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Original poster

Eng GCSE grade oddities

220 replies

Sausagesandpeas · 25/08/2023 09:10

DD consistently pulled 9s in her English Language mocks but has come out with a 6 in her results yesterday. She said she’d thought the exams went well. I am requesting copies of the papers to see if there is anything glaringly odd going in. Is it worth asking for a review? It just seems so odd.
Didn't get chance to talk to school staff in the bedlam yesterday.
Thanks

OP posts:
Whatames · 25/08/2023 10:44

@dutysuite
i teach English Lit and Language A Level. Language is definitely harder so really don’t understand why with a lower grade would study English Language rather than literature.

dutysuite · 25/08/2023 10:39

We are really shocked by the grades, my son was pulling 7s and has come out with 5s, we are currently having English remarked as suggested by the school - he was going to be studying English Lit A Level but he will have to do English Language now instead. I’m in the process of trying to query his food grade - we’re not too bothered because he isn’t using food for anything but to go from an 8 to a 5 doesn’t feel right…might be that the course work hasn’t been marked?

IndiganDop · 25/08/2023 10:17

@Zaaarrr
Fyi your daughter...many many many years ago my sister got an unexpected C for English Lit. It was her favourite subject and she was gutted. Her school was just as confused as she was, let her do A level anyway, and long story short she got an A and went on to study Eng Lit at Oxford.
Once she was allowed to carry on to the next stage, it never mattered again.

Interestingly, my DS got an unexpected 9 in Eng Lang. Always around a 6 in teacher predictions, mostly because he didn't get enough written. They did let him use a laptop in the exams and I think it must have made a huge difference! I always thought he was better than a 6 in terms of his style and voice. He got a 9 in both papers, almost exactly the same mark.

YellowDots · 25/08/2023 10:15

Thank you @MrsHamlet .

MrsHamlet · 25/08/2023 10:04

YellowDots · 25/08/2023 09:55

Why is English Language the only one without a number grade after it?

Because there is too much data for school systems like SIMS to cope with - thanks to the spoken Lang mark.

The mark exists but you will have to ask the exams officer or teacher for it. It's a known issue and not of the exam board's making.

OvaHere · 25/08/2023 09:57

We've discussed this a lot in the GCSE thread. DS dropped from an 8 to a 5. He's 3 marks off a 6 so school are reviewing. A 6 is still way below what was expected though.

It seems to have happened to a lot of the English top setters. In our school most seem to have come out with at least one grade lower than predicted.

Conversely some DC predicted lower grades have done much better than expected.

Various theories are being discussed in the other thread. Could be the change to exams a few years ago, looking at last years thread there was a similar but less pronounced inconsistency.

Another theory is that the reduction of 7,8,9s being awarded this year has pushed a number of the upper end students downwards.

It feels 'unfair' on an individual basis but I accept that statistically speaking that may not be the case.

YellowDots · 25/08/2023 09:55

Why is English Language the only one without a number grade after it?

boysmuminherts · 25/08/2023 09:47

My son was expected a 5 or 6 in AQA English Language and got a 3.

ittakes2 · 25/08/2023 09:42

check the grade boundaries first too.

Toohotrightnow · 25/08/2023 09:38

Same here and for several others, predicted 8/9 and got 6.

HollyGolightly4 · 25/08/2023 09:35

It's horrible @Zaaarrr. Honestly, the marking is all over the place. If she likes it, she'll do well at A Level I'm sure.

Zaaarrr · 25/08/2023 09:28

Thank you @HollyGolightly4 for that as yesterday I did not really know what to advise her.

It's her favourite subject and she very much does want to do it at A level. She wasn't expecting a five at all

Smoothbananagram · 25/08/2023 09:26

Is it AQA? We had a few disappointments at the top end as well. They can be all over the place! Last year we had a significant number go up. Definitely worth considering a review. Have a look at how close she is to the lower grade boundary as it can go down as well as up theoretically.

HollyGolightly4 · 25/08/2023 09:25

Zaaarrr · 25/08/2023 09:24

My dd got a five and she was expecting a seven. She did AQA. She was planning on doing it for A level so it's sent her into a bit of a tailspin.

If the college will allow it, she should definitely still do it. It's totally different to GCSE and much better!

Zaaarrr · 25/08/2023 09:24

My dd got a five and she was expecting a seven. She did AQA. She was planning on doing it for A level so it's sent her into a bit of a tailspin.

MrsHamlet · 25/08/2023 09:23

English lit is marked online. Clerical errors of that kind (unless they're keying errors) are rare because we don't do the adding up!

teativezzzi · 25/08/2023 09:22

Yes, look at paper to check it's been added up correctly then if it's not a glaring clerical error, speak to school about a review. I'm seeing lots of discrepancies like this in English (and Maths) this year.

HollyGolightly4 · 25/08/2023 09:18

Definitely review. The English language grades are really odd.

Softdressesandblouses · 25/08/2023 09:15

Yes, a 3 grade discrepancy like that should be reviewed.

MrsHamlet · 25/08/2023 09:13

Don't ask for a review until you've had the papers looked at