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Higher education

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Original poster

Ds didn't see 5 questions on maths paper 1 and has missed his A by 7 marks. What would you do?

190 replies

AguaSinGas · 19/08/2023 10:19

Ds thought he'd reached the end of the paper at Q10. There were 5 more questions. I contacted school as soon as he got home (he realised when he overheard students in the bus talking about questions he hadn't seen). School checked immediately that he didn't have a faulty paper. He didn't.

We knew his A star was lost, but remained hopeful for a A (based on conversations with his maths department who said that even if the grade boundary shifted upwards by 5 points, which was their feeling it could do, he could scrape the A. The boundary went up by 10 points. Had their boundary prediction been correct, he would have indeed just scraped the A)

He has lost his uni place as the A in maths was a hard line.

He got 3As. And a B in maths.

His marks per paper breakdown are:
Paper 1: 55/100
Paper 2: 65/100
Paper 3 69/100

Raw score 189, A boundary 196.

He can: apply to see his scripts. Or ask for a review. Or move on.

He's spoken to the uni, who have said no based on the B. He wants to retake the maths and reapply for 2024.

But we've been discussing whether we should get the scripts and just see if those 7 marks could be found in a review. We know 7 marks is a lot to find in a review.

We found out on results day that the school applied for special consideration but it was rejected by the exam board. We didn't know they'd done that.

What would you do?

OP posts:
TiaraBoo · 19/08/2023 11:52

i thought they’d take this particular student for any exam as he’s clever and studies hard.

FerryPink · 19/08/2023 11:56

I'd let him resit and reapply if his heart is set on it.
He can get a part time job alongside and will have some decent savings stashed away for uni then

I also found working for a year helped me approach university with much more maturity

2023issucky · 19/08/2023 11:57

Could he do a foundation year in his course rather than wait the year?
My daughter was one mark off a 9 at GCSE in Maths, they found 2 marks on a remark, on just one paper alone, so on the off chance I would do it.

icanbewhatiwant · 19/08/2023 11:58

I heard of a girl in ds's year last year who did the same. All the practice papers had a certain number of questions. So she thought once she'd got to 20 (or whatever number it was) which was the last on a page, she thought she'd finished. After the exam her friends were discussing answers, she realised there were 4 more questions on the last page. She was due to go to Cambridge. I didn't hear what happened in the end though.

FerryPink · 19/08/2023 11:58

joan12 · 19/08/2023 11:06

Honestly I think this is a good example of why this cohort were disadvantaged by not having sat public exams before and learned about this sort of problem and how to manage papers under stress. There's nothing to be done but resit or take a place at a different uni but your son should not feel bad - these lessons are often learned with expert, which he didn't get, until the real thing. Big hugs and onwards now.

Agreed. Exam technique is honed with practice

Original poster
AguaSinGas · 19/08/2023 11:59

TiaraBoo · 19/08/2023 11:52

i thought they’d take this particular student for any exam as he’s clever and studies hard.

This is what I meant but I can see how it could be misconstrued. Apologies, I don't mean to disparage either the school or the staff. @ThereIsOnlyOne@ThereIsOnlyOne

OP posts:
MissBiljanaElectronika · 19/08/2023 12:09

Ultimately he is a bright and hardworking boy with 3 A's under his belt already, he will be fine

Sometimes we need to fuck up a bit in life to learn lessons

He's dealing with it

He will be more than ok, he is growing up and he will get so many other chances Smile

What subject does he want to do?

If it's science/maths/engineering I'd say go get that A in resits and continue the amazing journey of life 💪👍

Yarsvi · 19/08/2023 12:17

My son did the exact same thing a few years back. He failed to turn over to the back page and it lost him his place at Cambridge.
Frankly, whilst very disappointing, it was entirely his own fault. He knew this, learned his lesson and went on to a very happy and rewarding, if slightly different, future. Your son is lucky if they accept re-sits, it's not the end of the world.

TiaraBoo · 19/08/2023 12:17

It’s hard when it’s your child, but from an independent bystander, he’ll be able to use this an example to show - wanting to achieve his goals, his resilience etc

Notellinganyone · 19/08/2023 12:18

Retaking is really the only option here. Really bad luck but stuff like this does happen. He’s clearly calf an A so it’ll all be fine in the end.

