2019 SQA Results

[Groovee]

So the 6th of August is fast approaching... here is the 2019 thread.

Ds was sitting a mixture of highers and Nat5's. So we'll see what this year brings.

I'm just grateful it's not 2 lots like last year as it was a mare.

@OtraCosaMariposa yes they absolutely can and do flag missing pages. Markers really do tend to give pupils the benefit of the doubt and in my experience flag everything and anything that is a potential issue!

Thanks, that makes it all a bit clearer. Hopefully it will get resolved. We're just waiting for the CS teacher to confirm he can continue to higher. He knows DS well - had him in both S3 and S4, and will also teach the Higher class. So he should be well aware of what DS was capable of. At parents' evening in February he said DS would cope with the Hgher no problem and the only negative was that he was inconsistent with handing in homework.

We'll just have to wait. School said that the SQA guarantee an answer by teh end of October, but he;ll know whether he can do the Higher as soon as school goes back next week.

That's right in terms of dates. The process of reviewing starts at the end of August and goes on until the end of September - different subjects at different times - and the results all get sent out together - to schools initially so it's the school who will let you know the outcome, the replacement certificates arrive later.

TBH the remark or upgrade or whatever won't be nearly as important if his teacher allows him to carry on to Higher.

Nobody's going to ask what you got at Nat 5 if you've got a pass at Higher. And it's not an essential for the university courses he's looking at which are all science based.

Thanks to those who gave reassurances of other paths when the first one has hit a hurdle.

DS2 has applied for HND in Games design. As he doesn't have Higher Maths at Grade B his first interview will be a maths competency test to show equivalency to that, so he's got 3 days of crash revising before interview on Friday.

I stole his xbox in order to ensure no distractions. Fingers crossed he can do this. I know he can do better than the D he originally got in Higher, but can't tell what his true capabilities are.

Good luck to your DS2.
Which college is it?

Good luck for your DS Bumply let us know how he gets on

@Bumply

Games Design is exactly what my Ds is doing, and he did the HND. He had also failed Higher Maths at school. The maths element of the course can get tricky, but Ds managed to get through it.
My Ds is now at Abertay and starting 4th year soon.

Just a wee update and thanks to @margotsdevil and everyone else who gave advice.

DS's teacher is more than happy for him to continue to Higher. He thinks something has clearly gone wrong somewhere and that DS would have never turned in such a low mark. Apparently last year all the advanced higher coursework went missing somehow so he's used to dealing with this sort of thing.

DS reassured as he was really starting to doubt himself.

You're very welcome, I hope al goes well from here! We have had things go missing too, it's always fixable!

Sorry if this sounds a bit precious or OTT, but I'm looking for some honest advice.

My DS is very fortunate and has an Oxford Law offer. His grades met the requirements of AAB at AH.

His B grade was in Modern Studies, and we have just found out he was one mark out of 140 off an A grade. He got an easy A in his prelim (80%).

He emailed his Oxford College and asked their take on a remark and whether he would lose his place if his grade went down to a C in the event of a remark (very unlikely as he's one mark off an A). They said his place was confirmed whatever the outcome of the remark and to go for it! Law Training Contracts are awarded partly on these grades so obviously AAB is better than AAB.

My question is, should he go for a remark with the small risk of the grade going down and how likely is it that the grade will change upwards? Thanks so much for reading this far!

The only way to get a remark is via the school. If you are private that won't be a problem. If you are not, it probably will be. Ds1 was one mark of an A in his maths and they wouldn't ask for a remark as it wasn't 2 bands below his prelims. I'm confident that this affected his ucas application for Edinburgh. So it was of importance.

I'd certainly ask as shy bairns get no sweeties, but I'd be prepared for them to say no. It might help that it's a more subjective subject than maths and I agree that the liklihood of it dropping to a C is really small.

