to tell you reviewing your GCSE paper isn't "free"

[BorrowedThyme]

I've never begrudged putting aside a few hours for genuine disappointing shock grades, or when a student has so nearly made the grade they need for their next stage.

But this year it has gone totally over the top.

And recalling GCSE papers for the school to review is NOT "free" - it just doesn't cost the parent anything, that is all. It relies either on teachers volunteering their spare time, or the school employing an additional, qualified person to do it.

I spent 25-30 hours in the last week of the holiday doing this, and now have a whole new list to somehow try and cram in to a single weekend

My head of department has already contacted some parents to say no, we are not doing it for such and such a student, and honestly, you would think we were chopping their kids hands off, or something, the abuse, and threats and accusations we get!

Some of the students we have said no to have already got their sixth form places, and don't need to check their grades, some are so far from the next grade up that they are many times more likely to go down than up, and some have got exactly what was predicted, anyway.

Occasionally a grade goes up, but it is very rare, and in genuine cases, I am happy to spend the time checking. Most of the cases we are getting requested now though, are not genuine! None of the papers I have checked this year are going up, although several might actual go down if the parents take it further.

So please, before expecting this service for the school, keep in mind

a) Is it necessary? Not if your child has got their sixth form place or apprenticeship, or whatever they wanted.

b) Is it likely? Parents often over estimate their children's likely GCSE grades, particularly if they have helped them revise, and marked a few mock papers, etc- children perform best in a one to one situation with a lot of encouragement, such as they might get at home with a parent, but this is not how they are assessed.

c) Somebody has to be just below the next grade boundary! That is how grade boundaries work!

d) Some grade bands are very narrow - being 3 marks off a 6 could actually be 2 marks from a 4.

e) It isn't a case of " just finding one more mark" - the marking has to be withing a tolerance. 2 examiners might mark the same paper differently, but that does not mean one is right and one is wrong. Yes, I find marks in the papers that I would have given that the examiner has not, but I also find marks the examiner has given that I would not, and overall, the mark comes out the same, or virtually the same. The grade is not going to be changed over a disagreement about fractions of marks. It needs to be a substantial difference for the grade to be changed, and not a case of strict or lenient marking.

Yes, it is sometimes worth having a look at the papers, no it is not worth this wholesale demand that has developed this year.

If this school review system continues to be abused, I expect it will be withdrawn very soon!

It is a true shame that a thread about exam paper reviews has dropped into a typical response of how hard done by teachers are.

I honestly think you need to review the private sector and other salaries. If you pro-rated your current salary to a 12 month equivalent and compared against other jobs, you would be very well off. You also get a 30% pension contribution (private sector averages about 5%) and 6months full pay sick leave.

For those of you asking what other jobs have to deal with the conditions you do, I work for a charity. I work about 30hr a week overtime unpaid, I get no sick leave pay, and my pension contributions are 4%. Oh, and 4 weeks holiday a year. When I worked in private corporate environment, I worked the same overtime unpaid, 4 weeks leave, 10% pension and sick leave. Whilst your salary may need adjusting, your benefits package overall is well above the private sector. Something needs to give.

Despite all these hours I work, never once have I not taken a call on the evening or weekend if my 'client base' has needed me (what an awful phrase). I'm about to take the only two days I have managed with my own children this whole summer, and my laptop is still coming away from me.

Thankfully, my own children's teachers have willing looked at DD paper and it is them that have suggested a remark, not me. I asked for a meeting when schools were reopened to discuss which subject my DD would drop. If you don't love your job anymore, why are you still doing it?

FFS.

I absolutely do love my job - the teaching part of it, I absolutely do NOT get 6 months sick pay! and when I had cancer a few years ago I spent much of the year on no income at all, borrowing from friends and relatives while waiting for benefits application to be processed!

And every single one of my children has left university and been earning more than me WITHIN A WEEK! and had better terms and conditions as well!

really, that is not what the thread is about, but please don't start on teachers terms and conditions - if you don't like yours, then become a teacher. Anybody is being accepted right now, you could be teaching within a year if you think its such a good deal

When I was at school I was predicted an A* but got an A. The school requested the papers and turned out that the teacher forgot to teach us a part of the curriculum, so if nothing else it helped future years and the teacher.