ClimbEveryLadder · 19/08/2023 12:22

AguaSinGas · 19/08/2023 10:30

This is what I think. It's free, gives us more information, may not change anything, but we won't know for sure if we don't request the papers. But we need to be fairly quick about the request.

Ds is swinging between being very mature about it, taking it on the chin, and feeling completely stupid and embarrassed.

Show quote history

I know this is terribly important to you and your son but you are asking the school and his teacher to do extra unpaid work in an almost certainly futile attempt to find 7 extra marks in part of a paper that he will have done extremely well on. Now multiply that request and effort by every other pupil that hasn’t done as well as they should and remember for teachers this happens every year. Then give your head a wobble.

Blancc · 19/08/2023 12:30

If schools request the papers, usually those same ones can't also be reviewed subsequently.

Most will request a range of grades for information on the standard and to see exactly how the mark scheme was applied and to use with pupils as example responses, and have reviews of others they're concerned about.

3pm · 19/08/2023 12:37

Hi OP,

Get the papers checked (just for your own peace of mind)

When are the retakes? There used to be a 'November series' - not sure if this still happens?

If the retakes are in November, he needs to revise soon-ish and just get on with it. I would put it to him that even if he got the A, would he have been happy in the long-run (given that otherwise he might have got an A star)? Well this is his chance to get an A-star ad he deserved and is capable of.

If he can only retake next summer, I would plan something now like voluntary work overseas (if you can afford this) - or something. It can be hard to see all the freshers' weeks etc on Instagram. He needs 'his thing' to divert. Honestly, if he goes abroad and does something out if his comfort zone, even for a few weeks, he'll gain so much perspective and mature.

If not, he can do something after the Nov exams to make the gap year worthwhile. There are huge advantages to starting uni a year later. He will realise this in good time. It will all be fine. These things happen. Some people get all A stars and then drop out after a term. This is just a moment in time for him and he's perfectly capable of getting back on track. Maybe the experiences he's going to have in his gap year were meant to be. Who knows! Good luck!!!

LIZS · 19/08/2023 12:39

3pm · 19/08/2023 12:37

Hi OP,

Get the papers checked (just for your own peace of mind)

When are the retakes? There used to be a 'November series' - not sure if this still happens?

If the retakes are in November, he needs to revise soon-ish and just get on with it. I would put it to him that even if he got the A, would he have been happy in the long-run (given that otherwise he might have got an A star)? Well this is his chance to get an A-star ad he deserved and is capable of.

If he can only retake next summer, I would plan something now like voluntary work overseas (if you can afford this) - or something. It can be hard to see all the freshers' weeks etc on Instagram. He needs 'his thing' to divert. Honestly, if he goes abroad and does something out if his comfort zone, even for a few weeks, he'll gain so much perspective and mature.

If not, he can do something after the Nov exams to make the gap year worthwhile. There are huge advantages to starting uni a year later. He will realise this in good time. It will all be fine. These things happen. Some people get all A stars and then drop out after a term. This is just a moment in time for him and he's perfectly capable of getting back on track. Maybe the experiences he's going to have in his gap year were meant to be. Who knows! Good luck!!!

No November resits at A level. And very limited for gcse

PaperBlue · 19/08/2023 12:42

@JudgeRudy "It's a big assumption to think he's likely to have £4k spare. Maybe this year if he's living with parents but next year when he's at uni? You're correct though to be thinking about the long game"

Tax years, not whilst at uni. £8k from working in his gap year, invest £4k as soon as possible to get the most interest for this tax year then invest another £4k or whatever he has after 6th April 2024. He may also work full time over summer after his first year. He will have 3-4 months potentially. Ds is about to complete an 8 week internship, he has just finished his 2nd year and he will be paid £4k just from that! Definitely think about the long game.

MargaretThursday · 19/08/2023 12:46

It's worth asking to look at the papers, but I think 7 marks would be a huge stretch. He should be able to find marks' schemes online and work against it to see if there's any chance.
Dd missed A* in FM by 2 marks and asked to see the papers. Her maths teacher sent them to her, saying "get Paper 1 remarked"-they'd missed one part of a question and that gave her 3 extra marks. She did check the other papers, but one was accurate and one she reckoned might have been a bit generous and if it was remarked might drop a mark.
It would be unlikely to get 7, but worth checking.

