AIBU to feel uneasy that GCSE remarks depend on ability to pay

[CassandraWebb]

My DC is only doing one GCSE this year, a year early, but as I was looking through the information to check timings etc I noticed an email about the "remark" service and the costs

We could afford to pay if needed, but I do a lot of work with people who are in financially difficult situations.

I do fully understand there's a cost to remarking. But it just makes me feel really uncomfortable that clearly the costs might mean some people just don't have that option.

Is there help for people who can't afford to pay? There's no mention of it in the email.

Schools can set their own internal deadlines, of course. But no that's not the exam board deadline. Aqa's is September 24th

www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/after-results/post-results/review-and-priority-review-of-mark

The hard deadline for eg AQA for GCSE review of marking is 24 September!

The point is if you failed or need higher grades to do an A level/uni course you go straight away to get to the top of the queue and get the review back.
Also some schools are slow downloading and on the admin side so they have different internal deadlines to request the papers to have a look.

In every paper I know the details of, the marks are entered online - no one is expecting me to mark the paper and do the maths! Not since the days of paper scripts has that been a thing.

It's also not true that schools have the funds to pay for reviews. We're technically bankrupt.

I had an AS paper remarked in 2005, so not a new thing

I think if on slt rate you have to go in. Many lovely teachers pop in on their unpaid hold if they can.

Yep have no idea where you got the ‘slush fund for reviews’ idea. We don’t have money for glue sticks. Have to buy my own. You need to educate yourself on the financial shitshow that is our educational funding system.

to a pp, advantage is universal - you have or will find the cash to review an anomalous grade but most importantly you have that insight into your child’s results due to years of interest which inform you about potential anomalies. And the confidence to query authority. And the balls (as I am doing today) to contact the heads of department and head teachers to ask for some help and guidance. And the confidence to insist on that later today if it isn’t immediately forthcoming.

My husband is a very clever man but he isn’t ballsy on this and was totally prepared to accept the results as given. Wouldn’t have even looked at the breakdown. So it’s a real recipe of knowledge, skills and downright balls which mean some children will get reviewed and some won’t. And don’t even get me started on the private sector where my friends’ kids results are pored over by teachers on the day, looking for review/regrade potential. life is unfair and sadly that is all too apparent in education.

It’s a dreadfully unfair position but at the educational coal face many of us strive every day to do whatever we can to level the playing field, whilst accepting that we can only do our best within the limitations of the system and accept that we in the state education sector will not achieve social justice on our own but my goodness we will die trying.

Sure, but in terms of next steps it's important students speak to the people who can actually help them which is the exams officer and the HE advisor.

Anything post 2000 is new to me 🤣

I did my exams in the late 90s. We only got overall grades, no mark breakdown. Whether the teachers had access to more, or whether remarks/reviews were possible at that time I have no idea. A friend got an E in a subject she was predicted a B in and no review was ever suggested.

I did my GCSES in the late 90s, remarks were definitely a thing even then

As someone who works in school finance I can categorically assure you that the overwhelming majority of schools do not have the funds to pay for remarks.

General rule of thumb - if a student was within a couple of marks of the grade boundary, school will have it remarked because if the grade goes UP, there is no charge. The charge comes into effect usually when a student/parents want a remark when school is unsure that a remark will bring about a change in grade.

Except that "a couple of marks from a grade boundary" is not a certain basis for a grade change.

My school has been burned by this in the past.

DD2s grammar school made us pay to see the papers! It is „admin“ time/deterrent/raising funds for those who can’t pay all in one.
Also it’s a grammar with a not insignificant amount of tiger parents so if it were free - chances are majority would be asking for all papers to look at and teachers wouldn’t get the time to look at the genuine borderline or put of sync to predicted grades/genuine surprise cases. School do look at the cases were a child has underperformed by 2 grades as their predictions are pretty accurate.

My son has reminded me that actually six of 10 went up grades in the end. We were told DT had not gone up but when the certificate arrived it had - that was a bit of a mystery. Anyway, it was also Physics that went up. All 10 papers I paid to remark were within 6 marks (some less) of next grade up and six out of 10 went up a grade. I obtained and reviewed all the papers first myself and chose those I thought were worth a try. This was GCSEs last year. I will be doing the same for A levels for sure. As I recall the exam boards say it’s about 20% for GCSE so my 60% was well above what I expected.

They probably pay a member of office staff to deal with the remark request emails, to get the candidate's consent and to actually get the papers from the exam board and then send them onto the appropriate teacher/parent for a look.

@noblegiraffe - somewhat but they are also cross-subsidising. Just like our after school club in primary had to make a profit to make up for the losses. There is creativity in raising funds going on.

Given the dire state of school budgets, I'm not surprised.

Absolutely. It might also go down. But schools are generally more willing to cover the cost when "only" a mark or 2 extra needs to be found - i mean, taking the risk and the grades improve is better for them too.
We had a set of GCSE results in my house yesterday - we have 2 subjects within 2 marks of the grade boundary that are automatically being sent for remark. We have others that were within 5 or 6 marks that aren't, because staff felt it wasn't worth the cost (to school or us).

But this suggests that the schools have no idea about the rules covering reviewing. No one is trying to find more marks - that's explicitly not permitted unless the original mark is wrong (eg in maths)

Why do some people assume that a mark or two below a grade boundary has to be wrong? Wherever the grade boundaries are set, some students will get one or two marks below it. Some will be just on the boundary, and some a mark or two above. Marks are distributed on a bell curve. If the boundary is, say, 75, it would be crazy to expect a void on 74 and 73 because every student on those marks ‘deserved’ the next grade up.

As I said it was back when I worked for 2 of the exam boards, we were expected to find the paper in question, total up and mark the questions if not marked (obs for those that had a clear answer) then send both to the manager. In my personal experience, a good 50% were indeed totalled incorrectly, this surprised me as I was never informed, by my state schools that this could occur.

As for re marks, in deprived areas if a school genuinely believe a student should have got more then I am sure they could do something.

Who decided the automatic remark - you as a family or the school? Our school are refusing t to assist in any way.

Schools should not be deciding on reviews of marking. They are the candidates' results and only they can decide. Schools can and should advise.

Yes at my school the school would pay if it was very close (1 or 2 marks). There is often success in these cases which benefits both the pupil and the school. However if it was further away and just parental demand then parents would have to pay. There isn’t an unlimited pot of money, unfortunately, and also realistically everyone can’t get remarked!

But the reality is that many do, and we are finding out only too well that navigating the exam board system on our own and without help is like wading through treacle whilst reading in Russian (which you don’t know). How on earth can a child, unassisted by school or teacher, give an objective assessment that they think it should benefit from a couple of extra points?

It is another postcode lottery.