I have sympathy with the OP, but this sentence (the latter part) is very wrong:

"None of the papers I have checked this year are going up, although several might actual go down if the parents take it further."

Do you mean putting down grades because the parents have annoyed you? I hope not. Hoping I've misread.

Not great you're having to use leave and not even be paid, though.

No! You are misunderstanding!

What she means is if they go to the exam board for an actual paid for 'review' the mark could go down. In spite of what a teacher might suggest.

I do think this thread, and the word 'review' in the title, has led to inordinate confusion...

Do you mean putting down grades because the parents have annoyed you? I hope not. Hoping I've misread.

You've misread.

The OP has zero power to change grades.

@marmaladeandpeanutbutter if you hope you’ve misread, maybe re-read? Because yes, you did.

No, I mean that if the parents pay for the exam paper to be reviewed by the exam board, there is far more chance of the exam board putting the grade down rather than up.

I guess this is the whole crux of the issue - parents want us to check first, before they take that risk - although I could have told them their children had fair enough grades, without the hours of checking through the papers

Anyway, I worked through most of my list yesterday, and only a few more to go now, so I am hoping to finished by lunch time and then I can get on with what I am actually supposed to do this weekend - plan for next week!

Good luck with finishing it!

d) Some grade bands are very narrow - being 3 marks off a 6 could actually be 2 marks from a 4.

I’d still love to know what subject this is though! I’ve not seen anything so narrow.

That's not true. There is no longer grade protection so it can go down and you still have to pay.

Film studies has very narrow grade boundaries at the top end.

Top end yes, between an 8 and a 9, but not a 4 and a 6!

I’d say little Jonny has learn a very important life lesson.

@BorrowedThyme ah. I see your point, and fair enough.

Well, actually between a 7 and a 9 , there are very few marks. The 8 band is teeny. But, yes, not very important.

But some of us have pointed out that the checking has not been a demand on our part - the parents but a request on the teachers. One teacher has requested my son's paper to be accessed to be checked by him 3 x last week and I go the impression this was because I didn't reply instantly as I was working and needed to discuss it with DS. Others have pointed out similar experiences so it is not all one way and if anything it threw us in to confusion. My DS doesn't believe you should pay for advantage (which ultimately this is what it may lead to having to do after the teacher's assessment) that's why I had to talk to my son about it. To be clear we (parents) are not all spending hours (we don't have as working in our jobs) deliberating over this and harassing teachers whilst they are on leave.

University examiner here. The students are equally bad with requesting re-marks, feedback as to why they failed “you didn’t write anything for more than half of a paper with a 50 % pass mark” and other bullshit.

What is justifiable?

DS worked bloody hard for his GCSEs but was disappointed with the results. Two subjects were below his predicated grade range. One of these with individual papers marked as 8,7,3,7. Overall 6. The 3 stuck out like a sore thumb so we raised it with the school. His teacher has confirmed a marking error and they are raising it with the exam board. Interestingly a teacher friend had an issue last year with a student using a laptop where a new page was started for a new answer and the paper was basically not marked from that point. DS has the same access arrangement in place.

I'm glad we challenged this subject and it has raised questions about the other one which we are discussing with the teacher and may ask a remark. He worked very hard and deserves the grades he rightfully earned, without error.

But we will not be passing on his request to remark a subject 3 marks off a 9 and have explained why!

12 marks were found on my son's maths gcse paper a few years ago.
A B grade became an A grade.
School thought he should be happy with the B despite being predicted an A/A*.
So I think you are unreasonable.

What the OP is doing won't change anyone's exam grade regardless of how badly the paper was marked.

Hopefully attitudes and comments like yours will lead to this new scheme being scrapped and the old system where schools can ask for reviews being the only way forward.

Genuine question - did the system, when introduced, of being able to request scripts, intend for those scripts to be reviewed for parents by teachers?

Or did it intend that parents / students could request the scripts so that they could review them themselves?

Without access to the mark scheme it's pointless having teachers or parents review the scripts, the only real review must be done by the Board.