GCSE English Lit and Language review of marking

A remark simply does not exist. An appeal comes after a review.

"If he did something at a grade 7 it could have been missed" suggests that examiners mark to grades. They don't.

Reviewers are not looking for "missing marks."

Yes you'll have to pay unless the school does.

Thanks, I have sent an email over to request access to them

Four marks over two papers is definitely worth asking AQA for a Re-mark on his English Papers. The tolerance for questions combined with the opinion of the Examiner could mean he's been marked on the low side. If he did something at a Grade 7 it could have been missed, or if his Q5s (Lang) were marked low.

A re-mark is not a Review (Appeal). I'm assuming you've done the free request to see his papers and someone has told you they are short by so many marks? A teacher or tutor can see them and give their opinion on missing marks if not. I generally find that students got the correct grade. If it is worth it, then go for the AQA re-mark (not the clerical one).

You can have access to scripts now for free. If you ask for original scripts you can't then have a review.

My daughter was predicted 6 in both. She got a 7 in both, 1 mark off an 8 in both. I’m putting in for a review for that. Her maths teacher said they will put in a review for her maths. Do I do the English? I also want science looked at. She was accepted into a highly sought after sixth form and they won’t let her do biology with her 7-6. Do we have to pay for all of these reviews?

I agree with this. I'm an examiner and what I see horrifies me.

Not necessarily. Jumps in marks can be big or small. I've had reviewed English papers go up by as little as 1 mark, and as many as 16 marks. I've rarely had papers go down (but this occasionally had happened - not enough to affect the grade though). The majority stay the same, but we've seen some grade increases this year already. We tend to only suggest reviews to parents/pupils for pupils who are near the next grade boundary up, although if there's a big anomaly in the data (eg breakdown of results by question) we might look into that too.

Re pupils wanting 8s or 9s though, we have more success with reviews at the lower end. At the upper end, there are fewer marks left to achieve as they will already have done well on the paper!

The standard of marking across almost all subjects is terrible. The pay for teachers to be markers is not good, yet the fees for exams are extortionate.
someone should so an FOI to see how many of our MPs have shares in Pearson (Edexcel). I’m sure it’s a cartel.

Yes I think state schools asking parents to pay for that is cheeky. It goes back to the discussion of reviews of marking being only for the wealthy! Not for one minute suggesting the teachers should work for free in the holidays. I am immensely grateful that DS’ teacher has taken time out of her summer to do this for us

It's not a big process to request a review of marking from the exam board. Were they reluctant because of the cost? Who pays - if it's the school, I can see why they'd be reluctant. If it's the parent, I can't see the issue.

We have asked for paper 2 to be reviewed for DD's Eng Lang with AQA, as she was 1 mark off a 6. Will look at sending off paper 1 if no change. Can we still request the scripts if we have put in for a review now? I'd quite like to check them as she uses a laptop & have seen quite a few comments about pages not being scanned correctly.

My son did Eduqas English Language. All through school he has scored 8/9 on all homework, end of term exams, mock GCSE's. Came out with a 6, and only by 2 marks - could have been a 5 - according to his teacher which really surprised me. Not having it reviewed as we've been advised it might go down to a 5 which would mean he couldn't attend Sixth Form but I have to say it was a shock since he'd been so consistent before. Achieved 8s and 9s in all his other subjects. We're already having an AQA History paper reviewed as he was only a couple of marks away from a higher grade in that .

Could you possibly send me a link to this please? I've looked for this before, but haven't been able to find this data. Many thanks.

A bit cheeky? Really? How much work do you do for free every year when you're on annual leave? 🤦🏼‍♀️

This is who my school used too. We are in the NE!! They also did a last minute exam board change for some students for maths - something about how the questions are worded. But only certain classes got the exam in the changed board and others went in the original one. Seemed a bit odd. Guess the schools can pick and choose what works best for their students.

Why don't you

Please read the thread.

We’ve put in for a literature review. Got a 3. One mark off a 4. Got a 6 in language so massive difference. Everything else was a 5 except a 4 in one science and a distinction in drama equivalent to a 9. Predicted 5s and past papers was regularly getting 5s and 6s. DD is autistic. Literature is hard for them particularly questions around inference but they seemed to be doing well in the run up. The teacher suggested reassessing paper 1 as that’s where the marks were mostly lost. She said we could then go paper 2 if we didn’t get the extra mark needed for a 4. Still got into college and no need to retake if we don’t get an upgrade. She doesn’t want to retake as well. It’s more that she was so close.

edited to add exam board is wjec cbac

7 marks is high. I can understand one mark, but seven marks is very decisive.

I honestly wouldn't have bothered for a remark for such a substantial number of marks - 7% if it's out of 100.

DS’s English results were the most surprising in his GCSEs this year. AQA. Always got 8 or 9 throughout the course, predicted 8/9. Distinction in the speaking exam. Ended up with 7 in each, and looking at the mark scheme he was only a couple of marks away from 6s. He spend many hours on the literature texts, and felt the Lit exams went really well, was expecting a 9. Very surprising. We’re not going for a remark though, as it’s not relevant for his A levels, and being so close to a boundary his grades might go down!

This is our experience- school immediately said they would send both Lit and Lang off as 1 mark off a 4 on each. It’s a grammar so probably trying to protect their data. Thankfully the teacher requested DS’ permission to look at scripts and thinks Lang P1 is unfair so we sent that one off. Still not expecting a change in mark but feel there maybe slightly more chance given she has looked at it. Who knows, time will tell!

But I think that's because it has nothing to do with how close to the boundaries you are! It's quite possible that had you put kids in for a review that were further away from the grade boundaries, their mark could've gone up.

I work in a school - last year we put 57 students in for a remark on lang or lit as they were close to the boundary (at most 4 marks but a lot 1/2). 3 went up. Please do not get your hopes up!

Ours went Friday morning too, fingers crossed it’s this week- the wait is torture!