AIBU to not pay this exam 'remark' fee?

[nandio]

DD got a C in one of her history A level papers (the one with the biggest weighting). She got A*s in her other 2 papers; this was her working-level prior to the exam.

We requested a review (they don't call it a remark) and the mark was unchanged so we ordered the script. As DD was planning to study for a degree in history she wanted to know where she had gone wrong; she felt that this paper went as well as the other two.

When she saw the returned script the first thing she noticed was that the booklets had been scanned in the wrong order with the third booklet scanned in before the second one.

She wrote to her teachers asking for their feedback. They responded but did not address the booklet order and even went on to discuss her marks incorrectly i.e. not matching the right mark with the right essay.

Has anyone else ever had this happen? Did you pay up??

[SarahAndQuack]

I don't imagine markers toss it off as quickly as possible, but having marked essay-type exams in volume myself, I can see very easily how one could get confused.

If an answer runs across two booklets, you won't necessarily even have the introductory paragraph to guide you - it could be quite easy to think the student has rambled rather than you having marked half of one essay that suddenly gives way to half of another.

(OTOH, if the questions are end-stopped in the booklets, this is less likely, and I wouldn't know for A Level whether or not that happens.)

[LIZS]

Is it not well past the deadline to appeal for reconsideration now? Which exam board as some papers are now viewable online. Did she label the answers correctly?

[lanthanum]

Here's a theory, although I don't know how the marking is organised.
Scanned document has the following ordering:
Q1, end of Q3, Q2, start of Q3
Each marker has gone to where their question started and marked what they saw - but the Q3 marker assumed, when they reached the end of the document, that the student had run out of time, not realising there was more earlier in the document. Low mark for Q3, pulling down overall score.
It could have been a variation of this, eg Q1 ran into booklet 2, so the Q1 marker didn't realise there was more later.

I think your best bet is to make an appointment with the school's exams officer, as they will know what procedures there are. I think the usual rules on paying for reviews/remarks is that the money is refunded if they result in a grade change.

[Medievalist]

Parents can’t deal directly with the exam board

Are you sure? Admittedly it was 5 years ago, but I emailed an exam board direct and got a response from them. That was in relation to a mistake in the question paper which threw ds and others off as it didn't make sense.

[rhubarbcrumbles]

YANBU not to want to pay but if getting a C grade means she will miss out on a place at university to read history then I'd pay it - it's her whole future you are talking about.

[tillytrotter1]

I mark scanned papers, if there's an indication that the papers are out of order they can still be marked according to the ms, the answers are presumably numbered, although it's easier to do that with short maths questions.

[newmumwithquestions]

So I’m not in education so can’t comment on how things are marked... but .. if something looks wrong (unexpectedly low mark), and out of the ordinary (papers scanned wrongly) then it’s logical to assume the 2 could be connected.

Definitely investigate!

[Cremebrule]

I remember having a wierd history result (back in the day). All my modules were an A and one was a D. I thought it had gone quite well. I don’t know why it wasn’t remarked but I re-sat it, thought it had gone worse and got an A. I didn’t believe I should have got a D at that point and still don’t. Your daughter is probably a good judge. I’d just try and pay for the remark and get things sorted.

[RhymingRabbit3]

@lanthanum
I mark GCSE papers so its possibly different, but if we are making question 1 and someone has written the answer to question 2 in the wrong place we are supposed to flag it up. Same if an answer from a previous question seems to have over-run onto a different page. Otherwise this sort of thing would happen all the time

[nandio]

Those of you saying investigate it, we did by getting it remarked. There was no change in the mark and that is why we are being charged. There was also no mention of the scanning error and teachers were shown the returned paper. They commented that 17/25 was a bit mean for a question, suggesting that it would score 20 but in actual fact that was the question that was awarded 14/25. DD’s place at Cambridge was depending on this and I am so disappointed that the school did nothing but are now emailing me multiple times asking for payment.

[nandio]

@LIZ she did label the questions correctly. You are right that it is past the deadline. DD accepted that the remark meant she hadn’t done her best )despite being proud of her essays when she read them again) and just drew a line under it.

