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Original poster

Coursework moderated from an A* to a C

178 replies

Fossie · 15/08/2019 16:16

DD lost out on uni place as her Product design coursework (50% of her grade) has dropped from a borderline A* (according to her school) to a C which changes her overall grade from an A to a C. How is this possible? The school and her teacher are ‘puzzled’. This has happened to all in her class so all are affected. Neither firm nor conditional will take her now. Any ideas how to challenge this?

OP posts:
Original poster
Fossie · 22/08/2019 09:23

BoneyBackJefferson. That is what we are hoping. I will update when we have any news but the exam board has 35 days to respond.

OP posts:
Rivkka · 22/08/2019 12:19

Best of luck op

Benjispruce · 23/08/2019 10:01

DD just had email to say English Lit gone up from an A to an A*!!Still waiting to hear about History coursework and Biology.

ChloeDecker · 23/08/2019 10:48

That’s wonderful news! She must be so happy.

It just makes me angry that exam boards make these kinds of serious mistakes and mostly get away with it, if the results are not challenged (and teachers still get the blame!)

Benjispruce · 23/08/2019 10:50

She is happy but it’s the B that’s the proverbial thorn in her side!Confused

LolaSmiles · 23/08/2019 17:59

chloe
I know for GCSE many schools for English have been saying that their top grades are really odd this year and I know people who've marked this year and they've said all along they can't understand the seeded sample ones they've been pulled up on.
I've not been in for results this year but I'm fully expecting to be querying some of them.

Emilyontmoor · 23/08/2019 19:55

There was an interesting item in More or less this evening on Radio 4. OFQUAL conducted a study comparing how ordinary examiners marked work compared to senior examiners and found overall the grade changed in around 1 in 4 papers (sorry I don’t remember the exact figures - you need to listen for exact figures). However this figure varied considerably depending on the subject. The more subjective the subject the greater the number of papers where the grade changed Maths at one end of the spectrum, English at the other (to the extent that almost half of the papers for the little taken English and English literature changed.

Chocolate50 · 23/08/2019 20:05

OP at least you've got the school on board with it.

Benjispruce · 24/08/2019 18:28

DD’s Eng Lit went up by 8 marks! Just had confirmation.Shock

stucknoue · 25/08/2019 17:50

I'm now tempted to get DD's remarked, she was 1 mark off an a* in 2 subjects. It's a crazy difference that they have revealed

Benjispruce · 25/08/2019 20:35

stuck I believe you have until early September.

Original poster
Fossie · 17/09/2019 20:28

Just to update. The marks are not going to change. The school are still not happy (obviously and neither are we) so I believe they are going to appeal. We haven’t been told officially but one of the students has been emailing with the HoD. I think it’s a little poor of the school not to have told us themselves.

OP posts:
oneteen · 17/09/2019 21:34

Fossie - I am not sure why BUT I didn't get the impression from DD's school (although CRAP (VERY) communication too) that these grades ever change on subjects like DT - it seems to be a given conclusion!

Letseatgrandma · 17/09/2019 22:03

It’s been interesting reading this.

My DC did AS product design this year and was confident as he’d been told he got nearly full marks in the coursework.

On results day though, everyone in the group did much worse than expected and his grade was a B, rather than an A (no A stars at AS level). It turns out his exam score was fine but the coursework for him and most others had been downgraded by over 20 marks!

It’s worrying as the teachers (v high achieving grammar) seem unsure as to why?!

What’s to stop it happening at A level??

Monkey2001 · 18/09/2019 14:53

Exam boards have so much power - set the exams, the mark schemes, the grade boundaries and do the reviews of marking/moderation - in which it is obviously not in their interests to change the grades. I think they also do the first stage of the appeal themselves.

The system is broken!

Appeals have been more successful in the last 2 years than in previous years. There is this analysis from OFQUAL which is very confusing but seems to say appeals are often upheld, but do not often lead to grade changes. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/794519/Appeals_for_GCSE__AS_and_A_level_summer_2018_exam_series.pdf

Original poster
Fossie · 15/12/2019 22:38

I’d hoped to give an update by now but I’m afraid the only thing I can say is that the appeal still hasn’t been decided. Doesn’t the exam board have to work to some sort of deadline? My daughter is planning to redo her A-level and will need to do a new project (possibly 250 hours) but still doesn’t know if the grade she has will change. It seems so wrong. Has anyone had to wait for an appeal this long?

OP posts:
Whatagoodidea · 16/12/2019 12:05

Had my DS2 A level PE remarked, went up 10 marks from B to A which he had been on all the way through. It didn't affect his uni place but was worth doing regardless. Took several weeks as we didn't ask for quick resolution

Original poster
Fossie · 04/04/2020 15:49

Update: DD retaking product design A level this year .....

OP posts:
HugoSpritz · 05/04/2020 17:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Fossie · 06/04/2020 15:17

She is retaking in the same school and done a new project which she emailed in just after lockdown. She thinks the project is good (the school have learnt from last year) but it obvious won’t actually be submitted now. She didn’t do mock exams in school but is entered through the school with the same predicted grade. It’s a bit unclear whether she will be a winner in this (given a good A-level grade on the new project and mocks taken last year) or a loser again (no grade as no work to use but the project). Fingers crossed.

OP posts:
HugoSpritz · 06/04/2020 17:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FancyBird · 17/08/2025 17:53

@Fossie Did they make a decision on the appeal? We are in a similar situation.

Original poster
Fossie · 31/08/2025 19:09

I know this is very old now but I thought I’d update. There was no change to her grade that year. DD retook Product Design and Business and Economics the following year. This turned out to be the year exams were cancelled for Covid. She completed a new project but wasn’t allowed to have marked. The school put predicted grades for Product Design for a B and Business and Economics for an A. She did nothing whatsoever for the Business and Economics but still got her A and Product Design B. She got a place at Nottingham uni and completed a 3-year degree in Finance. She is now part- qualified as an accountant and it’s going well. Just thought I’d finish the story. Her one year younger sister however that her A-levels cancelled by Covid and she also had some challenges to overcome. But that’s another story.

OP posts:
poetryandwine · 01/09/2025 11:39

Great news, OP, and it speaks well to DD’s resilience. Good on her