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!

Ah okay, understood.

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

😳 really?! I’ve looked at quite a few GCSE and L2 BTec grade boundaries recently due to a particular Facebook group I’m in and don’t remember seeing anything that close. That’s so narrow! What subject is that?

Yabu as you are getting involved in a marking process that has fuck all to do with you. It’s not a remark, it is a review of marking and as a teacher, not something I would touch with a barge pole. Scripts are free to look at but there is no way I would suggest I look at a paper to a parent. I am going to suggest to a couple of students (when I return in September) that I’d like to see their paper) and possibly ask my school to look at a ‘review of marking’. I would never suggest this to a child or I aren’t as they have to pay. I think that’s harsh’, parent spunks up £150 quid-no change in grade-I get it in the neck-no thanks…. No offence but more fool you.

Totally this! I missed my predicted grade A in A level Maths. It still upsets me 30 years later. But I had my place at Uni, it made no difference, except to my ego. No one, at school or at home, made any indication that reviewing the paper was possible. It was just one of those things.

anyone else can either just go straight to a paid-for check or drop it?

Parents/pupils are worried that the marks might decrease in a review (and therefore they might get a lower grade). So many parents like a teacher to take a look first, to advise. I have told some parents I think the pupil was lucky to get the mark they did so would not recommend a review!

Free access to marked scripts was introduced by Edexcel in 2017. They can't have been in the job long?

I was thinking this after seeing so many people suggesting remarks on MN. We never even thought about asking for that when I was at school. A grade was a grade.

Me too - didn't know there was an option of a second look of any sort!

I don't see why teachers are looking at the scripts. At my kids if you want a remark you tell the school and they send it ti the exam board and you are charged for it. I dont understand the point of the teachers remarking it when they aren't in a position to change anything.confused!

I’ve just left my Exams Officer job. The number of students asking for scripts has definitely gone up, but so far we had only had about 6 students pay for reviews (only about 180 students in Year 11 and Year 13 put together).

Only a handful of teachers had had a look at scripts - but most were still away. The majority of students decide to pay for a review without a teacher having seen the script.

It does feel frantic this year - the higher grade boundaries have come as a shock and where I work(ed) teachers were predicting higher grades - significantly higher in some cases - than students have achieved and that has caused distress. This is especially true for GCSE.

But yes the whole system feels wrong - in so many ways. Not least JCQ being out of touch with who is available to do what and when in schools (and also how little power Exams Officers actually have being support staff, but that’s irrelevant to this thread).

It also feels bad that it costs money for a possibly improved grade - that not everyone can afford.

So parents can take their children’s papers for a remark at a cost to them, and you won’t have to do any work? Why not take this option then? Why continue to do something you’re not happy with doing when there’s an option for parents?

This year has been a little wild west - thankfully my DC did better than he would if teacher assisted grades -so no re-marks from me!

However, someone has to explain how 75+% in one subject can get you a 7/8 but in another subject get you a 5 - that is bonkers as has happened in drama across the country and I know the school is looking into it. DC has lost out on his chosen A level on this basis as he needed a 7- luckily taking a philosophical view on it but still rankles him.

I believe this was before then when the script could be ordered for a fee - so no, experienced professional teachers!

i don’t understand this either

Ah but it is fine for you to be nasty though, right?

Yes you are! You are saying they should analyse the questions to see where to improve which is exactly what they do bloody do! This is already 'a thing' so no need to tell teachers to do this as it is routine for them!

I get they are important so stick your hand in your pocket if it is that important and pay for them to be remarked. You're invested in your child's results as they have yet to learn to deal with disappointment and that is a sore spot for you.

They are invested in their results they worked damn hard to get them there but that doesn't mean they work all their unpaid leave either too. Teachers are not public property to be flogged like slaves because of a sense of entitlement in parents who can't tell their darlings no.

Ugh your tone is really unpleasant.

Blame the system not the parents. They are taking the option offered. They don’t know the teacher is volunteering unpaid time. Why would they?

A stressed and hardworking teen may really need the review. Why should they accept a mark lower than the one they worked hard for? I have had two friends’ kids get a review. Both recommended by school. One went up one grade and other two. Good for them and their school.

