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!

@MrsHamlet I teach in a college now. The vocational courses all have entry requirements - usually including a 4 in Maths and English so I'd agree that bumping someone to a 4 is more important

I empathise but I don't feel the blame should lie at the parents feet.

No, I absolutely don't blame parents for getting a service for free instead of paying for it.

I blame the school for offering it as a service.

I would have thought that reviewing scripts would be part of the job and would help also inform a teacher.

@NorthernGirlie I don't disagree but it's the "x marks off" thing that baffles me.
Reviews do not look for marks. They're not done with reference to grade boundaries. The vast majority don't change.

It's quite galling how many parents appear to accept that teachers are the subject experts (because they will know best if the mark scheme has been applied correctly) but then treat them like they know nothing.

Teachers have repeatedly explained on here that when the exam board review the marking, it's being checked over to make sure it's reasonable. Most of it will be, because there are procedures in place to check this during the marking process and a mark or two of discrepancy is counted as reasonable.

Of course there has to mechanism to look again if necessary, but 'not far from a boundary' and 'needing to find a mark' aren't usually good reasons. Unless there is some indication that a section's marks haven't been included in the result, or unexpected marks suggest content been missed or the mark scheme applied incorrectly, the marks won't be changed. As PP have explained, even if the reviewer thinks a response could have been awarded 1 more mark, they can't just give it - by virtue of 1 more mark being fair enough, the original is just as valid, as it's only one mark. If the reviewer judges an answer should have got a different band, this will usually move the marks further from the original.

If something seems odd, of course you should ask advice and go ahead with a review, but it's ridiculous to think all pupils' exams need marking (by teachers, and then examiners) a few more times to get the grade to one they prefer.

No, it's not part of the job.

Free access to scripts for schools is a recent thing by exam boards.

As for informing teachers, I can look on ResultsPlus and see how many marks each kid in my class scored for each question compared to the national average. This is way more useful than looking at individual scripts, which, incidentally, I'm not allowed to look at unless a parent gives permission.

So it can't be considered part of the job as a way to inform teaching because it's mostly not allowed.

this. I can totally see your point OP but parents don't know any of this. If it's becoming too much of a strain on teachers (and if you're allowed to say no I would so it becomes the school's problem), then the school should make a decision and issue some guidance, along the lines of:

"we will only consider re-marking papers if the grade awarded is significantly different (i.e. 2 or more grades lower) than the predicted grade. (Possibly other exemptions e.g. if a college place depends on it) This will take at least [reasonable amount of time]. Please do not contact staff in the interim.
Could add that requests for grades that don't fall within this will be considered, but for £ per paper.

^we will only consider re-marking papers if the grade awarded is significantly different (i.e. 2 or more grades lower) than the predicted grade. (Possibly other exemptions e.g. if a college place depends on it) This will take at least [reasonable amount of time]. Please do not contact staff in the interim.
Could add that requests for grades that don't fall within this will be considered, but for £ per paper.^

Here's the thing, if the teacher reviews the paper for free, that makes no difference to the grade. The paper still has to be sent off to the exam board for reviewing, the parent still has to pay and the grade still might not change.

DS school rang me and offered a remark because he was borderline on some grades, but we didn’t take it up. He talented his GCSEs for mental health reasons and just needed the whole process to end. I’m not convinced it’s good for students to drag it out.
He went to college for a fresh start and a couple of resits.

DD was one mark off an 8 in Biology. I did wonder whether or not to ask for it to be looked at. The reason I haven't is she's studying maths, physics and chemistry at A level (starts next week), and scored 8s in those subjects. If DD was bothered I would have asked and been prepared to pay.

The student/parent in this case is asking - aren't marks different from seeing a script. I do think what is being asked of the teacher is reasonable.

The student/parent is perfectly entitled to pay for the exam board to review the marking.

I'm a maths teacher, me looking at a couple of scripts where parents have asked for a remark would be a waste of my time compared to looking at how my class did on ResultsPlus.

In the old days when you got your O-level results on a little slip copied using carbon paper, I remember my big sister being gutted when she got an E in English, which she was intending to take for A-level.

Dad rang the school to talk to them about changing her choice of A-levels because she'd done so badly and they were very confused because they said a B was fine for going on to A-level. Turned out there'd been a wrinkle in the carbon paper that had cut the edge off her B making it look like an E - much relief all round!

For maths the marks are I would have thought less subjective, the onus on an art based subject would be far greater. I would have thought as schools are judged by results that teachers would be not just willing but encourage students to go to a remark. I still believe it is part of the teacher's role.

teachers would be not just willing but encourage students to go to a remark. I still believe it is part of the teacher's role.

Encouraging a student to go for a remark is entirely different to what the OP is being asked to do.

The problem is that quite a few people I know have applied for a re-mark for their kids’ papers and got the grade increased. If the marking was correct in the first place this wouldn’t happen, and it wouldn’t be worth applying, and no-one would apply. You’re blaming the wrong people OP. Blame the people incorrectly marking papers in the first place.

I still believe it is part of the teacher's role

Since the students who did exams in year 11 and 13 are no longer on roll, no it's not.

*tanked

The OP isn't talking about paying for a remark by the exam board.

I still believe it is part of the teacher's role You can believe it is, but it's not.

I'm 'teaching' 3 classes together in the hall on Tuesday mornings because we're short staffed.
You can bet your arse I'm planning for that treat rather than searching for the odd missed mark on Johnny's paper when he's already signed up for A levels and got an 8!

When we picked up my sons results last week we were approached by 2 teachers saying they were requesting his papers to look at his marks for review? I assumed it was just part of their role?

As someone who has worked for an exam board, dealing with remarks, I would encourage anyone who has had an unexpected low grade, or is very close to a boundary to get a remark. Plenty of grades stay the same, but a surprising proportion go up. There are many reason why marks may be incorrect. Remarks almost never go down.

Teachers do that anyway - question analysis is done for tests throughout school from KS1 to KS4 - how about you stop telling a teacher how to do the job they already do?

Teaching is a job though stop trying to use emotions to expect unpaid work for your benefit. Those who say it is more are the ones who only judge teachers based on the amount of free work they do. Teachers are entitled to a break free from hassle, free from parents contacting them and time with their family. Or is your family time the only time that is important?

My son's grammar school english teacher wrote to him (2 marks off a 9) and asked if he wanted to an review of assessment perhaps one paper at a time - the teacher never offered the option to read the papers himself first to see if that was worthwhile. So you are a very kind teacher doing this!

My DD GCSE German paper was graded a B. She ended up after a remark with a A* (her predicted grade). Roll on a year, and I have had to ask for her French AS paper to be remarked (unexpected low grade and the teacher recommended after checking). So, yep, YABU because mistakes most definitely happen. Why should a child that has worked all year be denied the grade they are due?