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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Higher education

A'level tutor recommends a remark - how often do they actually upgrade?

64 replies

NigellasGuest · 19/08/2016 15:02

DD got a disappointing C for English A'level. I am aware this is actually a decent A'level, but the breakdown is as follows:
A,A,B,U..
Her college tutors are flabbergasted by the U, which brought the overall grade down to a C from her predicted A/B. DD is shocked, and so is everyone else. We will get it remarked but I don't want to get my hopes up too much. And I don't want DD to get her hopes up too much either, which is of course the most important thing. But does that strike anyone else as a little odd? If the breakdown had been E,E,D,U, for example, then fair play. But U along with A's?

I remember when DD came out of the exam for which she got the U. Her feeling was that it had gone reasonably well, and she is normally pretty objective in her opinions although this is of course a situation in which it's hard to be that objective. I guess what I'm saying is that she didn't come out of the exam and say she'd had a breakdown in the middle of it, or mention something drastic happening! I mean, how badly do you actually have to do in order to get Ungraded??

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NigellasGuest · 19/08/2016 22:42

sorry - I'm on my phone so typos etc

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Wigeon · 19/08/2016 23:06

Afraid my reliable source tells me you don't get a U just because you wrote Q3 but answered Q2...you'd still get all the marks due to you. It's be more like what Quack says....

Fingers crossed for you it was a marking cock up though...

samlovesdilys · 19/08/2016 23:14

If you recall the paper it won't have 'marking' on it...just a grade. In my experience few go up and it could go down (but U makes that irrelevant), most stay the same...but it is worth the try if you have £40 (more if t is a rush and UCAS place depends on it) and it could go up dramatically. The grade breakdown IS odd. Was it exam or coursework? If latter the college should have a moderators report - How did the rest of the class do? If all underperformed it is unlikely a poor marking situation... Good luck!!

Wigeon · 20/08/2016 07:46

Samloves - with the subject my DH examines, the candidate DOES see the re-marked paper (presumably electronically, as that's how papers are marked). So it sounds like it might vary by exam board/ subject.

catslife · 20/08/2016 10:43

English isn't my subject area, but have some experience of marking A level papers. Each paper is marked totally separately by individual examiners so you don't know anything about what marks candidates receive on the other papers. It's all done electronically now, but this could be a clerical error rather than a marking error. Now that papers are usually on-line the software adds up all the marks so some of the tasks that used to be carried out by examiners such as transferring marks obtained to mark sheets are probably now carried out by clerical staff at the exam board. It should be checked, but it is possible to make an error on the mark sheet and give the wrong mark to the wrong candidate. If this sort of error is made then the mark would definitely go up.
In my subject most of the U grades are candidates who haven't answered many questions and most of the pages are blank. It's very unusual for this grade to be obtained if they have attempted all the questions. Hope that helps

BernadetteMatthews · 20/08/2016 11:12

DS s teacher called yesterday to say that one of his exams was very close to the next grade so to go for a remark. He's got his firm place, so it there any point? I'm worried it might go down and he'll lose his place.

The only benefit if it goes up is that he gets a monetary bonus from his firm.

What should we do?

LadyPenelope68 · 20/08/2016 11:35

If he's got his form, I'm not sure I'd risk it personally.

LadyPenelope68 · 20/08/2016 11:35

Firm not form!

Coconutty · 20/08/2016 11:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SuburbanRhonda · 20/08/2016 11:43

DS had an AS paper remarked last year after getting an E (the other paper was an A).

The remark came out the same so he resat that paper this year and got an A - bringing his overall grade in that subject to A*

NigellasGuest · 20/08/2016 13:39

Afraid my reliable source tells me you don't get a U just because you wrote Q3 but answered Q2...you'd still get all the marks due to you. It's be more like what Quack says....

Wigeon actually, that is good news. Dd won't have written illegibly, and we're fairly sure she didn't write at length on the wrong subject. The exam consisted of 2 essays, one from each section. DD says she completed both, and she is also good at essays.
catslife that's useful thank you.

