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Higher education

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

Original poster

A level biology remark

99 replies

Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 11:51

Is it worth remarking A level biology that's 7 marks off an A? Would have to lose 16 marks to go down to a C. Not sure whether to get 1 paper remarked or whether it's worth the risk. My ds was very shocked and did feel he did so much better though and definitely did well enough for an A and even even A* after seeing how low the grade boundaries were.

OP posts:
LineysRun · 22/08/2017 11:55

Same here! DS has a good place at university anyway ... but it means he didn't get his first or second choice. It's a bugger.

vlooby · 22/08/2017 12:04

7 marks is a lot, but in my subject (MFL) not unheard of. I'd imagine that's too hug a change though. Not sure what the question types are but that's worth considering ( i.e. A paper with mostly either right or wrong answers less likely to go up than something essay based for example)

RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 12:19

I think there is still time to ask for paper back before deciding. We 've done that for maths because she scored way lower than she's ever done in 2 papers. We 'll have a look and then decide re.remark. it gasnt affected her uni place thankfully it's more for her personal satisfaction.

Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 13:54

He didn't get into his 1st or 2nd choice but is happy with where he's going now as it was one of his original offers. We've got the papers back now but without the mark schemes, can't tell much, except he is saying he thought certain questions would be right. I don't think we'll be able to get a teacher to look at them as the school are not helpful. All 3 biology papers he thought he would have scored higher, so difficult to know which paper to get remarked.

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RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 16:25

Are the marks on the paper?

Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 16:42

Yes they are, still unsure what paper to remark though. If he loses 16 marks then he'll end up with a C and probably lose his university place. Have asked school for mark schemes or if a teacher could look through his papers, but not had a response. Have you got the maths papers back yet RedHelen?

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RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 16:52

Not yet but I think they would notify dd about it and she's abroad right now. Her maths teacher will hopefully look at it for her but I'm hoping if not in the cold light of day she could probably decide if it's worth remarking even if they don't.

RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 16:53

Think you have time on your side so give school a chance.

Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 19:25

How many marks does your dd need? We've got until the 24th for a priority remark, so really need to decide tomorrow preferably before GCSE results are in.

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Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 19:36

We've also had the same in maths - scored way lower than in any past paper, but he needs 13 marks so probably very unlikely. We've managed to get his papers looked at by a tutor and been told he's made a lot of silly mistakes like getting an answer right and then copying it down wrong on the next part of the question which has then cost him the marks on that question. Thought he'd definitely get A in maths as he usually gets close to full marks. He also got 10% lower in c1 this time which is very unusual I think. I find it very frustrating and upsetting that it's cost him a grade. Wouldn't be so bad if it was just one subject.

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RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 19:45

As we've not got the paper I can only go on ums but she needs 29 more of those (Would be less actual marks) to get the A. She was on for an A* after as but knew C3 habt gone well. But not done much better on C4. S1 was high.

RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 19:47

Did the tutor reckon it was worth getting it remarked?

Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 19:49

I've just realised it was 13 ums as he got 467/600 so that's probably less in raw marks. It was c3 that cost my ds the most marks.

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RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 19:57

As she has her first choice uni we aren't going for priority remarks so we have more time. It may well be that she has completely bombed those two papers but for curiosity I think she wants to see for herself. Interesting that he had the right answer but put The wrong one in The answer box. Maybe she list concentration and did something similar.

Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 20:18

Teacher said he introduced an error by mistranscribing something he'd worked out correctly on previous line. I've worked out now that it's only 8 raw marks. Did your dd get an A grade? Hope you don't mind me asking.

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RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 20:23

She did for Biology but got a B in maths. We would have left it but I think she would always have wondered if we had.

Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 20:26

And tutor said he thinks it's been marked correctly. Said one question on m1 he thinks has been marked harshly but it's what the mark scheme says.

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RedHelenB · 22/08/2017 20:32

Not much point putting in for a remark then as they don't come cheap.

Original poster
Majaso12 · 22/08/2017 21:17

Sorry, just noticed you said your dd was on for a* and was 29 ums from A. I'm wondering whether to get m1 remarked and if that does go up, then get c4 remarked. Still got to decide about biology which I feel is more risky as that's out of 270 so less marks needed for it to drop to grade below.

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bromleygirl · 23/08/2017 07:11

My DS has also missed the next grade up by 7 marks on Biology. With the new-remarking rules, is 7 too much of a gap to make up? We are looking at having 2 of her papers re-marked and while she would need to lose several marks to go down to the lower grade, I am wondering if it is worth paying the cost of re-marking if the odds are stacked against us anyway if the new rules now state that credit can only be given if there was a clear error in marking only. What do others think?

IdaBiscuit · 23/08/2017 08:27

We had this exact same thing last year with psychology.

It was such a hard choice because if by some fluke it went down it would have endangered his uni place, although he was certain it was wrong.

Then we found out that even if it had been marked incorrectly, if the remarker could understand why those marks were awarded it wouldn't be changed.

The rules regarding remarks changed last year. He would have had to drop 12 marks for a C but you never know.

We decided that he could live with a B but not with losing his uni place.

RedHelenB · 23/08/2017 08:42

Has she got the uni place she wants Bromley girl? If so may be not worth the risk.

Original poster
Majaso12 · 23/08/2017 08:58

We still can't decide what to do, but wanted to make a decision today. Was wondering whether to have 1 paper remarked and see what happens with that first, but so worried about the risk of losing marks. If we had the mark schemes (which I've asked Exam Officer for and head of science) then it might be easier to decide, but not had any response back. I think with the maths there wouldn't be any risk of it going down but very unlikely to gain 8 marks, but might get 1 paper remarked just to see.

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Headofthehive55 · 23/08/2017 09:03

I think it's probably best to accept the uni place and move on.
We had it a few years ago with biology. It cost my DD her 1st place uni. When we got the scripts back - it was very harshly marked throughout. For example the word glow and light were not interchangeable. My DD used one and not the other. There were other questions that the answers were right - but not what they were looking for.

It can affect their confidence but it's a single measure at a point in time and unlikely to have any bearing on career prospects if he got one if his original offers.
There is so little between the grades. I do think they should just give you the ums marks rather than translate to a grade. Grades infer a discrete mark "you are a B student" rather than imply a continuum which is what it is really.

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 23/08/2017 09:10

Do bear in mind that there is no such thing as a re-mark any more. You can simply request that the marking is reviewed to confirm that the mark scheme has been correctly applied.

What this means is that even if the examiner reviewing the marking thinks that the original examiner was harsh, the mark won't change unless the original examiner actually applied the mark scheme incorrectly and thus put an answer in the wrong band. It's very relevant in my subject - English - where you could get 21/30 or 25/30 and still be in the same band.