Should have added that that is a fantastic result and it must be utterly frustrating to be so close, you both have my sympathy with this. Hope you get a positive outcome if you are able to get a remark etc. DSs was a Higher not an AH so again that's a difference which might mean a difference in approach from the school. In the end, Ds1 had 4 offers he was happy with and is doing great and to be honest I doubt he'd have taken Edinburgh if he had been offered. He rejected Glasgow for Strathclyde I think because its closer to the train station.

Not private. He will ask today about the possibility and see what they say.....

Some schools (not mine) would agree to put it through if you paid for the remark yourself, that may be worth considering. I'd say that the chance of being downgraded from there is virtually non-existent though so I wouldn't worry about that!

Quick update.

He’s just spoken to his teacher. His school has just agreed to a remark (at their expense) on the basis of the marks awarded for his 6000 words dissertation.

He was awarded 72% which isn’t bad, but his teacher who is a senior marker for the exam board was expecting at least 80% and wouldn’t have let him hand it in otherwise. He just needs one more mark (out of 50) to bring his overall score up to an A so I am feeling optimistic.

I will update end September when the remarks come back. 🍀🙏

Thanks all!!x

Great news, hope it works out.

DS just got offered a place on the EY Assurance Apprenticeship Programme on the back of his doing their Business Academy (1 week work experience) this summer. He’s turning them down because he wants to do a degree first, but if anyone has or knows of anyone with DC going into S5 who think they might fancy a career in Assurance or Tax he’d highly recommend them to apply for next summer’s Business Academy.

DS had a great time, learned loads and would definitely be interested in applying for their graduate programmes after uni. The week was a mix of group activities, real work at a client site, meeting people at all levels of the company, completing an individual presentation etc.

Thanks @WickedGoodDoge I will share that with colleagues at school!

Update on DS and his unexpectedly low mark in Computing - had a call from school yesterday confirming that the SQA had not received the entire script. So they only marked the first paper, and the first question of the second paper. 69 possible marks unaccounted for.

So school has sent off all the evidence from prelim and other school tests. Fingers crossed for a new grade. Teacher said this was being dealt with along with "exceptional circumstances" claims rather than with remarks, so we might hear a bit sooner than the end of October.

Very pleased that DS has the validation that it was a mistake and he didn't just have a nightmare in the exam.

But on the other hand very worrying that papers can just disappear like that.

Mariposa

That sounds very positive,; it's also concerning for others potentially. I'm sure your DS will be upgraded. How can they not?

My DS is still waiting for remark results for Mods (one mark off an A (out of 140 marks)

Hope we both have something to celebrate on 27 September, but especially your DS.

confirming that the SQA had not received the entire script

Will rephrase that as it sounds like i'm blaming school -I'm not. SQA didnt mark the whole script. Why that happened is a mystery. Could be a school issue, could be a SQA issue. We'll probably never know.

Fingers crossed for your DS too @Aurea it's a stressful time!

Ds mucked up his HND attempt.
Didn't get to sit the maths assessment as too close to the start of the course, and he'd failed to read the pdf sent in his initial email response which contained 2 tasks he had to do. The interviewer gave him a 2nd chance and said do the tasks and email him the results.
He did that but got the email wrong and by the time he thought to check it was too late.

I've now confiscated his xbox until he's found a job or somewhere to do resits, before he tries again next year.

I know he's only 17 and immature at that, but it's driving me nuts at the lost opportunities.

Doesn't help that I hate my current job, but struggling to find a new one as don't have a skill set that's only just become the in thing in the last couple of years.

We're not a particularly happy household at the moment.

And he's still not chased up school as to whether something went wrong with his Graph Comm results. Failed when expected to get at least a C.

@Bumply the deadline for submitting remarks has now passed, sorry. I don't think the school would submit without letting you know as there is a caveat that marks can go down as well as up and you're meant to agree to that risk.

@OtraCosaMariposa great news about computing. It isn't an exceptional now - that takes place in June with the main body of marking and is for those candidates who were absent for good cause on the day of exam. It may be classed as a priority remark though and dealt with by that team (usually the Principal Assessor and/or another very senior member of the team) and that would be a quick turn around