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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

GCSE re-marking. When are the results due? Any experiences?

20 replies

OrmirianResurgam · 25/09/2013 08:38

DS1 is hoping for a grade change to a C - he was one mark of a C according to his English teacher. Anyone know when the results are due back? AQA website didn't help much.

What experiences have any of you had with having GCSEs remarked? I am just hoping it doesn't do down instead of up

OP posts:

alreadytaken · 25/09/2013 08:43

if it's one mark off a C it's unlikely to go down a grade and for a subject like English quite likely to go up. Sometimes there are drastic mistakes in marking where someone has missed out a page.

I think I've seen some published stats suggesting most grades are unchanged but I know of quite a few where the grade has gone up. Fingers crossed for your son.

When results come back is a bit hit and miss although if the request went in straight away they should come back quicker. Sorry I don't know much about timings.

TheWave · 25/09/2013 09:03

If you look on the student room website they have some varied experiences from 90 mins online turnaround to a few days to a week or so generally. However it might depend on when your school puts them in - as a batch (deadline was last Fri) or as and when you give in your money.

soda1234 · 25/09/2013 09:03

DS had the results of his AQA Drama re-mark back last Thursday, was requested at the start of term. He got 4 extra marks and went up a grade!

Original poster

OrmirianResurgam · 25/09/2013 09:44

Thanks everyone.

Congrats to your son soda!
I will ring the school.

OP posts:

happygardening · 25/09/2013 11:18

DS1 was part of the eng lang marking debacle last year and was 1 mark of a C, he and many of his peers papers were resubmitted it was the course work that pulling the overall mark down and there was no change I'm afraid.
As far as I understand it when he resat it last November the same course work was resubmitted and it was then graded a C!

Original poster

OrmirianResurgam · 25/09/2013 11:20

I rang school. They sent the letters out yesterday. Apparently he stayed a D in English but his history grade went up! He is pissed off and he doesn't want to do English again!!! Never mind.

OP posts:

mumslife · 25/09/2013 12:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sparklegeek · 25/09/2013 21:32

Ours was 5 days from handing in to school until we received it back (including a weekend!) This was with AQA & despite losing one UMS, the grade stayed the same (had been one UMS off an A*) grrrrrr.

Artyjools · 30/09/2013 14:03

DS's school paid for the remarks. He needed 3 marks to get a C in English, but was awarded TWO extra marks. I don't know of anyone who went up a grade, but I know of one who was awarded LESS on a remark.

My DS will be resitting in November and I am on his case big time, as he knows he put next to no effort into any of his exams in June.

OP, they really do need English and Maths GCSE. I wouldn't let him off the hook so easily if I were you.

SlowlorisIncognito · 30/09/2013 21:08

Not having a C in English (language) could really cause him problems. It's a shame this was just under the boundary, but I would insist on a retake.

It's one of those things you need for everything- from entry level jobs to admission into university.

Hopefully, as he was so close this time, he will be able to pull his grade up.

Original poster

OrmirianResurgam · 01/10/2013 13:11

Yes, loris, the college is re-entering him for next year. He has a whole day a week dedicated to his English GCSE!

OP posts:

ColdFusion · 01/10/2013 22:28

My DD had a paper remarked. She had the result within the week. Went up to A* :)

Original poster

OrmirianResurgam · 02/10/2013 10:29

Oh lordy! Big blow up last night. He 'overslept' for his English class yesterday. As I had called him an hour beforehand to make sure he was awake I am sceptical....

So had a long talk about it last night. He is furious and upset he has to do it again. I am fairly sure he is slightly dyslexic and finds writing a great deal quite hard. He hated doing the GCSE before (twice!) and the second time he worked much harder - then the grade boundaries changed but he was still only a mark off a C. The remark didn't make any difference - not for any of the candidates from his school! He is seriously pissed off. In the middle of this H came in and just yelled at him and told him to stop being so lazy Which didn't help of course.

It's frustrating. He likes the texts, he loved Of Mice and Men last year, he enjoys going to Shakespeare performances with me, that isn't the issue. I honestly feel like crying.

OP posts:

Artyjools · 04/10/2013 18:14

I feel your pain, OP, I really do.

Do you feel up to doing some revision with him? There is a great revision book - AQA GCSE English & English L:anguage Unit 1 Higher Tier, by Beverley Emm. It is extremely user friendly. You could also look at this website - englishtutorhome2.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html - which is fab.

I'm trawling through various sources (I can access the resources on TES as I teach post-grads - but it may be open to everyone) and am putting together some revision notes for my son. I can e-mail them to you if you like.

BestIsWest · 04/10/2013 20:58

Anyone else still waiting? WJEC English Lit here.

Cynderella · 04/10/2013 21:27

There are a couple of things to bear in mind and the first is that your children need English Language and not English Literature. The English Language exams won't have questions on Shakespeare or 'Of Mice and Men' because they are Lit texts. Confusingly, they may have used them for their English Language Controlled Assessments (CAs).

Secondly, the November retake will be the last English Language exam where Speaking and Listening counted. From June it's exam and CAs only. The CAs are done in school, marked in school and moderated externally. A lot of schools had their marks pulled down this summer. The boundary for a C changes with each series so the grade for the folder can change. If the CAs are way below a C (and remember the work may have been completed in Year 10), then pupils have to get closer to a B in the exam to pass.

There's an alternative. There are courses called Level 1/2 Certificates that are equivalent to GCSE but are exam only. They are based on the iGCSE courses used by independent schools and are becoming increasingly popular in state schools now that they count in the League tables. They are a good choice for those kids who passed the exam but failed because of their CAs. As with everything, you may have to do some research and battle a bit.

Lastly, there is a difference between English and English Language although the exams are often similar or the same. English has some Literature content and so the CAs are different. It doesn't matter to pupils which they have but it does to schools. English Language is always taken with English Lit because it doesn't count in the league tables otherwise. Not really relevant to retakes. Hope that helps.

Original poster

OrmirianResurgam · 04/10/2013 21:41

Thanks Cinderella, that would make sense as he tells me he has been told there are no texts.

Thank you arty, I am not sure exactly what is involved as yet.

OP posts:

Original poster

OrmirianResurgam · 04/10/2013 21:45

I remember what he said now.....IGCSE! I have no idea what that is but I will do some googling

OP posts:

Cynderella · 04/10/2013 22:01

Today was final day for entries BUT maybe you can do a late entry and pay the fee? I'm not sure because all this gets handled by exams officer. The AQA Certificate has no CAs and no Anthology or pre-released material. It's just two straightforward papers. Second BUT - speaking and listening does count for the iGCSE courses and the AQA one requires that it is recorded. It's only be validated this year so not as popular as some of the others but a lot of schools are picking it up because it is ideal for retakes (no pesky CAs). Have a look and speak to school/college. As others have said GCSE English and Maths are soooo important. In some cases, graduates find their applications light because of a D ...

happylady1 · 06/10/2013 16:54

My son only managed a D in his AQA English Language paper this year and achieved all his other GCSEs with good results, we put in for a remark immediately. Unfortunately he had to start college as unable to get into his sixth form without achieving a C at English Language even though he had As in all his chosen AS subjects. In the middle of September, after being at college for two weeks, the remark was returned and he had gone up by 11 marks! He decided to return to school sixth form as felt that he would have more support for his A levels. Still confused as to how a paper can be so incorrectly marked and also why are the examination boards given 30 days for a remark if this affects the child commencing sixth form??

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