Gcse remark : 2 marks off a 9 does anyone have experience?

[RemakeRemarke]

Apparently markers at the time don't know the grade boundaries... If you send two papers off it's likely one may get marked down and one up if at all.

English marking boundaries are tight, dd is 2 below a 9. Her teacher suggested a remark.

It's confusing, has been re marked and gone up??

Absolutely do not put both in at once!

My Dc high school English department have put all papers to be remarked any paper within 4 points of a grade boundary. They do this every year and no charge to parents. This means both her gcse and A level English Literacy are being remarked.

Yes - you could ask them to have a look at both and then decide whether or not it's worth a remark, or just request one yourself. I'm a second in department and at our (state) school we put in every pupil who is three marks off for English language and four for literature without looking at any of their papers. We pay for these. Last year it resulted in so many improved grades.

An 8 is great what difference to her future would be made if she got a 9? Probably not much so is it worth the risk of dropping to a 7?

@RemakeRemarke does it really matter, an 8 is a fantastic grade! I would leave it personally, there’s far too much pressure to achieve top grades when in reality unless you want to apply for medicine or the like, 5 good GCSE passes including maths and English are all that’s needed.

Very interesting article. Thank you.

I'd do it if I had the money and know it is unlikely to change.

The problem with English compared to say Biology is that it is more subjective to mark.

Most of the answers require some subjective interpretation of the mark schemes and objectivity to which level it has achieved and where in the level to place it.

Unlike biology for example where there are correct and incorrect answers and some more subjective level answers with a lower mark tariff than in English.

There are likely to be no admin errors either as there are only around 6 questions per paper.

There for a review is like to agree it has been accurately marked.

Anecdotally across the board many students at the top end have received 1 grade lower than they expected in many subjects.

So, there will be many students 2 marks from 8 or 9 and those students MN rarely considers 2 marks from 4...(who might be well served checking their grade). We can't leave it because our DD/DS worked so hard and deserves 9. School predicted 9, students can have a bad day, make a mistake..but 'no' the examiner is wrong. We need to push and see if she/he can squeeze the next grade. If it isn't going to make a real difference just leave things alone - teach your child that sometimes things don't go as expected and 8 is fantastic instead of mum and dad complaining and fixing it. GCSE and A level - pushing for the next grade. Once DD/DS gets to university academics will not be engaging if he or she is 2 marks away from First - thankfully!

According to Ofqual's research, published in November 2018, only about 61% of GCSE, AS and A level English candidates are awarded the "definitive"/"true" grade - this being the grade that would have been awarded had a senior examiner marked all the questions. This implies that 39% of candidates are awarded a grade different from the "definitive"/"true" grade - which may be higher or lower. These "non-definitive"/"false" (more simply "wrong") grades are the result of "legitimate differences" in the academic opinions of examiners. So, for example, the script might be given, say 64% by the team that did the original marking, but perhaps 66% had the script been marked by one or more senior examiners. If grade 7 is "all marks between 61 and 69 inclusive", then the certificate shows grade 7 in both cases. But if the 7:8 boundary is 65, then the certificate shows grade 7, even though the senior examiner's "definitive" grade is 8. If the grade 7 is "challenged", a "review of marking" will discover no "marking errors", for there are none - and so the (wrong) grade 7 will be confirmed. And for English, 39% of the candidates - that's about 4 in every 10 - are stuck the wrong grade. Which is especially pernicious for those with certificates showing grade 3, 'fail', but for whom the "definitive"/"true (= "right") grade is 4, 'pass'. On top of all this are the scripts given the wrong grade as a result of "marking errors" (or "admin errors") - but these can be discovered and corrected by a "review marking". The upshot of all this is that grades in general and English grades in particular (even more so for History, with 44% "non-definitive", nearly half), as shown on certificates, are hugely unreliable. And since 2016, when the "marking error" test superseded getting a re-mark on request, most of these grade errors have been undetectable.

@redwinechocolateandsnacks

Did you see and comprehend the part where I said it was the school who emailed her and suggested it?
I didn't even know there were grade boundary and % marks.
Once there school suggested it we investigated. And yes she did works extremely hard, I'm very aware of the students at the other end of the scale but unfortunately I can't personally do anything about them.. I hope a parent or caregiver can assist them in advice from their schools.

She's also fine with her 8 but again she only thought about it because of the school email and why bloody not as many have said much of English marking is completely subjective and it will not impact those examiners life one bit but it will affect my daughters if she's neck and neck for a uni place or apprenticeship.

@bendmeoverbackwards she may want to do medicine we are not sure yet and she may want to go to a top uni where all grades will count.

On second thoughts as the marking is so subjective and already at the top end the reviewer may look to see if the whole of the mark range has been applied and may look for granularity in the top levels.

So yes get a review esp if she is going for medicine and needs all 9s

Reviewers are simply looking to see if there are any errors in marking, and if the marks awarded were reasonable.

Hi.

Wow! You got that back quickly. We’re currently debating whether to get my daughter’s Elizabethan paper remarked. The school feel it was marked a little harshly. She was 3 marks of an 8. Which exam and paper was remarked?

Oh sorry. That was 2 years ago. I think he did a different board. We got Weimar Germany remarked.

Ha! I thought you must have been very keen! Haha! We’re still deciding. I’d hate her to drop a grade