Are remarks/review of marking just for the wealthy?

[runner2023]

I have 2 friends whose children have sat exams this year.

Parent A: Her DD got 4 A stars and an A last year for A level and had a place at Oxford. Parent A put in for a remark for the A grade and her DD then was awarded 5 A stars.
Today her DS got 2 x 6s in English, she requesting remarks and also for maths and physics because DS 'only' got an 8 and she would like 9s. This must be costing her a fortune to have 4 subjects remarked. He got 9999998877766. They are well off.

Parent B: DD got AAC and needed AAB for a place at the LSE (contextual as she goes to a low achieving school). She lost her firm and is going to City University instead. She was 3 marks off a B grade, but parent B can not afford a remark and said it the same cost as a week's shopping. Her DD is fine with going to her insurance. The family has 4 children. They are not on the breadline but money is tight.

It seems the wealthy are able to request remarks at the drop of a hat. This seems very unfair.

I did 11 in a bog standard comp 30 years ago.. I fully believe that kids in that kind of school did 13 - especially since they explained they did some early..

GCSEs aren't meant to be taken early. The whole point is to have a 2 year course which culminates in Yr 11 series of exams ie under pressure.
I accept I was mistaken and some children take 13 however they are in a minority. Majority take 8-9, some take 11 and a very few take 13.

I would assume that person B could have afforded the remarks in they had had 2 children like I assume person A did? (You don’t specifically mention so I take to imply that they have 1 or 2) You aren’t comparing like with like so I don’t think it is unfair that person A has chosen to spend their money on things like this whereas person B made a choice to spend their resources on other children. Every parent makes this choice surely and has to answer to their children about the choice they made.

I’ve got 13 GCSEs. One done in the autumn of year 11, two at the end of year 12. Back in the 90s. And quite a few people I knew back then did 5 A levels with the fifth being General Studies.

Not quite the point though. OP, I rather agree with you. I was looking at A level results videos on TikTok with my DC and noticed how routinely remarks were being discussed by kids who were very obviously from wealthy backgrounds, and barely mentioned by those who weren’t.

The whole point? And we wonder why teens have such poor mental health... Our specific exam system is mostly a cultural hangover when you think about it, and there are certainly many different ways ability and achievement could be measured, each with pros and cons. If children are ready earlier and can spread out their GCSEs and reduce the stress then why shouldn't they? Packing in extra for the sake of it or some misguided sense of kudos, however, is a whole other level of unnecessary stress for some children. Others might be ok with it, at least on the face of it.

But they can be, they're just exams - you can pay to take whatever exams you like - again, back in my school there was a boy who spent his summers with his dad in France, so he took a French GCSE in year 10.

It's too long ago, but I think there were a couple of other exceptions where some kids took exams in year 10 for whatever special reason that meant they could

And I agree that remarks, and other ways of 'playing the system' are absolutely the realm of the wealthy. How many children miss out because of their parents lack of knowledge of these things too? Or their parents acceptance of external authority? Wealthy entitled parents continue to push their children ahead. It's a deeply flawed system, rooted in British class culture.

This is the case. Dislike the team low achieving school. Is it low achieving or are the results lower? This is not the same

Honestly I read the HE board on here and the level of involvement and knowledge of parents in university courses and applications blows my mind. When it comes to remarks, clearing, years out etc there is so obviously a two tier system, not necessarily financial but definitely around how much your parents know.

ETA and I will be one of those parents when the time comes to an extent, and my parents very much weren’t, so I know the difference.

But all schools should offer the service. I know someone who works in a relatively deprived school and she said they advise straight away on those who could have a remark. Doesn’t require parental involvement at all. It just involves a school saying, you are 1 or 2 marks around a boundary, fill out the form and pay the fee. If someone can’t afford it you can order the script for free so a teacher can review and decide at that point if there is a chance of success.

For something like this, I'd have begged and borrowed and found the money as parent B-and definitely spoken to the school to see what they advised. This had the potential to affect placement significantly.