Your sneering tone to kids and parents is just yuk. However tired and angry you are, there is no need for this.

And my kids didn’t need reviews so I have no skin in the game.

I find the whole thing sad. I presume it isn’t an issue in areas with high deprivation because even if a teacher reviews and sees a big chance to improve the parent doesn’t have money upfront for the exam board. Do schools in these areas have any fund for this as it would also affect school stats

Even then you couldn't do it at A-level. It was remark or look at the paper.

I'm wondering why experienced, professional teachers had such a nightmare with exam marks that they routinely have swathes of kids who would pay to have their papers back then pay for a remark.

A stressed and hardworking teen may really need the review. Why should they accept a mark lower than the one they worked hard for? I have had two friends’ kids get a review. Both recommended by school. One went up one grade and other two. Good for them and their school.

This is the paid job of the exam board. This is not what the OP is doing.

No I'm not. Dc has already had some scripts checked by her teachers. We were approached by them.

But exams are important to children - school spends 12 years telling them they are, so teachers can't turn around after GCSES and suddenly day they're not. And secondly, if I'd spent a year or more teaching people, I'd be quite invested in their results too.

Oh God. Yes of course we are 'invested' in their results, and care about the children, but I think parents/pupils forget that while these are the only GCSEs the pupils will ever sit, the teachers deal with this EVERY SINGLE YEAR. So as HoD, that's more than a hundred pupils getting exam results, every year in my case. Imagine that over, say, just 20 years of teaching. That's 2000 pupils. To each of them, their GCSE result is of absolute crucial importance. But to a HoD of 20 years, this is the 2000th pupil they've seen go through GCSE in their subject. 20 consecutive summer holidays with A THIRD given up (figure on 6 weeks holiday, and from A Level results day) to reading endless exam papers pupils have emailed in as they want another mark to get them over the grade boundary. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of hours of family time spent in this way instead.

And of course pupils' GCSE results are important... but so are people's lives and families 🤦‍♀️ We give it our absolute all during term time, but clearly we should be giving it our all during our holidays too ...

And people are wondering why there is a recruitment and retention crisis, and moaning that their kids are not being taught by people with degrees in that subject...?!

Our school charges for re marking. It didn’t really occur to me to request it, I trust DS got the correct marks 1st time

*A stressed and hardworking teen may really need the review. Why should they accept a mark lower than the one they worked hard for? I have had two friends’ kids get a review. Both recommended by school. One went up one grade and other two. Good for them and their school.

This is the paid job of the exam board. This is not what the OP is doing.*

Yes, we are talking about parents recalling papers and asking teachers to read them.

My son has got one very unexpected result at A level, in fact the whole cohort got very unexpected results in the subject. School got the papers back for that subject and for another where he was incredibly close to the grade he needed. His head of 6th form plus the subject teacher have both reviewed the papers and they are being sent for a remark/review. It’s that important to him that he has decided to take a Gap year as he couldn’t face going somewhere he didn’t really want to go and is going to apply again next year.
Yes the grades may not go up but quite honestly it’s a risk we are prepared to take and I’m very thankful to his teachers for supporting him. This is someone’s future we are talking about, not just a random stab in the dark to get higher grades than they deserve. This A level cohort especially have been completely screwed by the government this year with the grade boundaries, what they have experienced is totally unfair and in most cases not a true reflection of the work they have put in. That coupled with the papers not being marked accurately or fairly, is it any wonder that more and more parents/students are questioning it?
Oh and I’m also a TA. Apart from the 2 weeks I’ve been on holiday I’ve also been working, preparing resources and interventions for my class for when I go back. So whilst I understand your frustrations, I think some degree of work in the summer is just part of the job.

What you are saying is factually incorrect as there was apparently a different between ordering a photocopied script and the real scripts!
Clearly there is a difference in what teachers regard to be part of their role - which is the same for all jobs, different schools clearly have different expectations and procedures. It is a question of professionalism in my view.

Even then you couldn't do it at A-level. It was remark or look at the paper.

Oh yes, and forgotten about this. Were they not allowed a remark if they recalled the paper? This wasn't that long ago...