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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

Some part A level Biology paper not marked as it was missing. What do we do?

34 replies

Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 02:28

Please has anyone experienced this. My dd on A level result day missed B in biology by one mark and therefore missed her uni offer. She got a C. When we asked for paper review we were told part of her paper 1 was missing hence they estimated her score for that paper. The teacher advised to review paper 2 instead. We requested to review paper 2 and 3. She now lost 2 marks in both paper which means she's now 3 marks away from B.
We want to ask for the paper 1. But we can't as some part of it is missing. Not sure what to do or even if someone has experienced this or any A level exam marker can advise. She is so devastated. Thank you.

OP posts:
BCBird · 20/08/2025 03:51

When ypu say teacher, i presume you mean.the exam.officer? What do.they say about the missing paper?

Original poster
Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 06:37

BCBird · 20/08/2025 03:51

When ypu say teacher, i presume you mean.the exam.officer? What do.they say about the missing paper?

She just said some parts were missing and her marks for that paper was estimated as they couldn't find the missing part. Just that. Said it can happen. But I've asked so many people around me and they find it strange

OP posts:
BetweenTwoFerns · 20/08/2025 06:50

What a nightmare. You can’t make them find the missing part it if it’s lost. Do you know how much is missing?

Coldsocold25 · 20/08/2025 06:52

Was it just a paper that she wrote in. No extra paper that continued onto?
If so, that ia strange.
An exam paper is stapled together so I am.not sure how that would happen.

You can ask to see the paper before a review of marking, sometimes for free.

DongDingBell · 20/08/2025 06:58

The estimation of marks is standard for students who have had scripts lost - that is the "right" way to go about it

I suspect you have exhausted the easy routes for try and increase the grade. Sorry.

schoolsoutforever · 20/08/2025 07:27

I would request the paper back and see what was missing (this shouldn't come with a cost). I'm an A Level teacher and haven't encountered this before myself but I suppose papers could in theory be lost. I have had exam board mark only exam papers when the actual answers were typed (and had these rectified) so mistakes can happen. I would ask to speak to the exams officer/head of exams at the school/college (not a teacher) to explain further first thing today as the priority review of marking deadline is imminent so if you want to request this you will need to do so very quickly.

Whyherewego · 20/08/2025 07:38

Could you explain this situation to the university and point at her Mock grades? If those are much better for the equivalent paper they may be inclined to accept her

Navigatinglife100 · 20/08/2025 07:47

After following the advice of the experts above if there's no change I think I'd be encouraging my DD to take a gap year, resit, and say why on her UCAS application for next year.

It shows resilience and shows her that she can take control of her own life.

I am very sorry that this has happened to her. Dreadful really.

Original poster
Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 08:20

Coldsocold25 · 20/08/2025 06:52

Was it just a paper that she wrote in. No extra paper that continued onto?
If so, that ia strange.
An exam paper is stapled together so I am.not sure how that would happen.

You can ask to see the paper before a review of marking, sometimes for free.

I didn't know I could ask to see the paper. But yes they mentioned its the wholle centre of the paper was pulled out.

OP posts:
Original poster
Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 08:21

Whyherewego · 20/08/2025 07:38

Could you explain this situation to the university and point at her Mock grades? If those are much better for the equivalent paper they may be inclined to accept her

We can try that. They've kept her place until 31/8. Thank you.

OP posts:
Original poster
Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 08:22

schoolsoutforever · 20/08/2025 07:27

I would request the paper back and see what was missing (this shouldn't come with a cost). I'm an A Level teacher and haven't encountered this before myself but I suppose papers could in theory be lost. I have had exam board mark only exam papers when the actual answers were typed (and had these rectified) so mistakes can happen. I would ask to speak to the exams officer/head of exams at the school/college (not a teacher) to explain further first thing today as the priority review of marking deadline is imminent so if you want to request this you will need to do so very quickly.

I would do that this morning. Thank you

OP posts:
Navigatinglife100 · 20/08/2025 08:23

Are they scanned or something before being marked? Hence, perhaps, why some parts get "lost"?

Bobbybobbins · 20/08/2025 08:27

Navigatinglife100 · 20/08/2025 08:23

Are they scanned or something before being marked? Hence, perhaps, why some parts get "lost"?

Yes all papers are scanned and marked online now.
This is absolutely awful - lost part of her paper!?

