Has anyone successfully appealed an A-level? Advice needed please!

[silva1]

Hi, we need to decide whether to appeal one of DD’s A-levels (MFL).

Her school did formal exams (the same as if actual A-levels were happening) and stated in their policy that grades would be 100% based on these exams.

So her marks in the assessments were -

Writing paper - 38/40
Listening and Reading Comprehension - 50/60
Speaking - 38/40

So this is 95% for the writing and speaking exam and 83% for the listening and comprehension paper.

She was awarded grade A, but feels that in a normal year, these marks would have achieved an A*.

There were no grade boundaries this year. The school said that instead, they looked for evidence of certain criteria in the papers when assessing grades. But it is not clear to anyone (apart from the teachers) what this evidence / criteria actually was.

We have had the Centre Review and the outcome was that the grade remains unchanged.

Our feeling is that the marks must reflect whatever evidence they required - otherwise what was the point of marking the papers and giving these marks to students on results day? If the ‘evidence’ wasn’t there - how did two papers come to be marked at 95%? It makes no sense.

We are thinking to appeal, but worried in case the grade goes down. How possible is this?

Please any teachers with advice or advice from anyone else would be very welcome!

Hi there we are also appealing my daughters A level Biology grade. She was sitting on A -A+ all year and planned to study Biology at Leeds or Manchester. Predicted grade was an easy A .. ON results day she was given a B and automaticlaly declined from all her uni choices. We had to go through clearing to get her into a Biology course after being offered a foundation year at Manchester.
She will still be studying Biology and has a great knowledge of this which I guess will become evident at Uni however this does not seem right . We clearly know of some of her friends in other schools who have seemingly been handed the top grade, who may actually struggle with the content of the course at Uni.
The school have actually been obstructive to us appealing which has made me stick to my intuition that my daughter has been wronged. We havent been given marks or offered to see papers or anything, We have followed the process, centre appeal followed by the exam board appeal- (AQA - ) agreed with the grade given by the school however we have no proof of what exactly they investigated it seems like the whole process is corrupt. I am considering seeking legal advice can anyone recommend what my next steps would be before I begin an appeal to Ofqual whom I am guessing will find no reason to change the grade.

My v clever and hard working son ( who went to a selective academy/grammar school in sixth form ) was given a low offer for his university place and was then basically given the grades he needed as A''levels. He obtained ABB but was expecting As and As. In one A'level ( in the subject he will study at uni ) he obtained As in both exams set and then given a C for his coursework - even though it had been held up as exemplary in class and his university had said in his interview that it was way above normal A level standard they expected. I really feel that his results were 'cooked' so that the high achieving school could get as many students into their universities of choice. One boy who was caught openly cheating in an exam was allowed to resit the test later and was given an A*. Obviously, my son is lucky as he was able to go to the university he wanted but I still feel really sour that in a year when many many grades were bumped up - he was bumped down. I have been through both both appeal processes and they have both failed ( final result today ) but it does feel a strangely sinister process. I know if he had gone to any other school he would have obtained the results he deserved.

Keep on the sunny side - did you appeal?
It’s worth a try. We did the appeal to AQA I. August but failed as we didn’t have my daughters results. After failing the appeal I asked the school for the results and it was confirmed that her average for the 5 exam papers was 80% - when I confronted the school they back tracked and said that they had used other “holistic “ ways of grading the girls.. inbelievable.
I still feel disgusted by the whole process and am appalled that the teachers were given the chance to play favourites which has affected the lives of many students .
I spoke to some one at AQA who said you can re appeal . Also if you still feel the school hasn’t been transparent then you can speak to the exAm board about your concerns
I think you are correct in saying that the grades were given out to those who had applied to the top unis which is disgraceful !
Good luck if you decide to appeal or re appeal.

@ClarasZoo

I would put your energy in preparing for the relevant admissions test rather than stressing about one more A star. The admissions test snd interview are what matters.

This!!!!

In a normal year only 1.5% of A level students get 3 A*s. In 2021 it was 6.9%, so more than 4 times as many. I don't believe the most selective universities will want to rely on 2021 A levels. Oxbridge always contextualise and they know which schools had the more reasonable results!

The admissions tests, interviews and PS will be more important.

I meant to say we successfully appealed after a review of marking for Chemistry A level in 2019 and he got the A*, but I am not sure it was worth the effort in the end. Your outrage, which is perfectly reasonable, diminishes with time.

It was the first time our school had ever done the full post review appeal.

I did do both appeals on behalf of my son and lost both! I can't really explain how very upsetting it is to have very unfair results and to feel completely it is a stitch up. My younger son ( at a different school ) got slightly inflated grades for GCSEs which he / we were v happy with but he didn't really deserve. ( I am trying to prove I am not an insanely pushy or misguided parent). What happened to my elder son is really horrible. Though when the last appeal came through as a negative result, we decided to never ever mention it again and know his own worth in a different way. So far it is working!

DD appealed Biology successfully.

My DD appealed a grade when she was doing AS's (the old Year 12 exams which counted 50% towards the final A level).

Her % went up 14% ! When we looked over her script it looked like the examiner missed a page of writing.