Aqa a level review

[KingFrog]

Ds was one mark away from the next grade boundary in biology. This boundary would make a big difference to university.

I spoke to his teacher and they said that AQA are very accurate and it's unlikely to change but I'm sure I've read this isn't always the case.

Would it be worth asking for his papers to be looked over so you think?

They have a 2-3 mark tolerance for examiners, so if it's only one mark off they usually won't change it because they'll say it's within tolerance. It's actually more likely to change if it's 4+ marks away from the boundary.
Depends if you want to try a re-mark though. It will cost but would put your mind at rest.

My DS got an AQA paper reviewed last year, we looked at the papers and got the one reviewed that looked like it was likely to go up. He gained 3 extra marks (some hadn’t actually been added on correctly) and went from an A to A star (psychology)

I would do it. If you’re so close to the boundary above, you’d be v v unlikely to be marked down to the next grade.

Rememebr that you out your A Levels on your CV for life.

If you do t do it you’ll always wonder.

Go for a priority remark and you will get in back in next couple of days.

I'm a teacher and examiner- go for a priority remark, it's worth a go as you're so close to the next grade.

That's not quite true. The tolerance is for individual questions not overall.

So if say they got 14/20 and the tolerance is 10-14 then one up and they'd get it. But if the tolerance was 14-18 then they'd have to go up by 4 marks.

Ask for the papers back (normally free) and see if the teacher will go through and see if any of the papers look possible, then just put that paper in for remark.

Teacher and the other thing we aren’t allowed to mention on social media, definitely go for review, pick paper 3, ask for priority

Exams Officer here. Get the scripts -, free. Get teacher to see which paper has the best chance of gaining a mark. Start there. Do one at a time.
Has DC got their uni place?

Also a teacher and examiner, and I suggest asking the teacher to look at the papers before asking for review. Reviews are not looking for marks to award - they're looking for whether there have been clerical errors, misapplication of the mark scheme, or the marks are unreasonable.
I've already had the scripts back that I asked for today, so getting the scripts back is really quick.

It’s all much easier if you have access to your subject teachers. Some will reply by email to you,nor be in school to help tomorrow, but in scope places, a subject specialist won’t be found in lots of institutions before Sept or next Thurs on GCSE results at the earliest.

It’s a bit late now, but lots of people will have requested scripts today whilst in school or college. Many came immediately and teachers will have given feedback this morning.

The other thing you need is to know the grade boundaries and the breakdown of marks between different papers.

Often, if you need a higher mark for a firm uni place, time is if the essence as they won’t guarantee your place for this year even with a regrade, after a few days. Or they might but not guarantee accommodation.

So I’d say, that ideally you’d want your application for a review in before this weekend.

If you are only a mark ir two off the next boundary and there’s a big drop to the next boundary, and if you know which paper was your weakest or where you already feels there’s a big discrepancy, then I’d go for it and not worry about marks dropping. Even if they do a bit, you are v v unlikely to drop to the next grade.

But you have to be realistic and honest. Did you work at the higher level consistently and this grad you’ve got seems b wrong…or is it wishful thinking.

I have to say that I have often seen marks remain the same, extremely rarely seen them drop (and only be a little bit) and pretty often seen them rise.

Personally, I’d go for it and not worry about the money.

Basic omissions or errors in marking can sometimes be found in papers with lots of shorter answer Qs. Because there are lots of questions, there are lots of questions to have scope to change …although the boost might be just 1 mark.

In essay subjects, answers are ‘levelled’ within markchemes. For example, a 25 mark essay might have 5 levels of roughly 5 marks each. The reviewer will look to see if it has been packed in the right level. If they think it has, even if the reviewer woukd have given it a different mark within the level, it will be deemed okay and not changed. But if it’s deemed in the wrong level. You can see substantial changes in marks.

One of my DC had an anomalous humanities GCSE exam a couple of years ago. They were a strong L9 candidate but were scored at low L8. 2 other very strong students had the same. It was clear something was wrong. After review, we found 7 Qs were boosted up. This included short answer Qs worth perhaos 2 or 4 marks with the comment ‘mark scheme mis-applied’ - credit hadn’t been given for things the mark scheme said should be credited. In longer answers with levelled essays, there was also misapplication of the mark scheme in a couple of essays, resulting in an extra 5 marks for each. The final mark was almost 20 marks higher and now a strong L9.

It’s not uncommon in a school or college, for there to be one department each year that has been subject to dodgy marking. A teacher can look at the spread of marks and spit if the rank order is wildly different to what they’d expect across the year group, or if one paper seems out of kilter with others. An individual student can’t tell that.

Good schools and colleges have a dept representative there on results day, who has already analysed the results to spot such patterns and advise on getting papers back to review or requesting a review. Good schools and colleges ask students to come in so those conversations can be had and often a good number of script or review requests will be put in that day. Sadly, it’s often not alls choose or colleges that offer this. It adds to the disparity of results finally achieved, as independent schools and those switched in to provide such services can boost the overall results by significant amounts.

Of course, you never know marks will go up. There is a risk they can go down. You do have to be aware of those things and make an informed decision which is much easier if you talk to teachers on results day or can guarantee communication with them speedily in the next couple of days. If priority remark isn’t needed for uni place, the urgency is far less. Although it’s also my experience that reviews seem to deliver improvements more often when out in early..

My ds has asked for a marking check on one of his history papers - he missed the grade boundary by 1 mark and one paper was much lower and according to his teacher a complete anomaly, both for him and within the cohort, so we've got fingers crossed, as his other paper and his NEA were very comfortably at the higher grade.
Just talk to the school - they should have an exams officer who knows how it all works and your dc's teacher will have a pretty good idea if its worth it.

I wondered this too - my DD got 346 which gave her a C. For a B it was 350 so missed my 4 marks

In this situation I would advise a review of marking.

and it is not a good teacher who makes sweeping statements like that to a parent/student on results day. It may not go up, but equally it might and that would be amazing so I worth the review. The pp is right that this is an area where independent schools don’t hesitate and it’s not fair that a state school candidate misses out on dodgy advice.