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Original poster

Help! GCSE Paper Re-Mark advice

162 replies

honeydue3 · 28/08/2022 15:02

Hi, Has anyone had any luck going up a grade in their GCSE after a re-mark/check? My son is missing 3 marks off a higher grade in Maths and 4 marks in English.

My DS is feeling down as now he has to change 2 of his A Level choices. he did well in his other subjects - 6 and 7s but he needs the 6 for Maths and English.
We are also applying for retakes in November but not sure how successful that will be as he will be studying his other subjects.....any advice very welcome.
One very stressed Mummy!!

OP posts:
RampantIvy · 28/08/2022 15:04

Is he planning on taking A level maths?

HipsterCoffeeShop · 28/08/2022 15:09

3/4 marks is a lot to find.

Schools do speculatively apply for reviews of marking for children 1 or 2 marks away. Sometimes it comes off, most times it doesn't. But this isn't really what the system is for - it's to try and catch massive howlers in marking. The predicted 8 student whose result was a 4 etc.

They changed the system a while ago so you don't get papers remarked now, just a check to see if it looks ok basically. If you offer to pay however I'm sure the school will do the paperwork though.

Just be aware that grades can go down as well as up.

LIZS · 28/08/2022 15:10

If his school thought him capable despite bring a 5 would they not have offered him the A level anyway? Tbh taking A level Maths even from a 6 would be a challenge.

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TeenDivided · 28/08/2022 15:11

They aren't remarks now, they are reviews.

With a remark, whatever the second marker says goes.
With a review, the marks only change if the first set of marks were unreasonable.

If he resits how will that help with A level choice? He won't get the results until January and it would be too late to swap then.

Could he do his current choices at a different school / 6th form?

Original poster
honeydue3 · 28/08/2022 15:14

He wanted to study Economics and Psychology, He also did better in his mocks so was a bit of a shock.

I was told it is unlikely to go down a grade if only 3/4 marks away so I am hoping its worth it.

OP posts:
countdowntonap · 28/08/2022 15:21

If he’s previously don’t better in his English mocks, and the teachers can see a discrepancy across his papers then a remark is worth it. We have students with grade 7 equivalent on two papers but less than grade 4 on the third paper - this isn’t in line with their previous mock performance and so that paper will be challenged.

However, we also have students who have (somehow) gained ridiculously high marks on one of their papers which has boosted their entire grade - I suspect incorrect marking, but of course would never mention these papers!

xyzandabc · 28/08/2022 15:28

I have processed hundreds of reviews of marking over the years. To find 4 marks in English would be super super super rare. It is not a remark, it is a review of the marking (this changed a few years ago). They do not remark the paper, they review the marking of the paper, i.e has the initial marker applied the mark scheme correctly. As long as the mark scheme has been applied correctly then they can not change the mark, even if the reviewer may have marked slightly differently had they been the initial marker. This subtle difference comes in to play much more with subjects like English.

Maths, it's either right or wrong so a review of marking in maths is essentially the same as a remark. 3 marks is still a lot to find, but not as much as 4 marks in English.

Our rule of thumb is it's worth trying for a review if you're 1 or 2 marks off a grade boundary, maybe 3 at a push. More than 3 marks we'd advise against unless the grade was very surprisingly low for that student and the teacher thinks there may be a fundamental error in the marking such as maybe a page/question was missed by the board or they've added up incorrectly etc.

If either subject was taken with Edexcel (or AQA as well this year), then I'd advise asking for the papers back. Then asking asking a teacher to look at them. Maths is obviously very straight forward to see if there might be a mark or two missed. English not so easy but if it's 4 marks he's needing then if they were missing, they might be more obvious than just one mark. If teachers think it's worth it, then take their advice on which paper to get reviewed.

I'd advise against getting them all reviewed as 1. It's expensive and 2. I have seen more than one instance where a student gained 2 marks in one paper, but lost 2 marks in another paper, so overall their grade didn't change, even though they did get 2 extra marks in one paper

Edexcel is free and instant for school to get the papers back. AQA is also free, though not instant, I haven't had any back yet from AQA so not sure of their timescale.

savehannah · 28/08/2022 15:40

@xyzandabc any idea about drama? Dd was one point off a 6. Graded as an 8 in the exam but low marks in the graded performances. (There were reasons for this but there's nothing I can do about it now) But I'm wondering how they can review marks on something as subjective as a drama performance.

xyzandabc · 28/08/2022 16:14

savehannah · 28/08/2022 15:40

@xyzandabc any idea about drama? Dd was one point off a 6. Graded as an 8 in the exam but low marks in the graded performances. (There were reasons for this but there's nothing I can do about it now) But I'm wondering how they can review marks on something as subjective as a drama performance.

If it's the performance mark you are querying, you can't have a review of marking on that. You can only have the written paper reviewed which would come with the same caveats as English, it's a review of the application of the mark scheme, not a remark of the paper.

NEA units (non examined assessment eg drama, dance, art/music/tech/pe etc) are marked by the teacher, then moderated by the exam board, so have already been looked at twice so no scope for a review of marking. If the schools marking has been changed by the moderator, they can apply for a review of moderation, but it can not be done for individual students, only the whole cohort. It's expensive and time intensive for the school and not often done unless the school have very good reason to think they have a good chance of grades going up.

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 17:19

Hi everyone, I am one of the desperate shocked mum with a son in crisis,…..
his GCEE grades didn’t match the expected results and he hasn’t got a place in the Six form . He has been at this college since reception and we were handed a list of schools on Thursday and tolled to try and get him a place somewhere else. He’s overall grade was 5.70, the passing school grade is 6, …..we are appealing for English as advised by the school (5/4) but they said even if his grade will change they have got a suitable profile for him. They were handed out the wrong papers in Maths and Computer Science. I can’t find any six forms to take him on, so so disparate, haven’t stopped crying since Thursday
need urgent advise , thank you

gatehouseoffleet · 29/08/2022 17:26

We got a remark for my son's English lang in 2019. He had a 5 and needed one more mark to get a 6. He got it.

