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Original poster

Unexpected English Lit result

45 replies

Zib · 29/08/2022 17:09

Dc got three grades below his prediction. This was quite unexpected. Any other parents or teachers seeing odd results for Eng Lit? Dc's predictions were exactly spot on for every other subject. Is it worth us asking for a re-mark or should we put it down to some exams not going well.

OP posts:
surreygirl1987 · 29/08/2022 19:28

International GCSE? Is your child in a private school. International GCSEs have changed this year for English. There's a push to try to bring them more in-line with GCSEs (there's a general belief that IGCSE is easier than GCSE). There was a big research project in, I think, 2019, but nothing could happen until now. I don't know about CIE as haven't checked, but Edexcel IGCSE grade boundaries are tougher than they were in 2019, so grades are lower. 3 grades different is extreme though - most are getting a grade lower than anticipated.

fyn · 29/08/2022 19:27

When I was sent to Oxford for a week by my school as a part of a programme for potential law students, we were told that we shouldn’t bother applying if we had anything less than all A*s at GCSE. That was 12 years ago though so things may have changed!

ClumpingBambooIsALie · 29/08/2022 19:07

clary · 29/08/2022 19:04

@ClumpingBambooIsALie I think a D at GCSE in your degree subject tho is a bit different from a 6 (=B) in Eng lang or lit when you are getting 4 x A-star in maths (related) A levels with a view to a maths degree.

My point was that giving an example of someone who went to Cambridge with a low GCSE grade in something doesn't tell us anything about getting into Oxford with a low GCSE. Yeah Cambridge can be quite flexible sometimes (as with me), what's that got to do with Oxford? They may or may not be fine with it, but giving an example of something that happened at Cambridge is irrelevant.

Blossomandbee · 29/08/2022 19:06

We had the opposite - an unexpectedly high grade.

clary · 29/08/2022 19:04

@ClumpingBambooIsALie I think a D at GCSE in your degree subject tho is a bit different from a 6 (=B) in Eng lang or lit when you are getting 4 x A-star in maths (related) A levels with a view to a maths degree.

clary · 29/08/2022 19:01

Honestly then? I wouldn't be too bothered; one 6 amid 8 or 9 9s will not stop him applying to Oxford or Cambridge. How close was he to a 7? You can ask for the paper (free I believe) and have a teacher have a look to see if they think the mark was reasonable then maybe go for a review.

dizzydizzydizzy · 29/08/2022 18:58

Ask the school about it. They may recommend a remark especially if it is very close to a 7.

Fantina · 29/08/2022 18:55

Oxford puts more weight on GCSE results than Cambridge does.

ClumpingBambooIsALie · 29/08/2022 18:49

clary · 29/08/2022 18:35

what grade did he get OP? Mate of Ds's is at Cambridge despite getting (MN clutches its pearls Grin) a 6 in Eng Lang. He is amazing at maths so they obviously and reasonably were OK with his perfectly good grade in English.

Oxford and Cambridge are different. I went to Cambridge having got a D in my degree subject at GCSE (albeit many years before). Oxford wouldn't have stood for that.

Original poster
Zib · 29/08/2022 18:44

He got a 6. It could be that he needs to revise more as another poster suggested, but I know he was quite diligent and that he'd got full marks on a number of his essays in Y11. He got 9s for 9 other subjects so it was out of the ordinary for him.

OP posts:
clary · 29/08/2022 18:35

what grade did he get OP? Mate of Ds's is at Cambridge despite getting (MN clutches its pearls Grin) a 6 in Eng Lang. He is amazing at maths so they obviously and reasonably were OK with his perfectly good grade in English.

Hawkins001 · 29/08/2022 17:54

Zib · 29/08/2022 17:25

Child does/did have hopes of Oxford... not an A Level subject.

Could be a lesson that they need to do better and revise more, rather than just presuming the predicted grade is the one they will achieve ?

Cleopatra67 · 29/08/2022 17:53

We do this exam board and there was some odd marking on the Shakespeare paper. Fellow teacher at another school has had more serious issues. Talk to the school and ask for their advice.

youlightupmyday · 29/08/2022 17:51

We had this for Eng lang. A nasty surprise..

formulatingAresponse · 29/08/2022 17:49

We also had this scenario with English. Mocks were 8/9 so makes no sense at all

Original poster
Zib · 29/08/2022 17:25

Child does/did have hopes of Oxford... not an A Level subject.

OP posts:
clary · 29/08/2022 17:23

What grade did he get? Is he planning to take it for A level?

Might be worth asking for a review of marking but it is not a remark. And you pay unless it goes up.

I know it is hard, but having gone through this x 3, a GCSE grade here or there (unless it is pass or not, or an A level target, or child has hopes of Oxford) is not important in the bigger scheme of things.

MaryJoLisa · 29/08/2022 17:16

Mine did - Edexcel, mock was a 7, last piece of classwork was an 8, got a 4. She was very disappointed.

Original poster
Zib · 29/08/2022 17:15

CIE English Literature IGCSE

OP posts:
littleducks · 29/08/2022 17:11

GCSE or a level and which exam board to compare