Y11 2023/24 thread 5 - results!

School have just phoned me to say that upon review it appears that his English paper is short 20(!) marks - DS has to confirm himself with them but it's going back to the exam board

It makes his anomaly English lang mark seem more understandable if it's that much off

Yes still waiting @PugInTheHouse
The marking does seem really off. I had a good chat with the head teacher of DD's school. He was livid about it. Said GCSE marking is a scandal.

Are you still waiting for yours?

The school just called me to confirm the change in grade, it was his class teacher who messaged before but didnt know the details, they found 4 marks on paper 1 on one question! That seems such a lot to have missed on just one question.

Thank you, that's great!

Congratulations! According to this you will get a full refund on both fees (which you wouldn't have done if you'd sent one paper off, resulting in no change, then sent the second paper off, resulting in a change. So the (albeit unintended!) gamble paid off!

AQA | After results | Post-results services | Review and priority review of marking

I think school sent DD's papers for review on the same day @PugInTheHouse

30th Aug I took the form to school and paid for it so its been quite quick I think. Not sure if they sent it off straight awayor waited to see the scripts first.

That's good news @PugInTheHouse
When did you request the review?

Just heard from the school and my DSs AQA English lit came back from being reviewed/remarked and has been regraded as a 4 from a 3, it was only a mark off overall. Don't know how many marks yet, his English teacher just told me the new grade. We didn't bother to review the papers first so it was a bit of a risk re paying for both papers to be looked at (I assumed the cost was per exam but my son took the form to school and paid £84 instead of the £42 I was expecting) but presumably we get that back now.

That sound very positive, @steppemum! Do come over and join us on the new Y12 thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/further_education/5148656-year-12-202425-support-discussion-and-looking-after-each-other?page=1

Hi all, sorry, completely haven't been on this tread since results day!
I'll go back and read everyone's news in a minute.

Dd as expected failed Eng. Lang (got a 3), but amazingly got all the other 6, and got a 7 in maths (neede for A level)

After a LONG interview with sixth form college, they have accepted her to do 3 A levels with an English GCSE resit alongside. Amazingly there is a resit in Nov, which I had understood didn't exist any more, so she may take in then and then be done with English, which would be amazing.

The learning support at sixth form is also amazing, so much in place for her before we start, eg they are going to meet with her every week over the first few weeks to get her into a work routine.
Doing the prep work they sent out has been really hard as she doesn't work well at home, so she came to work with my on Wed and sat in an empty office and then we spent 4 hours in McDonalds yesterday and got the last bits done.

First day of sixth form today, she went off feeling positive, so I am crossing my fingers for a good start.

I remember at the time that general feeling on AQA at the time was really really positive. I wonder if they set the paper at too easy a level and that’s why the marking is harsher? My daughter did WJEC and comparing with her friends that did AQA on exam day she felt very hard done by on her papers The same feeling seemed to resonate through Mumsnet.

That's a big difference from projected isn't it! I can understand him being upset. There are a few posters on here whose DC have gone up 2 grades. Worth trying for a review if its required for college always but with such a big difference you wonder if its an error so maybe worth it in this instance?!

DSs teacher said he was likely to get a 5 in Eng Lit and he got a mark off a 4 which was disappointing. There definitely seems to be some harsh marking from AQA this year!!

It did make a difference for his college as he needed a 5 to be able to do the course he wanted. He has however got a place on another course and he can resit maths in November as he was one off a 4 there too! It just makes a difference to his mindset that English was his top predicted grade (6/7) and because he got a 4 he said it felt like a failure for him . I told him to forget about it and move on, but actually if it's worth a punt I will just do it just so he doesn't have to look at it every time he writes a job application!

What is the difference between a,4 and a 5? Does it make a difference for college?

I can understand between a 3 or 4, or maybe a 5 to 6 if its for A levels.

DS' teacher for the subject he got the boundary score for emailed yesterday afternoon to ask that we consider a remark and linked to a google form.

This seemed to be a generic form with check boxes for "script" or "remark" for each subject the school offers. Also a covering letter explaining what each was. Why didn't they send this when I first emailed on the day after results day?! Annoying. The deadline for the request was yesterday so if the teacher hadn't emailed we wouldn't have known anything about this.

I've asked for the scripts for the two boundary subjects - one is a sort of essay subject (Psychology) and the other is Chemistry. Also for the subjects where he would like to see his papers for interest (no review). There is nowhere on the form I can differentiate between these two requests though. I will wait and see what happens next...

His teacher has said she thinks there are a few marks in both papers he could get.

That isn't how it works. It needs to be unreasonable marking, not " a few he could get". Some schools are very gung ho with parents' money

Remarks are in for us and DS went up 2 marks in Biology and one in RE, he is now one mark off the next boundary for both so no change in grade... Same happened in music last year. It's like they're doing it on purpose (I know they arent)... Oh well...

Ds is one bloody mark off a 5 in English as well as maths! I'm sending both papers off again. That flipping English grade has caused no end of traumas for the sake of one flipping mark! His teacher has said she thinks there are a few marks in both papers he could get.

We’ve had the scripts for three subjects back where DS was at the boundary - one looks well marked, one looks pretty harsh, and for the other, I’ve already found an incorrectly marked multiple choice question. At DS’s school, any requested scripts are also sent to the heads of department, he returns tomorrow and will just check if they have looked at them or are going to, then I suspect we might submit two papers for review.

Cross posted @Newlease at least it's not just us.

DS would like copies of his English and history papers (he's doing these for A Level) for interest, not for review. He also wants to know his mark for language as it just says D on his results sheet.

I contacted the exams officer and she said I had to contact the appropriate teacher. But the school have switched off all of the cohorts email addresses so DS no longer has his teachers' contact details. I guess I just have to contact the department heads, as their emails are on the school website, and ask them to forward the requests.

My son is on the grade boundary for one GCSE and one mark off the boundary for another but it doesn't matter for his next steps whether his grade is 8 or 9. I would understand getting a review if it were important for next steps but I don't see the point otherwise. Am I missing something?

@Waspie same at DDs school, they are not even talking about review or anything of that sort. I would have thought they would want all the 9s in the world, to stay on their top places or is it just core subjects 9s, who knows

@JessyCarr thanks so much for your reply about the Drama grade post. It’s really good to know about extra curricular activities ( due to various reasons we were not able to continue with one )
She is into science and too early to say on any uni choices but, would try oxbridge I would say, nothing to loose. I am glad the super curricular stuff you mentioned are all in her radar and could easily par take in more in next two years ( where as a music/ football lesson starting now wouldn’t reach anywhere good in next two years!) so that’s such a relief.
@Zonder thats what we said when we saw the results, but I guess it’s on the back of her mind and if it matters to any application in the future, we could review it now, before it gets too late.
@Panic71 that’s really good. I remember reading the GCSE thread last year as well and few people posting about review!