AQA GCSE English reviews

Following advice here we've managed to get the scripts of my dd's OCR Eng Lit and Lang as she got far below expected (6 and 5)

English Lit is the most peculiar with one mark off a 9 on her first paper and just scraping a 4 on her second. I've read them and despite having an English Lit A level, I can't tell whether the second paper has been marked accurately or not. My dd uses a lot of flowery language and I can only think that despite this it didn't really answer any of the questions properly.

For those in the know, does the pattern of a nearly 9 in one paper and scraping a 4 in another a common thing? To add a bit of context, her other essay subjects-history, drama and RS were 7-8.

I know. I examine for aqa, language (since 2016). For the exam in question.

It appears that this page has not been read, as it has no annotations whatsoever.

I know I’m quoting myself here! I mis-read the original
post and see it said ‘review’ and not ‘remark’. I’ve answered the question as if you had formally requested a remark.

Much bigger weighting on technical accuracy in Language. 16 marks out of 80 on each paper. By contrast, in Literature, there are only 4 marks available per paper. So literature rewards ideas, creativity and engagement with the text more so than punctuation use, sentence variation etc.

Also, students find revision of Literature easier. There is a plot or poem to actually learn. Language is harder as it’s a skills based paper so revision is a bit more of an abstract concept for many.

The texts for English language are also unseen prior to the exam. Some students are very able to learn by rote and regurgitate what their teacher has told them about Lady Macbeth in an essay but the same student may not have developed the ability to apply these skills independently to an text they have not encountered before. English Language - especially paper 2 - is a brutal exam.

In short, I’d ask for a copy of the language paper back but it isn’t massively unusual to see a split like this if a student has, for example, dyslexia (a bit of a leap here from me as you mention DC having extra time)

@Dragonsandcats no problem at all :)
Good luck to him!

@MrsHamlet Thank you for your advice, I do appreciate it.

Thank you. He was planning 4 A levels (incl further maths) so I think a resit will be too much. But definitely something for him to consider.

Less likely, I think. It's either right or it's not.
Someone has to be the "wrong side" of the grade boundary. Those are great grades.

She is only 2 marks away from a 9 in maths and 3 marks away from a 9 in physics. Will she be more successful with reviews on STEM subjects (less subjective)?

@Dragonsandcats he could always resit in November. If that's a serious possibility, get him to ask for the marked scripts now so that he knows what he needs to focus on

1/2 marks away from the grade above then go for it. The exception to this, for me, is grade 4 - you don’t want a remark to lower the grade at this level. Repercussions are too great. It’s unlikely but it has happened.

I haven’t seen the papers, or score on each paper, I just know he was 6 off a grade 6 so unlikely to move up with a remark. It would be fine to have had a 5 in any of his other subjects (except maths and comp science!) but because it’s in english language it just seems to bar him from some of the RG universities (because it suggests his written communication isn’t good enough I suppose). Thank you for your help.

Reviews don't look for marks. Unless there are clear errors in marking, it is highly unlikely to move.

It has to be deemed awarded the wrong level banding for a mark to be adjusted.

So, for example, if examiner A awarded the Macbeth response level 3 and gave it 11/ 30 (well, 34 with SPAG) but examiner B also placed the response in level 3 but awarded slightly higher at 13, the mark wouldn’t change as they both agreed the level of the response was correct.

English is too subjective and it would be too difficult to have to agree an exact mark. Imagine they got a third opinion with examiner C who gave it 12. They have neither agreed with A or B. So do we get in examiner D? (Level 3 spans 11-15 marks by the way)

DD is one mark away from a 9. What should we look for to decide whether to request a review of marking or not?

@Dragonsandcats have you seen the papers? What did he get on each?

You haven't let him down. Someone has to be on the "wrong side" of every grade boundary. And 5 is a good grade.

Ah thank you. So suggests it’s largely pointless then for us. Feel so sad for my ds. He did so well. Seven 8’s, one 7 a 6 for eng lit and a 5 for language and it seems like some of the better unis will be out of his reach for economics degree because of his lang mark. He’s had a tutor but mostly focussed on lit. So annoyed at myself for not realising lang mattered most and focussing on that rather than lit. feel i’ve let him down.

Mis-scanned possibly.

This should be impossible. As an AQA examiner for English Literature (pre-Covid) you have to acknowledge every page in the answer booklet. It’s all scanned in so the examiner gets the pages digitally (a bit like a pdf) You cannot submit the marked paper if there isn’t a comment on each page. Even something as simple as a tick to show you have seen the in written on pages. Very confusing.

Thank you!

All decisions belong to the candidate, as do the scripts. They should be sent to the staff (if that's been requested by the candidate) and the candidate.

A clerical check for English is largely pointless - the computer does the maths.

Once the school has the scripts, can parents and students also see them before deciding whether to request a review of marking or clerical check, or are the scripts only accessible to the school, which then makes the decision?

Of course you could do that, yes.

I'd definitely do that rather just put in for review: the 4-5-6 gaps are small, and marks can and do go down as well as up.

i thought i could at least add up the marks/ check every question was marked?

How will you know if the marking looked rubbish??