His school also advised that he was three marks off a higher grade for double science, but he had 7s and didn't want to do science for A level, so we left it. If they'd not found any extra marks it would have cost us well over £200.

The English was worth it because some A levels and degrees require a 6.

TeenDivided · 29/08/2022 17:26

@Olimpia06
What subjects is he wanting to do at A level?
What were his best results?

Is this a private school he has been at? Have you looked at all state 6th forms within 1hrs travel (1hr is a standard door to door for 6th form colleges here in Hants where there are no school 6th forms).

Do you honestly think he is capable of A levels? Have you even looked at BTECs and considered them?

What do you mean handed the wrong papers for Maths & Computer science'? Was this resolved before the exam was taken? Was special consideration applied for and given?

gatehouseoffleet · 29/08/2022 17:28

@Olimpia06 where are you? There must be sixth forms that will take your son?

I live in Hampshire so we have sixth form colleges with very flexible entry requirements in general; but I am sure (state) sixth forms exist everywhere that will take kids with a 5.7 grade profile! Are you only looking at private schools?

formulatingAresponse · 29/08/2022 17:34

DS asked me to request scripts to look into possible remarks for 3 subjects. He has the grades he needs for the A Levels he'll be doing but is very miffed as to why these 3 subjects are lower than expected when he was acting the mocks.

Something feels very off to him and it's upset and confused him.

I can only imagine how gutted your DS is and yes I would access the scripts and his teachers to take a look and decide whether it's worth sending off to be remarked.

I feel like they've been a bit f@@ked over.

It doesn't make sense getting 8/9 in mocks and far lower in the actual exam.

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 17:37

he is/was at a private school in south east London, A level choices Engineering, Computer Science, Maths and Economics. They were given a list for the subjects that some curriculum will not be assets in and tolled don’t worry about that just revise the rest, he got a 7 in first paper in Computer science and a 4 in the second, that had 70% of the curriculum that shouldn’t be assets in, same in maths first paper. He has 7’s in sciences , 6 maths and 5 computer

delilahhey · 29/08/2022 17:38

We work in education.

you can definitely be optimistic for English, I’ve known grades to go up lots. Maths is unlikely.

However, doing Maths A Level with a 6 (that’s a push!!) will be very difficult and I strongly advise against even trying this. We run a Maths company, the stats show why a grade 6 shouldn’t do Maths A Level….

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 17:40

he is/was at a private school in south east London, A level choices Engineering, Computer Science, Maths and Economics. They were given a list for the subjects that some curriculum will not be assets in and tolled don’t worry about that just revise the rest, he got a 7 in first paper in Computer science and a 4 in the second, that had 70% of the curriculum that shouldn’t be assets in, same in maths first paper. He has 7’s in sciences , 6 maths and 5 computer, we are looking everywhere with in 1 hour+ commuting

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 17:45

He was expected to achieve a 7+ in maths and at no stage last year or during the last 4/5 years the school has suggested he needs help or advised not to do the A levels he chose, I am so angry with them,

TeenDivided · 29/08/2022 17:59

@Olimpia06 Are all the maths/computer science grades down at the school (which maybe could imply wrong advice by the school), or just a few including your son (which maybe might imply he misinterpreted the advance information wrt what would/would not be included in the exam)?

NerrSnerr · 29/08/2022 18:04

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 17:40

he is/was at a private school in south east London, A level choices Engineering, Computer Science, Maths and Economics. They were given a list for the subjects that some curriculum will not be assets in and tolled don’t worry about that just revise the rest, he got a 7 in first paper in Computer science and a 4 in the second, that had 70% of the curriculum that shouldn’t be assets in, same in maths first paper. He has 7’s in sciences , 6 maths and 5 computer, we are looking everywhere with in 1 hour+ commuting

When you say everywhere are you looking at all options? Are you looking at FE colleges (just because I know some private school parents look down their noses at these).

If he's been at the same pace for 12 years maybe somewhere new doing something new will be good for him.

Yesnoormaybe · 29/08/2022 18:04

It is worth asking for any exam paper to be reviewed. A friend son did pure maths paper and failed his grade. The school said there was no point in a review because their is only one answer. Anyway they did instist that the review took place. Turned out her ds had missed out a whole question. Whilst it didn't change his grade I am quite sure he never missed out a question in an exam again. So pp your dc could have missed a question out and would be super vigilant next time.

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 18:08

To be honest I don’t know what the general marks are for the school on the e subjects, he did feel flustered regarding the material that shouldn’t have been added in the papers but overall he felt confident with his exams hence the big shock, we did not expect this at all but the schools approach is a well is black on white on the paper nothing we can do

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 18:15

No not just private but most six forms don’t do engineering or computer science which he really wants to do, even if we replace maths with physics in which he had a 8, you still need a 7 in maths to take on physics

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 18:18

I will ask for all to be review to be honest but the school said, like somebody here too, that maths is maths you can’t get it wrong

TeenDivided · 29/08/2022 18:21

There were threads on the secondary education board at the time re whether exams matched the pre-information. My DD wasn't sitting them so I didn't pay too much information.
I remember some fuss about Physics but that was resolved by them saying everyone would get full mars for that question. I don't remember a big issue with Maths or Computer science, but as I say I wasn't paying full attention.
I do remember some misinterpreting of the pre-information.