To be beyond livid about this exam cockup

[pouffepants]

Ds pointed out to the teacher when the timetable came, that for biology he had an 'f' next to his name indicating foundation tier. All the other papers were at higher tier. He and one other boy had the same mistake.
They were assured it was a typo.

Fast forward to today, and he's been given foundation paper, despite doing all the higher work, and taking higher mocks and getting b's. He tried to argue it, but was yelled at and told to do it. It was obviously easier but was work he hasn't done, or revised for, so he thinks he probably hasn't even got a 'c'.

This is the end of a long line of cockups by the school. What can we do?

Yes I think the marks are all combined - don't think it voids the whole lot. But it puts pressure on him to do extra well in the other subjects to raise his overall mark, which isn't good.

School will be horrified.

Really ?

Doesn't sound like it!

If he's getting Bs, then by definition he is supposed to be entered for the higher tier, surely ?

There doesn't need to be any buck passing or "investigation" into which teacher is or is not responsible.

His prior grades mandate absolutely that he takes the higher tier.

At my DCs school the students are given an exam entry slip which they have to sign as being correct and return.
Do all schools not do this?

i got a phone call back from a completely different teacher this afternoon, the deputy head, who I've never had anything to do with, and ds hardly knows.

Fudging and lying appear to be the order of the day. He insists it was an intentional foundation entry, since ds was getting low grades in biology. He evidenced this by producing an old paper from yonks ago, where he got a d. However, I still have the sheet from the actual mocks, which shows him getting a in physics, b in biology and c in chemistry (a high c) so if he was to be put in for foundation for one surely it should be chemistry.

Also, ds has been attending extra sessions put on for revision just for higher tier candidates, would someone not have pointed this out to him? He's spent all his revision time working on the higher stuff.
On a positive note the grades can be combined, so all is not lost, and the teacher gushed about the fact that ds did amazing in the isa (?) whatever that is, getting an a*, so if he does well with the other 2 papers, he can still get a b overall, but the pressure's on.

He said he can't comment on the teacher saying it was a typo, but would get him to phone back this afternoon, that's not happened.

He insists that ds was in full agreement with this, but ds denies any knowledge, hence being shocked and angry in the exam. I can't see any reason to disbelieve him tbh.

So, they are trying to cover it up.

Probably best to contact the exam board directly.

Not good.

At our school, form tutors go through the exam timetables & explain things like F & H suffixes.

On a more basic level, as a subject teacher I make damn sure they know which tier they're doing - 'so UNLESS I have individually spoken to you about Foundation entry, you want a HIGHER paper which is WHITE. If anyone attempts to give you a YELLOW Foundation paper, immediately query it' etc etc.

It does sound like a perfect storm of clusterfuck tbh. HOD should be in the exam hall. Invigilator should know to immediately contact EO or HOD.

The student should have been asked to wait until the tier was clarified, then given extra time or isolated to sit the paper.

If you don't get a more satisfactory response from the school, I'd be writing to the Governors. For starters. Absolutely NOT good enough.

Is it AQA ?

This is their answer:

What do I do if a candidate is entered for the wrong paper or the wrong tier?

What do I do if a candidate is entered for the wrong paper or the wrong tier?

You need to contact the exams officer at your centre, who will then contact our Entries department. You'll need to have details of the candidate number and name, the subject, and the component or unit codes so that the exams officer can see exactly what amended entry should be submitted.

Can you call a meeting with the head and his science teachers? It sounds like they are hoping you will go away.

You need them to admit it and promise that they will mention the mistake on his UCAS reference if needed. (Or his job reference or whatever)

You need them to confirm their mistake in writing.

They're not going to admit anything Irritating.

No, I don't think they will either

ISA is an internal piece of coursework done by pupils. It involves doing a practical experiment and then answering questions on it ... marked internally and then some papers sent off for external moderation.
I hope that your ds has been able to put this behind him (while you continue to find our the whys and wherefores) ..and best of luck to him in the rest of his exams....

how was he entered for the wrong paper? is there someone with the same forename or surname he could have been mixed up with? did that someone else sit the higher paper when they should not have and not realise/bother to say something?

You must have some documentary evidence from the school (eg report) showing his predicted biology grade.
If you can produce this showing B or above then game set and match!

OP Did you make any progress today?