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?

DD asked an English teacher who substituted for her media teacher and she is looking into this as well.

Exam marks are based on exams. The coursework won't have come into it.

If the cohort was only 20 or so, it sounds like there was an issue with the rank order compounded by an issue with some of the marking.

Thank you! That is helpful information!

If the class size is 18-20, then the moderation sample would be something like 10-12 depending on the exam board, so there is an above average chance that your DD's work WAS in that sample. If a number of large discrepancies was found in a sample, the moderator would request the entire cohort's work, to ensure the mark that cohort received was fair.

As others have said, the examiner's report would state if there were large discrepancies, but as @Piggywaspushed rightly states, they contain information about individual students so cannot be released in full to parents. I would also make the point that whilst examiners' reports may well be available, I haven't seen any for Summer 2025. Our Exams Officer had enough on her plate for the last 2 days to download them. I normally get them the 1st or 2nd week back in September.

I am more concerned that your DD was given a grade. This is not meant to happen at all, only a mark, because grade boundaries are not set until everything has been marked and moderated. It sounds like the school has not been adhering to the rules correctly.

She was given a mark and told what that would probably translate into as a grade. The initial mark aligns with an A* based on this year’s grade boundaries. The reason I am emphasising this grade drop in is because we think it is rather drastic. We were told that it may drop by a couple of marks or at most by a grade or two. This has dropped from one side of the spectrum to another.

There really should have been no discussion of "what it might translate to". It sounds like the teacher didn't really understand the processes.

I had several students achieve full marks on NEA. I still didn't tell them what that might translate to.

Do you not see a problem within the drop in marks?

Moderation can be very variable. I have been marking various NEAs in related subjects for over 20 years. I teach a subject in my own so mark all the coursework but ask my colleague to mark a random sample of her own selection and we are always within a couple of marks of each other (she does it blind, without knowing my marks). I’ve also done exam marking so I’m confident my marking is accurate as it can be.

Last year I sent my sample to be externally moderated as usual, then got asked for the full cohort (uh oh!). My marks were all changed, the report was SAVAGE, my rank order was wrong, my marking was terrible, the work submitted was of bad quality and every single thing you can think of was wrong. Honestly I should have appealed but I felt so gobsmacked and my confidence was so badly knocked I just felt like I’d completely failed. I spent hours looking through what I’d spent trying to make sense of the comments and how they related to the work, and I really struggled but I thought, am I in denial?

So you can imagine my trepidation opening this years’ moderation report - “thank you for the lovely sample, well-organised, accurate marking, etc etc”. I can’t say I’d done anything different to any of the other 20-odd years! So I really think that year was just a blip, for some reason my sample rubbed the moderator up the wrong way.

And I don’t give grades to NEAs although I do say they can look at last year’s boundaries if they want but they DO MOVE.

I can't comment on that without a) teaching the spec, b) seeing the work and c) reading the report.

What I can say, though, is that as a former moderator, I sometimes had to make significant changes to marks where the centre had clearly not understood what they were doing.

You are getting coursework and exams confused here. The coursework was definitely marked and then moderated, separately form the exam's system. The moderation checks the accuracy of internal school marking and has levels of tolerance so any moved marks are out of tolerance. The moderator doesn't 'mark' the work.

Let me know how AI can mark Media essays !

I teach a media subject and in all honesty haven't picked up on any disgruntlement country wide about NEA Media moderation.

HOD here.

for NEAs yes the marks can change though that’s a huge amount. The NEA works differently to exams - you have to request a full review of moderation for the whole cohort; if your daughters the only one affected it’s unlikely they would but this is a massive drop. they would be risking everyone’s marks - it’s highly unlikely
the review would change one mark across the cohort.

AQA charge around 300 https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/after-results/post-results/moderation-review
as MrsHamlet has said the clerical check is irrelevant

There is a moderators report which schools can download from Centre Services - I’ve got ours from yesterday already. It will include a list of reasons for the changes. They don’t have to give this to you I don’t think but If your daughters names/identified they could do.

it’s a real shame and sounds like somethings gone very wrong in the process somewhere but if the school feel the moderation review makes sense they won’t appeal it.

If it was the centre’s fault rather than any sort of mistake, then is there anything I can do?

The problems here really lie with what your DD was told, unfortunately. Teachers should be far more wary about promises and predictions such as 'it could never drop by more than a couple of marks'.

Afraid not. That's the whole point of moderation. Otherwise some schools (cough, Eton, cough) would put all their NEAs in at top marks.

They gave her a C for a paper she didn't sit , even though her paper she did sit was an A?? That's weirder than the NEA issue tbh.

No

I was sent a guide on how they estimate the paper two grade. Unfortunately, I do not have the raw mean mark of the year or any idea how to figure out the standard deviation if I had the mean, so I cannot calculate whether the paper two grade was accurate or not. The exams officer told me I cannot appeal this or ask for a review.

I am a former admissions tutor. I’ve had no contribution to make on the main topiv but I completely agree with this.

Yes, that's correct because there is no paper to review.

It's awfully frustrating for you, I know.

Does DD have a plan B?

Schools must tell students their coursework marks so they can appeal if they wish

Also - my marks this year have changed significantly (which is not in any way a pattern but to explain my thinking process) - I need to look at the mark changes, the reasons given in the report, reflect on whether those are accurate (putting aside my ego too at being criticised!) and decide whether risking the whlle
cohort’s grades is worthwhile. I also need to weight where the money will come from as it would take half my subject annual budget to request one, which I would lose if it was upheld. Which is wrong on so many levels but is part of the calculation.

that all takes time. I’d also be wary of continuing to translate the coursework mark to a grade.
It does sound like that amount, the marks have been around halved but without seeing more detail couldn’t comment any further.

Marks. Not grades. Not "possible grades".

And that was months ago.

Is there no way to ask if there was an error regarding the paper two calculations? She is considering clearing courses.

Yes, we went through that at the beginning of the thread...