Missycat70 · 20/08/2025 08:39

you can ask to have a copy of the paper, then you will have an idea of how much is missing. It would be useful for you to have this anyway to aid in your complaint, the more that is lost the stronger your complaint would be.
I'm not sure if the exam board will agree to remark part of a paper as I've not experienced that before. However, if it is an option I would see if your daughter's teacher (if they are available as may be abroad etc) could look over the paper to look for any obvious errors in marking as they will have access to the mark schemes. I've just been doing the same thing for my students who are considering a remark over the weekend. They may be available or someone within the same department area may be able to help especially if they are in school for GCSE results on Thursday.
But as said before, contacting the university is your best option for a swift and hopefully favourable outcome. Unless it is something highly over subscribed such as medicine or vet medicine you may be able to persuade them to reconsider.

MrsHamlet · 20/08/2025 08:46

This sounds like a scanning error. I suspect that you might need to ask for a review of that paper anyway - because if part was missing they should've marked the rest - and hope that they can track down the missing part.

Soontobe60 · 20/08/2025 08:48

How did you manage to get an exam paper reviewed in such a short timescale? The results came out last Thursday, a request for a review would most likely not have been submitted til Friday and you say you got the outcome on Tuesday?

Original poster
Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 08:54

Soontobe60 · 20/08/2025 08:48

How did you manage to get an exam paper reviewed in such a short timescale? The results came out last Thursday, a request for a review would most likely not have been submitted til Friday and you say you got the outcome on Tuesday?

Yes. It's the priority review and got it yesterday evening.

OP posts:
Original poster
Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 08:56

MrsHamlet · 20/08/2025 08:46

This sounds like a scanning error. I suspect that you might need to ask for a review of that paper anyway - because if part was missing they should've marked the rest - and hope that they can track down the missing part.

They marked the part they have and I believe used that to estimated what she have scored. That's why I am questioning if it's worth reviewing as she's lost i mark on the paper we reviewed?

OP posts:
LottieMary · 20/08/2025 08:56

As pp have said it can happen though it’s rare

I’d ask for the paper to view (free) and probably also review the paper although as you’ve found it could go down.

explain to uni the missing bit but if she’s averaging C even after review of marking, why does she think she’s done so much better in the other paper? Was it particularly stronger topics? If she has evidence of this in mocks the school may be able to add notes to an appeal on the basis of the lost pages but I’m not sure at what point the school are allowed to intervene

fwiw there’s also an appeal after the review but that’s expensive and I’d definitely try have in depth conversation with school about her specific papers. We’ve only done it once in my 16 years teaching (although she did go from b to a*! We wouldn’t have supported it if we didn’t think the marking was wrong)

MrsHamlet · 20/08/2025 09:01

Takingaleap · 20/08/2025 08:56

They marked the part they have and I believe used that to estimated what she have scored. That's why I am questioning if it's worth reviewing as she's lost i mark on the paper we reviewed?

Show quote history

Has someone looked at it to see if there are any obviously missed marks, apart from in the missing section?

Soontobe60 · 20/08/2025 09:03

MrsHamlet · 20/08/2025 09:01

Has someone looked at it to see if there are any obviously missed marks, apart from in the missing section?

Show quote history

This would automatically be carried out as part of the review process.

LifeOfAShowGirl · 20/08/2025 09:03

When the paper is sent back to you OP, you can’t then submit it for a remark.

MrsHamlet · 20/08/2025 09:04

Soontobe60 · 20/08/2025 09:03

This would automatically be carried out as part of the review process.

Show quote history

I know that. But I thought she was talking about the paper that hasn't been reviewed.

MrsHamlet · 20/08/2025 09:05

LifeOfAShowGirl · 20/08/2025 09:03

When the paper is sent back to you OP, you can’t then submit it for a remark.

Only if you get the original paper. Copies of the paper are electronic and don't affect what you can do next.

FluffMagnet · 20/08/2025 09:13

Sorry OP. This does happen from time to time, I guess the logistics of the whole system is so complicated and huge. Whilst I'm sure the exam board is already conducting a search to see if the original paper can be found for that exam, it is normal to create an assessed grade and these tend to be pretty accurate. In your case, rather than spending months fighting for the first place, I would be looking at Clearing so your daughter can start in September with the rest of her cohort. Sometimes we just have off days with exams - personally I flunked my A2 Biology and it did pull down my overall A Level grade. But, whilst it still irks me now on the rare occasions I think about it, it hasn't affected the life plans I had in place at 18.