Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

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

1 2 3

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??

OP posts:

Report

NigellasGuest · 23/08/2016 11:02

sorry, meant to post What subject is your DS having remarked?

OP posts:

Report

LadyPenelope68 · 23/08/2016 12:53

Product Design Nigella

Report

mummymeister · 23/08/2016 13:34

One of my DC put in for a remark on Thursday and it came back today. 1 UMS point from the next grade up but it stayed the same so now going to the insurance uni and not the first choice.

the remark system has apparently been changed this year so think there will be less of the grade changes seen in the past and more disappointed DC like mine, just one point away from their first choice degree. it will be quicker though so I suppose that is a bit of a blessing.

last year several of DC's friends got remarks and in one case the 2 pages had been "lost" and not marked and in another case the supplementary paper sheets hadn't been marked and the grades went up.

Report

QuackDuckQuack · 23/08/2016 22:56

Is it this year that they have changed the system so that having a harsh marker doesn't change the grade, only an admin error? I know that was planned.

When I taught and marked, a sample of your marking or internally marked coursework was sent off for remarking by a senior examiner (for exams) or moderator (for coursework).

When I went on a course to improve my department's coursework marking, it was explained that unless you were too generous or harsh by more than 4 marks (I think out of 60) then your marks would stand. Given that the grade boundaries were something like 8 marks apart, different markers could easily have given you a very different you grades without actually being changed on moderation. Therefore the best approach was to aim for a realistic but generous mark, so you just fell inside the tolerance at the high end. Given that our HoD's previous approach was based on her own exacting standards without reference to the exemplar material, I don't think coursework could ever have gained full marks from her within the word count. Armed with the information from the course, our new marking approach our results improved hugely. The course was run by the exam board and the senior moderator running the course boasted that even her U grade candidates for exams would get an A on coursework under her guidance. I am not at all surprised that coursework has been widely dropped.

Anyway - that means that if they have pressed on with remarks not including actual remarking, just a clerical review of the script then there will be far fewer grade changes. The system was disproportionately advantaging those who had the nouse to request a remark and could afford one. Now it will just disadvantage the unlucky ones to get a harsh marker or one who passed moderation, but wasn't a reliable marker. I guess as more exam papers get scanned and questions split between markers, that might reduce the impact of differences in markers.

Report

NigellasGuest · 28/08/2016 11:48

LadyPenelope have you heard yet? We are still waiting. Hopefully will be Tuesday now, because of the Bank Holiday tomorrow.

DD happy in her head now with second choice Uni - and it is much closer to home so for me it's ok (although I know that's a bad reason)! Her first choice is a RG uni with a course she really likes - second choice is a similar course but for some reason she prefers the structure of the course at the RG uni, plus she loved the city it's in when she visited it.

I don't know, what will be will be. I can't help feeling job prospects later on would be better with a degree from the RG uni, but nothing's straightforward is it.

Just interested to see that paper that got the U, if nothing else. Will give some kind of closure. I will come back and update you all, as you've all been incredibly informative not to mention supportive.

OP posts:

Report

NigellasGuest · 31/08/2016 16:09

UPDATE: - the Politics A'level has been upgraded to an A. Really happy! Still waiting on the English paper - seems to be taking a hell of a long time.

OP posts:

Report

QuackDuckQuack · 31/08/2016 18:01

That's some good news at least. Does it make a difference to her uni place?

How does accommodation work if you get a place through a remark?

Report

LadyPenelope68 · 31/08/2016 18:25

That's fantastic news Nigella!! Really pleased to hear that!!!

We haven't heard yet, but it wasn't a priority remark with it being AS level, so I think our wait will be a little longer.

Report

NigellasGuest · 31/08/2016 19:58

Thanks LadyPenelope- DD is really pleased. She went up by 5 marks. fingers crossed for your DS!
QuackDuck - no it doesn't make a difference per se. She now has A,B,C, rather than B,B,C - and the first choice uni have said that she could be considered now for another similar course, but for the original course she wanted, she still needs A,B,B. DD says she's not interested in the second choice course at first choice uni, and would prefer second choice uni over first choice uni if her grades stay at A,B,C, With her, it seems to be all about the course. If that C goes up to B, (i.e., the English result, the original one mentioned in my OP) then she can still go to first choice uni and do first choice course. The English C result,that we're still waiting for to be remarked, was because she got A,A,B and U, and it's the U paper that's being remarked. I wonder how much it would need to go up in order to average the required B. Quite a few grades I should think.
Sorry, I've had a couple of glasses of wine, I do hope that makes sense.

Accommodation - not sure but DD isn't worried. Dont' think it makes much difference as she already applied for accommodation at Leeds but can't ask DD to clarify as she's just about had enough talking about it now.... can't believe it's a week past A;level results and we're still in limbo.Wanted to celebrate DD3's GCSEs and DD1s A'levels together, but can't really until we know what the actual results are and where DD1 is going. Sorry, rambling now...

OP posts:

Report

LadyPenelope68 · 01/09/2016 14:12

Nigella my DS's remark has come through, he's now been awarded his A* which is amazing!!

Serious errors in marking have obviously occurred in his paper! be interesting to see the original paper!

Report

NigellasGuest · 02/09/2016 08:10

Fantastic news LadyPenelope!

Well that U paper has been upgraded ...... To an E. Which doesn't make any different to the overall C grade for the English result. HOWEVER the first choice uni (I think I mentioned it is Leeds) has offered her a similar course and we actually feel it would be a better choice anyway (original course she wanted to do is dual honours with one component being a subject of not so much use IMHO).

So, DD Will be doing that and we can all breathe a sigh of relief ! Has to go through clearing again now but it's definite .

Still curious to see that remarked paper when it finally gets posted to is though - so she can see how she went so wrong and hopefully learn from that!

OP posts:

Report

LadyPenelope68 · 02/09/2016 10:21

Glad she's happy with her choice now! I'm very local to Leeds, great place to be a student!

Report

NigellasGuest · 02/09/2016 19:35

Aww thank you LadyP and thank you everyone

I hope this thread is useful to anyone reading now or next year even!

OP posts:

Report

Wigeon · 02/10/2016 09:26

Just saw this thread in my "watching" threads - congratulations to your DD on the politics remark. What a shame about the English one - looks like she just got the wrong end of the stick or something on the paper which got an E. Did you ever get to see that paper to see where she went wrong?