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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not pay this exam 'remark' fee?

138 replies

nandio · 02/12/2019 07:48

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??

OP posts:
sofakingg00d · 02/12/2019 20:37

I don't really understand what your issue with the school is?
You asked for a remark, the school sorted it out. You didn't get the result you wanted so now you are refusing to pay the school?

Original poster
nandio · 02/12/2019 20:43

I called the exam board this afternoon and they were helpful. The lady on the phone apologised for the technical error and for failing to acknowledge it in the review. She asked me to send through details.

I agree with the point that schools are under funded but I am not entirely happy with the teachers’ feedback on the script; they couldn’t even match the correct mark to the correct question. Nor did they query the scanning cock up...and they weren’t even present on results day.

OP posts:
Curioushorse · 02/12/2019 20:46

Yeah. This is nothing to do with the school and you should pay them back.
We are currently dealing with something similar in a different subject- page missing altogether. It was flagged up by the marker (we can see on the comments), but the issue has been ignored. We’re still going through the process now, post review.
Can you see the cover sheet? Do the marks there tally with the questions and the comments on the pages? Have you spoken to the examination officer at the school?

This is either a complete non-issue, or a big one. You don’t seem certain, so you need to check either with the teachers or the school exam officer. They’ll know one way or another.

Beach11 · 02/12/2019 20:48

The same examiner doesn’t mark a whole script. The examiners receives X number of responses for each question to mark and are all anonymous. So you could end up with for example 10 examiners marking 1 pupils paper.
The grades are then collated for each pupil

Daisydoola · 02/12/2019 20:49

I would deal with the exam board now and let the school know you'll not be paying until their investigation is completed.

TheFallenMadonna · 02/12/2019 20:50

The fee isn't for the school to review the exam boards work. It's for the exam board to review their own work.

TimeforanotherChange · 02/12/2019 20:53

I'm a Head of History teaching A level. Your DD got 14 and 17 out of 25 on her two Q2s. It's not possible to get a grade like that with someone missing part of her essay. They reviewed the marks, decided they were in the correct banding (which is Level 3 for the 14 and bottom of Level 4 for the 17 out of 5 Levels). This is a C grade/low B grade mark. Not close to the A Cambridge will have required. Unlikely to be a mistake as the review shows. She just did a fairly average exam paper. The fact that her teachers aren't particularly shocked suggests they agree it falls into that range too.

You need to pay for the paper and move on.It's correct by the info you provided.

Potatopots · 02/12/2019 20:54

Surely it isn’t a case of the paper being marked against the incorrect mark scheme or she wouldn’t have got a C. I can’t imagine how you’d get enough marks to pass if you were writing about the tudors and the mark scheme was for questions on Italy and Fascism

TimeforanotherChange · 02/12/2019 20:58

You do realise btw that teachers aren't paid in the holidays? The comment they weren't even present on results day suggests that you feel they should have been. They may have been on holiday with their own family at that point..

donquixotedelamancha · 02/12/2019 21:00
  1. I don't understand why the order the booklet is scanned in makes any difference- the questions go off to different people. Do you mean that the copy you got back was put together in the wrong order?
  1. Why would you refuse to pay the school for an exam board error (if there was one)?
Pumpkinpie66 · 02/12/2019 21:01

The teachers do not get to 'ask the exam board' things. They just send off for the remark/recall the paper and get a grade and a paper back. Unless you ask for an appeal (unusual, expensive and you've missed the deadline) there is no opportunity for them to address it with the exam board.
As an examiner, we do get papers scanned in the wrong order (by the exam board admin, the schools don't do it). But we read them carefully, work out the order, flag if anything is missing. This won't have affected her grades, and if there was an error it would have been picked up on remark.
You need to pay the school - this isn't on them - and move on. Your DD is settled, stop pushing this.

poseysbobblehat · 02/12/2019 21:04

Not school's problem, you need to pay for the review.

LolaSmiles · 02/12/2019 21:04

I would deal with the exam board now and let the school know you'll not be paying until their investigation is completed
How much involvement have you had with review of marking and A Level exams?

It just seems odd that lots of posters with experience are offering advice along the same lines and then suddenly you're giving totally ridiculous advice that goes against what the majority of posters are saying.

donquixotedelamancha · 02/12/2019 21:05

I am not entirely happy with the teachers’ feedback on the script

How much did you pay them for this additional work?

they couldn’t even match the correct mark to the correct question.

Was that because the copy was in the wrong order?

Nor did they query the scanning cock up

Why would they, as PPs have said- it made no difference.

and they weren’t even present on results day.

I'll bet the bastards went on holiday during the only time of year they are allowed to (for which they are not paid).

LolaSmiles · 02/12/2019 21:06

donquixotedelamancha
You're not doing that thing known as applying common sense are you? Smile

Teachermaths · 02/12/2019 21:08

and they weren’t even present on results day.

Newsflash OP, teachers have their own lives! Teachers have no expectations on them to be there on results day. It is not directed time. It's quite possible they were on holiday with their own family/friends that week.

Gosh the arrogance of you!

The scanning thing would have been noticed, there's no way she would have scored 14 marks from the wrong question being answered.

The teachers are also not paid to mark exams unless they mark for the exam board.

GeePipe · 02/12/2019 21:09

Not fully related to your question op but i would tell dd not to worry too much about the whole uni thing. Its perfectly possible to get A's in other papers and a C overall for another. Happened to me. I did history A-level and found it difficult. I got a C overall and still went on to do history at uni where i found uni 100% easier and more rewarding than A-level and ended with a 2:1 with honours :).

donquixotedelamancha · 02/12/2019 21:13

You're not doing that thing known as applying common sense are you?

I am of the bizarre opinion that it is rude and silly to demand that someone work for you unpaid and then complain that they don't meet your unrealistic expectations.

LolaSmiles · 02/12/2019 21:19

I am of the bizarre opinion that it is rude and silly to demand that someone work for you unpaid and then complain that they don't meet your unrealistic expectations
What an outrageous view. How dare you. Smile

LolaSmiles · 02/12/2019 21:20

We absolutely need a friendly sarcasm emoji.Grin

donquixotedelamancha · 02/12/2019 21:24

We absolutely need a friendly sarcasm emoji.

We really do. At least 10% of MNers have no grasp of irony.

Daisydoola · 02/12/2019 21:25

@LolaSmiles far too much Wink

Original poster
nandio · 02/12/2019 21:30

Probably should have mentioned that I too am a teacher and as such I make myself available for my students on results day. I deal with any surprise results promptly (eg a student getting a C in a module when they were previously performing at A*, especially if their Cambridge place depended on it.)

OP posts:
donquixotedelamancha · 02/12/2019 21:37

Probably should have mentioned that I too am a teacher

What sort of teacher do you identify as?

TheFallenMadonna · 02/12/2019 21:37

I agree that someone should be there on results day to help with review enquiries. But... the fee is for the exam board review, as you know. I'm surprised they put in the request without your payment. Many schools wouldn't.