[coconuttelegraph]

I don't think your primary issue is whether to pay, isn't it whether the review has taken the circumstances into account and given the right grade?

If it was me I'd at least call the exam board and see if they'd speak to me and if not I'd be persisting with the school to make sure they get an answer. If this is an unusual thing to happen maybe the exam board haven't realised what the problem is.

[coconuttelegraph]

Can you explain a bit more about the significance of the booklets being in the wrong order, i can't work out if it's relevant to the mark being low

[LolaSmiles]

To be honest, individual teachers saying what they think a question should get is neither here nor there to a point. I've seen some moderation in my subject from different schools where staff have shared examples and there are some teachers claiming it would be top band and my centre would give it middle at best. Centre to centre variation on what the highest bands look like can vary. It shouldn't, but I've seen it.

If there's an issue with the board and scanning then go through the centre to speak to the board and have it double checked.

Most boards have a procedure for further review if you want to query it. For example, AQA have this: www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/after-results/post-results

In the meantime, yes you have to pay the review of marking fee. You wanted the service and they've reviewed it.

[Cremebrule]

nandio I do really feel for you. She must have been devastated to lose the Cambridge place when she doubts the results. Fortunately my dodgy mark was when there were As and A2 and you could just rest the AS nodules without it really counting as a resit. I would keep pushing the school/exam board as she’ll always have those ‘what ifs’.

[Teachermaths]

I agree that you need to pay. The exam has been reviewed by the exam board. You and your dd chose to take it no further. You are so far past any deadlines now that it's pointless doing much.

[coconuttelegraph]

I disagree that it's pointless, there's a place at Cambridge at stake. If a mistake has been made it might be possible to defer until next year, it's sensible to keep going for such a big thing imo

[LIZS]

But there isn't a Cambridge place at stake any longer. Their offer would have expired on August 31st, after priority remarks were in. Dd also missed her Cambridge place and even more narrowly on a remark. There is no guarantee that even if an error was made, it would have been sufficient. Has your dd gone to another uni , op?

[nandio]

DD is well settled at her 2nd place uni. The aim would not be to get back the Cambridge place if that was even possible but just to clear the matter up once and for all.

For those asking about the booklets, here is the order in which they were written and some info about the questions:

Booklet 1, 12 pages, all of Q1(7.5 pages) and start of 2nd question (Q4 on the exam paper, 4.5 pages).

Booklet 2, 4 pages, the rest of the 2nd question (half a page, not numbered as carrying on from booklet 1) and the start of the 3rd question (3.5 pages, Q3 on the exam paper).

Booklet 3, 2 pages out of 4 used (so 2 blank pages at the end), the rest of the 3rd question.

The booklets were scanned in the order 1,3,2.

Here are the questions:
Q1 = source comparison question
Q3 = Impact of war on the Peasantry
Q4 = Treatment of the Nationalities under the Tsars and the Communists (owtte)

[stucknoue]

The scanning won't male a difference, it's just clerical error - she would not have got the marks she did otherwise ! It happens , they misread the question or miss out key facts and slip a grade, dd missed out by 4 marks (2 subject by 1 mark, one by 2 marks) on going to Cambridge, it happens

[Booboostwo]

Given your update I would just drop this.

[xyzandabc]

The school have already paid for the review of marking and the script. You have had the review of marking and the script. Why would you not pay for them?

At our school any requests for reviews of scripts don't get processed until we have received payment.

If there had been a mix up in the questions/numbers, it would have been picked up at both first marking and review. If she'd written the wrong answer for the question she wouldn't have got a C. The teachers can see what marks she got for each question and if they'd been really low they could have queried it but you don't get 14/25 for a wrong answer.

Schools struggle enough for funds, please pay what you owe for a service you have received.

[LolaSmiles]

xyzandabc
Our school is the same.
No payment = no review of marking

The exception is where we have identified big concerns internally at GCSE and so we seek permission from students and pay for certain ones.