If he can work well on his own and school will take him back/you can afford a tutor, I'd suggest he studies maths and further maths. That will show universities that firstly he is pushing himself and not wasting a year, and secondly that he has the maths ability and it wasn't that that let him down this year.
Even if he only ends up doing A/S FM next summer it shows he's moved on and is doing his best to keep studying.

CherryTox · 19/08/2023 12:48

JudgeRudy · 19/08/2023 11:44

It's a big assumption to think he's likely to have £4k spare. Maybe this year if he's living with parents but next year when he's at uni? You're correct though to be thinking about the long game.

Show quote history

No, he could earn 4K between now and end March and then 4K / as much as possible between April - August.

Original poster
AguaSinGas · 19/08/2023 12:53

ClimbEveryLadder · 19/08/2023 12:22

I know this is terribly important to you and your son but you are asking the school and his teacher to do extra unpaid work in an almost certainly futile attempt to find 7 extra marks in part of a paper that he will have done extremely well on. Now multiply that request and effort by every other pupil that hasn’t done as well as they should and remember for teachers this happens every year. Then give your head a wobble.

Show quote history

His school have been incredible and said they'd support him with getting papers or a review or a resit. No sense of being a pita.

No No resits. It's summer only.

I'm not worried about the year out, he'll figure it out. He's resourceful. He's also already had a job offer with a tech firm.

OP posts:
LadyMayGrey · 19/08/2023 12:53

Don't forget, if you ask for a remark, the mark is just as likely to go down as up.

ColinTheGenderMinotaur · 19/08/2023 12:59

Worth exhausting all avenues but if that’s the course he wants to do I’d encourage him to resit the Maths and perhaps do an extra A Level subject squashed into one year (my sister did an extra A level because her bf had to resit and she wanted to wait for him).

Add a part time job (can save the funds for uni) to keep him busy and his new application will demonstrate resilience, persistence and determination, all very desirable traits in a uni student.

sleepyscientist · 19/08/2023 13:05

Could you get all three papers remarked? Finding 2/3 marks on each paper seems more likely than 7 on one.

TooOldForThisNonsense · 19/08/2023 13:05

Can he not get a place somewhere else? He has great grades. Is is worth resitting to go from a B to an A in one subject? I can’t imagine advising mine to do that, although obviously it’s the student’s choice

TooOldForThisNonsense · 19/08/2023 13:13

Also, I’m in Scotland but surprised that this seems common. Our papers say END OF QUESTION PAPER at the end - is that not universal?

VisionsOfSplendour · 19/08/2023 13:13

icanbewhatiwant · 19/08/2023 11:58

I heard of a girl in ds's year last year who did the same. All the practice papers had a certain number of questions. So she thought once she'd got to 20 (or whatever number it was) which was the last on a page, she thought she'd finished. After the exam her friends were discussing answers, she realised there were 4 more questions on the last page. She was due to go to Cambridge. I didn't hear what happened in the end though.

I was wondering if the school had a part in this by not explaining the structure of the exam or doing past papers. Has the format changed and they hasn't prepared the students properly, I assume he finished before the end, is there any case for special consideration if they hadnt explained exam technique properly?

SaltyCrisps · 19/08/2023 13:16

AguaSinGas · 19/08/2023 11:07

Yes, we understand the unliklihood of finding 7 marks. Hence not applying for the review at 805 am on Thursday. We knew there was a possibility this was coming. We knew what our options were before the results came through.

Now that we've had a couple of days to digest, I think I'm just double checking that were doing the right thing.

The uni were wonderful with him, but they won't budge. The A in maths is concrete.

What's complicated it all is that he had an offer to study the fully funded tech degree apprenticeship with PWC. Salaried too! He beat tens of thousands of other applicants in the recruitment process. His A in maths was never a worry. It was his chemistry that he was concerned about because he'd been borderline A/B for the whole 2 years at sixth form. He worked so hard and got his A, comfortably!

So his feelings are magnified, knowing exactly what he's lost out on.

That's very hard. Commiserations. Will PWC give him the same offer for next year, in the circumstances?