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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 · 29/08/2022 18:23

What were your son's best subject grades @Olimpia06?

TeenDivided · 29/08/2022 18:23

In parallel I'd look at the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering & similar in Computer Science. These are equivalent to 3 A levels and there is no reason why he couldn't get 3xDistinction or 3xDistinction Star and get into a good uni that way.

TeenDivided · 29/08/2022 18:24

Or pay for a 'crammer' for a yea to resit maths and computing GCSE, but that seems a bit of a waste of time.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General education Secondary education
Original poster
honeydue3 · 29/08/2022 20:07

We received our maths re-review update and it went up by one mark but grade stayed the same as my DS needed 3 in total. I agree for /Maths 2 or 3 is a stretch but worth it for 1 mark.
He will do a re take and hopefully get a better grade. He really wanted to study Economics and needs 6 but achieved a 5 - he was predicted higher.

Found out he only needs one mark for Language to get the higher grade he needs so fingers crossed for that.
Literature 4 but i think that might be optimistic. Any one experienced getting 4 or more?

It is frustrating when they achieve better mock results as I thought the general trend is that they do better or at least the same.
Why can't 6th forms consider Mock results and predictions in these cases?

OP posts:
Cynderella · 29/08/2022 20:17

Sixth forms I've taught in do make exceptions, but most will try to avoid it otherwise the entrance requirements would become a nonsense and parents would (quite rightly) complain that someone else's child was treated differently.

Mocks are a guide, but different schools have different strategies. Some teachers will focus their teaching on the questions they've set while others won't. Some schools have departments of very experienced teachers who are examiners and others have more NQTs. It wouldn't really be fair to use mocks.

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 20:50

Hey, can you apply for a retake in November for more than one subject ?

TeenDivided · 29/08/2022 20:55

I think November is only for maths and eng lang, though happy to be corrected.

SeasonFinale · 29/08/2022 21:00

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 20:50

Hey, can you apply for a retake in November for more than one subject ?

Only Maths and English available for retake in Autumn term, any other would be next Summer.

Re Mocks grades- these exams are set by schools. They may score higher in these if the harder topics have not yet been taught. Many schools mark mocks more harshly so kids knuckle down. The problem is when schools don't and kids get 8/9 in gcse mocks some kids settle back and don't work as hard because they think it's in the bag.

I

PeekAtYou · 29/08/2022 21:03

My son had his English Lit paper remarked 4 years ago and he went from a 4 to 6. They had forgotten to mark a question. He was a mark away from 4 and hoping for a 5 so this was a nice surprise.

SkygardenTower · 29/08/2022 21:20

@Olimpia06 what grades did your son get, not just the average?

Also, what does he want to do going forward? Physics opens all the same doors that engineering does but you will have options.

If you are paying then would you consider boarding schools a little further afield and weekly board?

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 22:10

He got 77 in double science, he enjoys physics and it is his strongest science, got a bronze in Physics Olympiad in year 9, it was his reserve A option , 6 maths, 5 computer science, 6 Engineering

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 22:12

@ Skygarden Tower Boarding is not an option

MargaretThursday · 29/08/2022 22:15

Dd1's had remarks in statistics GCSE (2 marks needed) and Further Maths Alevel (1 mark needed)
Both went up.

What she did in both cases was ask to review the papers, looked at them with the marks' scheme and saw the marks she needed were there on one paper and so put that paper only in for a remark.
The school said they'd very rarely had anyone change more than 1 mark in maths/stats.

Rupertgrintismyguiltypleasure · 29/08/2022 22:44

20 years ago I was 3 marks off of a b, my teacher told me they were sending it off to have it remarked. Turns out they missed 8 marks. Its defo worth the shot.

savehannah · 29/08/2022 23:40

@honeydue3 wow I can't believe it happened that quickly. Did you put in for a review through the school or direct with the exam board? I sent an email asking the school exam officer about it and haven't even had a reply yet. The information online just seemed to say you had to do it through the school. I assumed it was a thing that would take ages!

Olimpia06 · 29/08/2022 23:45

Yah I did the same, through the school and haven’t had a response yet,

Cynderella · 29/08/2022 23:45

savehannah · 29/08/2022 23:40

@honeydue3 wow I can't believe it happened that quickly. Did you put in for a review through the school or direct with the exam board? I sent an email asking the school exam officer about it and haven't even had a reply yet. The information online just seemed to say you had to do it through the school. I assumed it was a thing that would take ages!

Exams officer often work part time and do extra hours in May/June that they take off in July/Aug apart from results days. Ours was in Thurs and is off now until after the start of term. In my last school, the exams officer also had another admin post - two p/t jobs to make one full time, so was about all the time.

Original poster
honeydue3 · 29/08/2022 23:53

Through the school, our Exam Officer said some will be working over the weekend.
Still waiting for the English though, AQA are slower as I think they have more of a back log and takes longer to mark English papers I guess.

OP posts:
CherryMaple · 29/08/2022 23:58

DD had one paper from her RE GCSE remarked - I can’t remember how many marks she was off, but it was a few. Went up from a 6 to a 7.

Nellle · 30/08/2022 00:02

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?

Could you let me know where you got this info that they have changed the system from re-marking to reviewing please? Thanks x

Nellle · 30/08/2022 00:04

OP, in written subjects like English the marks can change wildly. I've known them to go up 10+ but also down that many. I hope you checked the size of the grade boundaries before sending for the remark and good luck! 👍

surreygirl1987 · 30/08/2022 00:38

I have processed hundreds of reviews of marking over the years. To find 4 marks in English would be super super super rare

I've just been told one of my pupils has gone up by 11 marks...

Original poster
honeydue3 · 30/08/2022 00:38

I think it depends on how flexible the school is, some are strict with their policy and accept higher grades than other.

He doesn’t want to take maths A level but he needs the maths GCSE to take Economics.

OP posts:
surreygirl1987 · 30/08/2022 00:39

Could you let me know where you got this info that they have changed the system from re-marking to reviewing please?

She's right. I'm a Head of English and this is definitely the case now. I got the information from my school Exams Officer.

Original poster
honeydue3 · 30/08/2022 00:41

I think it depends on how flexible the school is, some are strict with their policy and accept higher grades than other.

He doesn’t want to take maths A level but he needs the maths GCSE to take Economics.

OP posts:
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