We are now at the stage where whatever happens regarding the re-mark, DD will at least be able to see again what she wrote and get some "closure" regarding the result.

Bernadete how much of a monetary bonus is his firm offering?

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NigellasGuest · 20/08/2016 13:44

by the way, we are also having a re-mark of her politics paper. It was 2 UMS marks (whatever they are, but DD says they are less than normal marks)??? under an A.
DD reckons it won't be downgraded from B to C because it was such a high B so it's worth a punt! Bernadette if your son's grade was really really close to the next grade up, it's unlikely it that if it's marked down that it would be marked down so much as to go down a grade, do you think? if the firm is offering a huge bonus perhaps go for it? If it's a smallish bonus he could live without, then just forgo it and call it payment for peace of mind, if that makes sense.

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notapizzaeater · 20/08/2016 13:44

I'd ask for a remark too, it's so far away from where it was expected.

NigellasGuest · 20/08/2016 13:46

not requesting a copy of the paper for the politics though.
very interested to see that English one however.

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NigellasGuest · 20/08/2016 13:47

p.s. SuburbanRhonda congratulations to your DS!

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Wigeon · 20/08/2016 17:54

On whether to request a remark of a paper very close to a grade boundary - there absolutely is a (small) risk that the mark will go down. As well as occasionally having rogue markers who mark too low, markers can mark too high. All the processes the boards have in place should minimize this possibility but if your university place rests on a particular grade, you are definitely risking that place by asking for a remark.

Wigeon · 20/08/2016 17:57

Also, from what Samloves says, it sounds like you don't always see the paper. For the board/subject my DH marks for, the school can see the paper (and I assume they would show the candidate? Don't actually know), but I don't know if this is always the case.

Do update on this thread whatever the outcome, and fingers crossed for your DD!

OttilieKnackered · 20/08/2016 18:05

I'd go by teachers' advice. I only advise mine for a remark if the result is totally out of kilter with their ability/effort and how they think the exam went. I'd say over 50% of those I'd recommended for a remark have gone up historically, but certainly not 50% of the students who thought they deserved higher.

Things can go wrong technically too- one student got something like 5 marks out of 80 and she was good. Turns out she was a word processor and they'd lost the answer and only marked her hand-written plan!

OttilieKnackered · 20/08/2016 18:06

Also, you can ask simply to see the paper first. We've always been sent paper copies (English- AQA).

NigellasGuest · 20/08/2016 18:12

Thanks all - I will definitely update you. We are certainly goi f by teacher's advice - they gave DD the remark application form five minutes after she opened the result. No time to request just the paper first . University wants to hear from her ASAP. By the way - the board is also AQA.

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LadyPenelope68 · 20/08/2016 19:19

Same for my DS too, they gavevhimvthectenark request form with his actual results. Fingers crossed they both get a positive result from the remark.

Moominmammacat · 22/08/2016 13:48

Think you get your money back if grade changes. ne of mine went from D to A in Eng lit AS unit.

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NigellasGuest · 23/08/2016 10:13

Good luck LadyPenelope!
I would be surprised to get money back Moomin but we will see. Now I'm thinking it won't be upgraded anyway
Took the form in yesterday and they've processed the application. The lady called me to tell me - but also to ask after my DD because she'd been worrying about her and was most concerned, she was such a lovely person to take an interest like that. She said she was there when DD opened the result. She also said it could take "up to a week" which surprised me because I thought it would take definitely a good week. But she told me often it's just a couple of days. Waiting for that phone call now...

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LadyPenelope68 · 23/08/2016 10:34

Good luck to your daughter too Nigella. It's lovely when the staff are concerned, shows they have a good relationship with them. My son had an email from his PD Teacher telling him how shocked he was by the result and saying he's in school this week if he wants to go and chat to him. Remark forms handed in here yesterday.

NigellasGuest · 23/08/2016 11:01

thanks Lady
what subject is DS having remarked?

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