Media coursework moderated from A* to a D

[FancyBird]

DD got an A* grade by her teacher and after receiving results, this dropped to a D. Her teacher has left, and I am wondering how this grade could drop by so much. The school does not want to get it remarked as they say they would have to remark the entire class' work. Is this a thing? What can I do?

It identifies specific students. They can choose to share some information though (for example, a comment that A01 was over rewarded so marks were adjusted downwards for all/some candidates). I don't believe there's a ruling on that but individual schools may have policies.

Definitely push for a re- mark. Ifit effects the whole class I would be surprised if you are the only one asking.

I heard that more often than not marks do not change with a remark. Does anyone know how I can ensure otherwise?

What do you mean ‘ensure otherwise’? You can’t influence the outcome. Am I misunderstanding your post- apologies if so!

You can't. You also can't force the school to have the whole cohort remoderated.

Kindly, please stop encouraging this. This is not an exam and cannot simply be 'remarked'! Posters on the thread do explain.

Last time the school asked for a coursework remark, they presented evidence as to why the exam board was wrong. Ultimately, they did not get a remark. They were told they were thanked for their time and nothing else. I want to ensure we are not ignored.

Also, I am trying to get ours remarked, I wish I did not have to ask to get the whole cohort’s remarked, but here we are. I am asking about alternatives as it is not something I want to do. I am not trying to force anyone to do anything, I just want some sense of justice. A grade changing from an A* to a D does not sound normal. If the school initially marked it as a C, I would not be doing all this. I want some answer, whether it be from AQA or the school as it appears that something has gone wrong on one side or the other.

You said they hadn't had this for 20 years?

Yes, that is what I was told.

I don't think it is unreasonable for your DD (not you) to ask whether a specific porblem was identified with her NEA in the mod's report.

It definitely sounds increasingly like the moderator found significant issue with some marking. If the whole cohort wasn't affected, it may well have been at the top end , but it could have been the rank ordering was identified as inaccurate.

How big was the class?

Only a media specialist could say whether the mod's comments were inaccurate (which is different from harsh or unfair).

Well, the systems were very different 20 years ago, so it isn't a helpful case study, unfortunately.

Does your DD have a uni place hanging on this? What did she get overall?

The school is not required to provide any evidence for a review of moderation - in fact, I'm fairly certain that it would just be ignored.

It’s all very unfair. My daughter’s coursework was moved at gcse from a 9-7 which affected her overall grade as well as the rest of her cohort. School
normally produces mostly grade 9’s and in her year sits as an anomaly against previous ( including pre-Covid) years. There shouldn’t be a concept of tolerance that allows a grade to drop and papers should be reviewed as a whole. The current system is very unfair to students and remarks should be exactly that not a check of the previous markers work to ensure it is in tolerance. I am hopeful in time that AI will help correct this human error.

I have read lots of posts on here from examination markers complaining about how little they are paid per script encouraging fast marking and how the training is poor. These grades affect our children’s futures.

OP I am baffled as to how a student can drop from a star to d and empathise with your frustration. Your poor dd. Something has gone very wrong.

Also, I fail to see what the rest of the cohorts mark has to do with your dd’s. Why is it not possible to get just her work remarked, understanding you might have to pay for that? Her coursework should stand on its own. It makes no sense.

The class had about fifteen people.

She had an offer for Kings, but was looking at other universities and courses yesterday. Her paper 1 grade was an A, she was sick on the day of paper 2 and was assured that it would not affect her final result due to the way they predict what she would have got on this paper. They gave her a C in this paper, so her overall media grade was a C. This has affected her offers.

The school told us they cannot do individual remarks of coursework. It also says this on the AQA website.

Well, it was about 15-20 people, to be precise.

Because coursework is assessed as a cohort.

Then the school is at fault. They should not have given you that advice about the second paper.

They told us that the exam board would calculate it based on the first paper, so her not sitting it would not put her at a disadvantage for her final result. Is that not accurate?

That's not what you said though!

I think that is what I said.

How is it different?

https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Estimating-marks-guidance-for-centres-06.03.19-8-1-1-Copy-1.pdf

This is one of the ways the boards can work out the missing mark.

Technically if the teacher left at the end of term they are still employed until 31st August so could you try to contact them? I don’t know if that would help.
I feel so sorry for your dd!

The exams officer showed me this yesterday, but we were never told about standard deviation before this. The school still has not told us whether the exam board used just paper one or paper one and the coursework as we were told before the exam that it would only be paper one.

Besides, I am still worried more about the coursework mark.