GCSE English Lit and Language review of marking

@Poisoningpigeons i’m also following this from general interest on reviews rather than specifically for English. I don’t have any specialist knowledge, but as a parent my thoughts would be that with 3 marks off and 3 papers to choose from, how would you identify which was best to submit? Has she got a decent margin above the next boundary? And is there a paper she did noticeably worse on compared to how she felt it had gone? Or have you or she looked through the papers if you have a copy to see if there are any obvious places marks might be picked up.

Maybe worth contacting the exams officer and asking how best to proceed as the original suggestion came from school. I’m not sure I’d want to pay for all 3 papers on the off chance though.

Hopping on here so as not to clutter up the Yr12 thread, I am feeling quite conflicted and unsure - hope it is OK that the subject is not English!

DD is 3 marks off an 8 in geography. On results day her school contacted her to suggest getting the scripts (3 papers) to see if it was worth reviewing. She did that and sent them to the head of geography, but then heard nothing more from the school. The complication is that DD has left the school for a new 6th form. So the lack of response from her school could be a combination of (1) her being slow and reluctant to engage (2) the school not prioritising ex-pupils (3) DD having lost her school email/Teams account.

I didn't realise we could send the papers without the school's input, but previously I wouldn't have considered it without a teacher's opinion anyway (I think...). Now I'm wondering whether we should do this? I feel like I shouldn't (at this point) ask DD as she has been like a wounded bear about this result and I don't want her to feel like we're putting any pressure on her. But I can't help but wonder "What if??"

So brilliant to hear positive results here especially those for whom plans were on hold or disrupted.

We just got our scripts back from teacher who recommends we get them remarked (both lang and lit, both papers 1 only).

For Lang, I’m nervous as shes just scraped into AO 3 for as many questions as where she’s on the border for AO 4. So I worry it could go either way (although she is only two mark off the 7 boundary). This is her favourite subject and the one she expected her best grade in and she’s now not taking at alevel. But I am nervous it’ll go down even more! Both papers look very similar.

For Lit I’m not sure we’ll bother despite a huge discrepancy between the two papers and only one mark off the overall boundary as that’s an 8/9 move and she’s picked this up for alevel instead and enjoying so far.

Any advice welcomed! Ultimately I think it’ll be her call and she’ll say not to bother.

Good luck to those still waiting.

As a teacher, it can be equally baffling sometimes. Students who perform very well in class and mocks can wind up with low marks on the day, and students who amble along suddenly shine on exam day.

The inherent subjectivity of assessing language use is part of it, but there also seems to be inconsistency in how much implicature markers accept. Some seem (based on observation, not special knowledge) willing to accept an incomplete explanation as evidence of understanding, while others want every detail stated explicitly before they concede a point.

did the teacher view the papers and recommend not to go ahead with the review. I am currently in the same situation but in maths she’s 3 marks away from a 4.

We did, as only 3 marks off, had scored their predicted grade in mocks, and came out of the exam saying that it went well. It didn’t seem to add up. Besides, trying to get through to teachers on the holidays is nearly impossible and we didn’t want to wait, given that a successful re-mark impacted where they would be studying.

Now heard back re Eng Lang - both papers reviewed and also went up by 7 marks in total, so also gone up one grade (Pearson/Edexcel). I'm surprised (but delighted) that both subjects went up by 7 marks. Seems like Pearson English papers might have been undermarked in general.

Got the scripts from school at long last! DC has Level 2 short answers and also for their longer descriptive piece this gives me some hope that they potentially could shift levels.
@MrsHamlet and other examiners please can I check the process. The reviewer receives the script with existing marking which they then either agree is in the correct level or not. Marks per question only change if it is put in a different level.
If an answer was given a lower level grade 3 could it shift to an upper level 3 or not as still in same level?
Thanks

It's the most senior and experienced people.

Has anyone proceeded with a review even if a teacher didn't recommend proceeding to review?

Unfortunately we just heard back that AQA English Language has stayed the same. DC was one mark away from the higher grade. DC is asking the teacher tomorrow whether to submit the other paper (they advised to submit this one without us asking).
A few of DC’s friends have gone up a grade in AQA English Literature.

When papers are reviewed, it it just by one person? Or is each question potentially reviewed by a different examiner?

Plus are reviews done by a senior team?

Agreed. I used to spend 100s of hours pre-reviewing papers to give parents more informed advice, and my opinions bore no real correlation to outcomes (despite being an experienced examiner myself). So we stopped looking at the papers and just suggested chancing it! Seems to work and saves loads of time for me!

Oh yeh we've had loads of pupils' marks go down, but never by a whole grade. But we don't pre-review the papers, just suggest to parents they send them in if they're within a couple of marks or so from the next frade boundary. We've had quote a few grades go up from this approach, though the majority have remained the same (and as I say, some have gone foen in marks)!

Hope he can resit November - good luck 🤞🏻

A 33% grade change for English and nearly 70% in Economics makes me think their markers pool isn't very good either.

But I do agree, seems more parents willing to pay for reviews for OCR

I suspect the OCR component might also be the type of students who do OCR; it is more prevalent iirc at independent schools where perhaps parents have the money to request reviews more freely

the % of review changes isn’t that out of line with others but the requests are a lot higher

Oh right - I was going to say my brief trawl didn’t show it up. But not looking at medicine

Apparently some Medicine degrees require a 6 in English Lang - I know a couple of kids who resat last year, trying to move upwards from a 5.

Which degrees ask for a 6 in lang?? I had a little nosy and only ever saw 6 or 7 in maths. Didn’t look at many. Congrats btw

EDEXCEL English language papers came back!! Both went up a total of 6 marks (3 marks each) - grade 4 to a 5.

DC is over the moon and now does not want to do the resit. I feel it’s worth going for it as some degrees ask for minimum grade 6 and you don’t loose anything.
anyone gone for a resit with a 5?

English language remark came back unchanged so still a grade 3. He's got to go in for an assessment at college on Thursday so hoping they'll put him through for November resit as he was so close to a 4.

Sorry to hear. How long to come back? Waiting on Eng lang aqa

english language remarked and no marks found..booo

Just to add to the data – just got a review of marking back for DD's Eng Lit Paper 1 (Pearson), and she went up 7 marks, from an 8 to a 9. Obviously the original grade was very good but her English teacher got in touch to say it was worth having it looked at as she felt it had been marked harshly, and was 4 points off the higher grade.

Also got both papers under review for Eng Lang (also Pearson, 2 marks away from a higher grade), but no outcome yet.