Any A Level History Teachers - advice re - coursework disaster?

[courseworkdisaster]

DD has just has A Level NEA mark back of 29 / 40.

This has come as a complete surprise as she is predicted A Star * *and does well in all of her school work/ exams consistent a star /a

She was told throughout the process that she was on track with the coursework too. Some amendments were suggested and she was told by her teacher not to make any further amendments.

So today she's received the above mark which equates to a B according to last year's mark scheme. To say she is surprised/ disappointed is an understatement especially given the feedback from school.

She now thinks there is no chance she can get the A she needs overall in her A Level for uni. It doesn't help that today is her 18th Birthday so she's really upset.

I know that things can go wrong/ etc and that it's only one element.

I've emailed the school to ask to speak to the teacher to check no obvious error etc.

But can anyone give any glimmer of hope. Can marking mistakes happen? what would you advise.

At the moment she feels like completely giving up!!!

Thanks @Greywitch2 .

I'll do that then. It doesn't sit right to pay and find it was incorrectly marked. If the mark had stayed the same it would be fair enough.

I do find it shocking that marks in all areas changed. Especially A02 which went from 6 marks to 9!

I've never heard of a charge. The school are applying exam board models. Bit cheeky.

But if they are doing that, then you should get refunded!

I’m glad your daughter is happy as she goes into the exam. Great result

I have no idea of the mark allocation of the questions she has got the extra mark in but the exam board will always look at marks generally being ‘within tolerance’. It’s not an exact science in subjects like history (or English, my subject) so there’s a bit of leeway. 5 marks out on a 20 mark question- no. 2 marks out may well ge acceptable.

I mark GCSE English and you don’t even have to he in the same band to be acceptable - a high Band 3 would be as acceptable as a low Band 4 providing there’s only one or two marks difference - that’s ‘tolerance’.

’Best fit’ is the mantra of the exam board - exactitude on arts subjects is hard. That’s why marking takes so long and the boards can’t get good examiners.

So I wouldn’t say the teacher is a ‘bad marker/teacher’ or that anything will be changed dramatically at board level. Two marks on each question is a judgement call, not a terrible mistake.

Honestly I think parents would be shocked if they knew the errors, mistakes etc that go on at marking level. I have challenged my exam board on a piece of pre moderated work that was shown as an example. I pointed out it was getting credit for using ‘advanced punctuation’ but in every case that punctuation was used incorrectly. I was told ‘Yes, you’re right. But we all ( the examiners) make mistakes’. And this on a sample piece of work sent out to show how that question should be marked!

Honestly I think parents would be shocked if they knew the errors, mistakes etc that go on at marking level.

Depressingly so. I've taught A level for over 30 years now, and used to mark for the exam boards. I no longer do so because they don't pay enough, and it's at a time of year when I'm knackered and up to my neck in it. They expect you to mark huge amounts of exam papers with about a 3 week turn around when you are teaching every day. Not for me. It did, however, used to be accurate.

Nowadays, the fact is people say to ECTs in their first year of teaching (and I've seen exam boards begging for PGCE students and 'anyone with a degree') that it would be 'good professional experience' to mark for an exam board. This means that a lot of people get their A level marked by someone who hasn't taught for more than a year (or at all). Who doesn't teach this unit. Who has little to no experience in marking A level essays. And that is what your A level mark is based on.

Like teaching, exam boards are struggling with recruitment, because the pay and conditions are poor. You used to have to have taught this unit for at least 3 years at A level to be considered for exam board marking. That is no longer the case.

I have no confidence in the validity of A level grades now. I've had students get an A grade who never wrote me an A grade essay in two years of teaching. Definitely not A grade students. And I've had others who were consistently good do poorly at A level. Last year I had two students. One a real A and one a real C grade student. On the same essay the A one was marked at 14/25. Whereas the C grader got 19/25. I know from two years of teaching them that there was absolutely no way that both these students tackled the same essay question in exam conditions and the weaker one got 5 marks higher. They didn't write well enough.

This is OCR looking for examiners. They are clear about the fact that you don't actually need a degree in that subject. Or to be teaching that spec, and therefore actually familiar with the damn thing. The state of education and the trust parents should have in it at the moment is depressing.
https://www.ocr.org.uk/about/become-an-examiner-or-moderator/about-assessing/examiners/