Loads of grammars do 13 GCSEs, my eldest did. They all do 4 A levels to begin with (and 5 if they are doing FM). Some drop one, many don't,

I did 13 GCSEs and got 11As and 2Bs… it was in 1998.

dd1 is now 17 but are had a remark as she was 2 marks off a 6 in one subject (all other grades were 7s and 6s). Grade didn’t change. School suggested it and paid - state school.

Cutting state school budgets only increases the inequality too. Back in the days before austerity, I’d look at all the years results and any glaring anomaly, as well as anyone close to the next grade boundary, I’d send off for review and the school would foot the whole bill. Nowadays, school budgets can’t afford it, so it’s only kids who’s parents can afford to pay for it that get the review.

At my school (comprehensive) in the early 2000s I did 12, along with about 1/4 of the cohort who did triple science. The remaining 3/4 did double science and did 11. Only a few did less than this - everyone did a language as standard, I’m guessing a few who struggled may have dropped this. Everyone did 3 options, I remember one option basically being a free period but again only certain pupils were allowed to take that. 11 was very much the norm with a significant number doing 12. A friend did Latin in her own time and got 13. She also went on to do 5 levels.

The average number of GCSEs taken are 9 in the UK.
Average means some will take more/fewer.

This is overview of how many children sit 13 GCSEs: In England during 2022, making up only about 0.002% of the total. For 2024, statistics show that 390 students took 12 or more GCSEs, which is 0.1% of 667,340 students, though a specific number for 13 GCSEs isn't broken out.

Gov.uk data shows that 1.7% of children sat 11 GCSEs and 0.1% sat 12 or more GCSEs.

So like I said, most don't.

Of course most don't. But some do! One of our local state schools puts kids in for 13 routinely and reduce the number if necessary. One of the reasons I wouldn't send my kids there to be honest. My 13 were done back when English was 100% coursework, one of mine was a paver for a second so was the same subject and curriculum, and two were 'fun' ones done in my own time during Lower Sixth.

Yes 0.1% do over 12.
390 pupils out of 667,000 sit over 12. The number who sit 13 is even lower. Potentially 100 pupils each year.

At my DC's (independent, highly academic) school they will suggest a review of A-level papers if a candidate got lower than a predicted grade and is very close to the boundary. If it impacts their first choice of university (ie they need AAB but got AAC) they would actively encourage it obviously. It is expensive, and I would hope that a state school would be able to help a young person in the second scenario with the cost.

I do think it's a bit questionable tbh. I see a fair few parents like those the OP mention - ie kids who already have an Oxbridge/RG place but get a review because the want another Astar. Or GCSE students hoping to get from 7/8s to 9s when it's really kind of irrelevant.

Parents should remember than in any review, examiners aren't looking to award extra marks, but to decide whether marking is fair. If a candidate hit a particularly tough or picky examiner the first time around, the second examiner just needs to 'agree' with their marking - which they are more than likely to. Bottom line is that some candidates can and will be marked more generously or harshly in the exams than others - it can't ever be a completely perfect system.

It doesn’t

It does. OP listed 13 grades ie 13 GCSEs

I think they are and you raise an important point.
Dcs school want just under £90 for a remark, the school won’t cover it. Not even for pupil premium kids.

@FatherFrosty - that seems like a lot - I thought it was usually around 50/60 quid - guess it depends on the board though.

Is this a state school? Shame there's no provision for pupils who can't afford it and are a) within a couple of marks off the boundary (I think only worth it if less than 3/4) and b) have a firm university place riding on it.

I think numbers of pupils who genuinely find themselves in that scenario might not be that huge tbh, the schools really should plan for the rare cases.

Its approx 25% who get reviews of marking. That's not "rare".

DS did 12 GCSE’s and additional maths (state school). It’s not that unusual.

@runner2023 yea, I think remarks are quite elitist and due to the cost implication not an option for many families. Some schools used to fund them iirc but with budgets so tight now that sadly seems to be a thing of the past

The data shows only 0.1% of the 667,000 pupils sitting GCSEs do 12 and above.
So yes, it's unusual