GCSE Grades- is it worth reviewing script with teacher?

[Ichangedmynameonce]

DS got hod GCSE results yesterday. I've posted before about his lack of motivation etc.

He did revise but it was v last minute.

He's been lucky- passed everything but certainly hasn't achieved any of his MTG and has not achieved some of his predictions.

In a couple of his best subjects he has done worse than expected. In English language he's 2 points below the next grade up and in 2 others he's 6 points below.

His school suggests they request to go through their exam script with a teacher, ahead of asking for a remark.

We will do this with the English as its only 2 points off, but is it worth doing this with the other 2 (which are arts/ humanities).

I recognise he's very lucky to have the results he's got but obviously I'd like them to be closer to predictions and potential.

Thanks

Could anyone comment on 6 marks off a biology 9 (got an 8) and 4 marks off a physics 9 (also got an 8 instead).

is it harder to argue for extra marks in science based subjects? Because the answers are so binary? Like it’s either right or wrong. No wriggle room?

It really isn't about "wiggle room". That's the reason OFQUAL changed the rules - reviews are simply checking that the original mark was reasonable.

Thanks @MaybeMrs

@Musicalfan that's so generous of you, thank you! We will email school tomorrow to request the script.

What does out of tolerance mean? I naively assumed they just check that it's marked correctly? But I guess there is room for subjectivity in some subjects like English, but not in maths?

Thank you

Exactly that. There is a window of accepted marks for a qu. Eg if the examiner gave 21/30 for a lit essay. The agreed marks could be 22/21/20/19/18. There's no strict science on how many marks within tolerance. Eg if the score is 3/30 it could be a smaller window. With my given example, if when the examiner reviewed the mark they thought it was a 24, the marks would go up but if they thought it was actually a 22, that's within tolerance and therefore the mark would stay the same.

Definitely for English and English lit exams. Not sure about other subjects. And yes, it's because of their subjectivity.

My dd got her physics remarked, and it was exactly that.You could see the new marks for each question.

She will have had a review of marking. A remark does not exist, they used to, I’m not sure what year they stopped being offered.

2016, and then the process was further reviewed in 2018.

So can grades go up or not then? If it’s just a review?

They can but only if the original mark was unreasonable. They can also go down. Grade protection was removed when remarks became reviews.

Hi all, my daughter received a 6 in her GCSE English Lang and was predicted a 9. This came as a huge shock as English is her strongest subject and has consistently achieved 9s, her grade was 2 points away from a 5 which she has never had in previous tests etc.

Her teacher has reviewed the script and agreed that she was under rewarded - now my question is how realistic is it for a re-mark to come back with an additional 8 points in order to go up a grade?

I'm worried about her possibly being marked down as she was off by only 2 points - not sure if we should take the risk and get the script re-marked, but I know my daughter's capability in English too and the GCSE grade is out of line with her typical performance. All her other subjects were 7 and above and the English result is a clear outlier. Any advice will be gratefully received.

The teacher says it's under- rewarded - can they see on one paper where marks are clearly wrong or unreasonable?

It's not a remark. The reviewer will be asking those questions, not looking for additional points to give.

The teacher is your best guide. If they are confident that it can only go up, then it's worth it. But don't put both papers in at the same time.

I'd just like to echo what @MrsHamlet has said. This is exactly the advice given to our students.

@MrsHamlet thank you, yes the teacher did highlight sections of the paper where my daughter could have gained more marks. When you say 'don't put in both papers at the same time' - do you mean Paper 1 should be submitted for re-marking a little before the second paper? To avoid having the same person marking it?

@Meleena noone is marking it. They're looking to see if the original marks are wrong or unreasonable. And the people who do each paper are different.

But if you put both in at the same time, there's always the risk that one goes up and the other goes down so you're back in the same place but a lot lighter in the wallet.

hello - a bit late to the party here - but did you decide what to do about the maths? my son in same boat, 4 under next grade level. school have said not unless it's a 2, college said ask for a remark. no idea what to do!

I put in for a review and it came back today with no change. Nothing ventured! She’s got on her course with what she had but would have been nice to bump her up. For me it was worth the £46 per paper as a chance. I’m leaving her English though, 7 is enough for what she needs.

My daughter is in a similar position but for RE. How soon does the review come back? Just because if you only put 1 paper in for review, do you not run the risk of missing the deadline on the second?

Within 20 days. In reality, it tends to be much quicker than that

@MrsHamlet @Musicalfan We've got copies of DS's scripts back (AQA English Language, where he got a 7, one mark off an 8), we've checked and all questions were marked, and the marks awarded all add up correctly.

We're willing to take a punt at ~£45 per paper for a review of marking, knowing there is only a slim chance of his grade changing. To minimise potential costs and risks, am I right that we should submit just one paper for a review of marking in the first instance, because if that review does increase his marks, then that paper alone will be sufficient for the overall grade to increase? And conversely, if that review decreases his marks, then it will hopefully not be by enough to reduce his overall grade to a 6, but we'll know to keep the other paper to ourselves! And if his mark comes back unchanged, then we can submit the second paper, as long as we are still within the 23 Sept deadline? Is that the best approach, tactically?

In terms of which paper to submit first (DS's school don't seem to get involved in reviews, and given a 7 is an excellent grade anyway and does not affect his future choices, I don't want to bother his teachers), should I go with whichever paper DS thinks was most harshly marked? Or the one he got the lowest marks in? Or is one of the papers, in your experience, more likely to go up in reviews of marking? He got 56 for paper 1 and 54 for paper 2, so very similar scores (and probably indicates he got the grade he deserved originally!)

Thank you for your thoughts!

@Newlittlerescue one at a time, definitely. It won't make any difference which one because the process is identical.

Incidentally, the adding up is done by the system - no room for human error there. Thankfully they don't expect me to do that bit too!

Surely if a child is FOUR marks off the next grade boundary (say a 6) then they are the boundary given - ie, the child is a 5. I don't understand why people like to sing and dance about being four marks away- yes you are 4 marks away because you are not at that grade/level of work...

A girl at DS’s school got a grade 5 in English Language. Asked for the papers. A model student so very odd mark.

The marker had not added up the marks properly. Regraded to a 9.

This is probably extremely rare. But it does happen. Humans not 100% perfect.

Markers don’t add up marks, this is done electronically, think about how long it would take to add up the marks after multiple people had all marked their specific question/s.