped off this thread early on, as my DD took A levels this summer and I couldn’t keep up with both threads.)

@Alsoplayspiccolo I remember you from the start of this series of threads. Our DC are at different Indy school in the same city, I believe. Same story with my DD’s Eng Lit.

Here the same

@AnonForThisPost interesting. Ds1 did AQA English lit and came in a couple of grades below what was expected. He did OK though and it was his weakest subject so we are leaving it.

Thank you

@house yes the centre is the school. The exams officer will process the initial request. The scripts in whatever form will go to them and then someone in the centre should look first.
The review, if you decide to do that, will be done by the exam board

Thank you for explaining the process. Could I please check that when you refer to the centre, do you mean school?

I have asked for priority access to scrips for Business but then wondered who will look at it. I thought it would be my DD school teacher. The exam board is EDUQAS so I have to pay £11 x 2.

I have also asked for a review of RE EDUQAS as both subjects she was getting 7’s and 8’s in her mock exams. Interestingly, she had the same school teacher for both who is an examiner also.

She got grade 5 for both, unfortunately she needed these to be at least a 6 so she can do A levels. The two colleges near us only accept 5 GCSE’s at grade 5 or above and two have to be at grade 6.

She really thought she was going to get a grade 7 or 8 based on her mock exams (which were based in 2019 grade boundaries).

I’m very proud of her as she achieved grade 5 in seven GCSE’s and worked very hard and would love to do A levels.

What I’m finding difficult is that the school was closed on Friday and doesn’t reopen until 5.9.22 so no one around to discuss this with at the school.

DD may be the exception that prove the rule - her AQA English Lit was actually higher than she expected (or at least she got her aspirational mark). Has to be said the questions worked out well for her - really played to her strengths.

I'd not sure how there can be an issue overall with the marking of the paper - didn't boards have to keep the grade profile in line with agreed levels (between 2021 and 2019), so presumable the "correct" number of grades of each level are being awarded? Or are you suggesting that the "wrong" children got the higher grades? I think English Lit is quite an interesting one, due to the dropping of one element at a school's choice, the results are not comparable to other years. I wonder if the grades could be skewed towards those who dropped a particular element (i.e. have all the top grades gone to those that dropped poetry and fewer to those who dropped 20C novel?) (I'm just musing; I have no inside knowledge)

I’ve been lurking on this thread to date, but wanted to comment on the AQA English literature. Like some others on this thread, DDs English Lit was lower than expected (in every other subject she did as well or better than predicted). She is at a selective independent where for every other subject 70%+ of the cohort got 9s. For Eng Lit it was c35%. School head is convinced there are issues with the marking of this paper.

@MrsHamlet thank you - will talk to school on Tuesday. I know it's not looking for marks but would be good for her English teacher to take a look and see whether it does look reasonable or not. DD said if he says she just did a bad paper then she'd be frustrated but at least it would be reasonable.

Here too. DS was one mark from getting a 4. School have requested a review of paper 1 Eng Lit only - I just said wanted review and paid £38.35 and assumed both papers but I guess they’ve got the marks for each paper and decided that paper 1 was the low one. Hoping for that one mark - aren’t asking much - to turn his only fail into a pass. It doesn’t matter at all as it’s not Eng Lang which he passed but seems a shame not to get a review based on 1 mark and £38.35. Fingers crossed.

i personally wouldn’t review a pass to get a higher grade just in case went down a grade. His English language he got a 4 but we weren’t given the marks for that one (doesn’t seem many around England did) and so we don’t know if he just scraped it. But it’s a pass, even though it’s just a 4! Not willing to risk it - won’t make any difference to future jobs because it’s a pass !

School emailed yesterday to say they had requested a review on the 2 grades DS missed by 1 mark. It's around a 6 week process. He already got into sixth form so not needed for entry criteria but one is the difference between a grade 3 and 4, the other between a grade 7 and 8. Definitely hoping the 3 goes into a 4!

Thanks @Womblesaremyfavouritefood :)
Always happy to help... I am nerdy about this stuff!

@MirandaWest you need school to request priority access to the script(s) you want. You can't do it. Then someone in centre needs to look at it and advise whether it's worth a review. Reviews are not looking for marks though. If the marks are reasonable, they will stand.

@MrsHamlet You've been brilliant this morning. Many thanks for your advice.

We’re also th inking about requesting a copy of one of DD's English Literature papers. She is very much a level 9 in English Lit and it was one of her three 8s (all others were 9s). It was one paper that really dragged her overall grade down.

I am a bit confused about what we need to do - does school need to request the paper or do we do that am going to call school on Tuesday to try and work it out but I feel that people here are more likely to know immediately.

Also considering the same for RE although there I think the papers were roughly consistent and it’s just that she is a few marks off a 9.

Two friends got all 9s which doesn’t help of course. Plus DS getting better than expected A Level results. And we are a comprehensive in the North of England 😃

Thank you, I wasn't sure.