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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

Is there a hand holding thread for Y11 parents and GCSE results yet?

439 replies

fatowl · 13/08/2014 15:48

DD is waiting on GCSE results next Thursday.

She is bouncing around being a teen on Summer holidays (she is off in Ireland for a week with her friend's family)

I am beginning to feel a bit sick.

She is hoping to stay at school and do A-levels, but now the results are getting closer I'm a bit concerned we don't have a back up plan.

How are the rest of you doing?

OP posts:
SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 21/08/2014 12:53

With DS1's results, there is a form explaining how to go about requesting a paper be re-marked taggy.

It says that an Application Form must be signed by the Head of Department for the subject in question & submitted to the school by Friday 19th September. The fee for Edexcel is £23.20 without a copy of the script & £33.50 with a copy.

I would imagine that would be the same across the country, rather than just DS's school?

taggyboo1 · 21/08/2014 13:03

Thanks. I think they should go for a remark but they are worried it gets marked down and they get a lower grade. Can this happen? The fifteen year old has just realized I have gone on Mumsnet and it is causing much hilarity, apparently I am sad. It makes you wonder why I am bothering to worry about results!

ShanghaiDiva · 21/08/2014 13:05

I had a paper remarked for ds last year with edexcel. He had a b for mandarin with 84 and you needed 86 for an a. His result stayed the same, but don't regret paying for it as we would always have wondered what if..
I didn't pay for a copy of the script, just the remark of one paper.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 21/08/2014 13:07

Well, DS1 has got his grammar school sixth form place. Delighted. Smile Mixed results, some disappointing, some more pleasantly surprising. Luckily he has excelled in his chosen A level subjects and has even done well in English Lan and Lit. I feel a bit guilty having persuaded him to do French which he always hated and was his worst result. Oh well. Onwards and upwards...

Santa my DS2 has ASD and is coping in MS, just starting Y10. I would be equally delighted if he got such a great set of results. It's all relative. Smile

ShanghaiDiva · 21/08/2014 13:07

Theoretically could get a lower grade, but if they have comfortably achieved the grade then even the loss of a mark will not result in a grade change.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 21/08/2014 13:10

Copied from the form taggy;

There are three possible outcomes

  • Your original mark is lowered, so your final grade may be lower than the original grade you received.
  • Your original mark is confirmed as correct, and there is no change to your grade.
  • Your original mark is raised, so your final grade may be higher than the original grade received.
LIZS · 21/08/2014 13:15

Apparently remark fee for Cambridge Igcse is £46 ish. Yes the grade could go down , but if the current mark is comfortably within the grade boundaries you should be ok . The main issue comes when the boundaries are very close together or is marked at lower end.

honeybeeridiculous · 21/08/2014 13:20

DS got what he wanted, he is very pleased with himself as he didn't think he had done so well.
The irony is, he was offered a brilliant apprenticeship a few weeks back, and they didn't even ask about exam results Confused but he's happy he passed them all and can now relax,
Well done to everyone, even if you didn't get what you wanted/needed it's not the end of the world. I failed maths and ended up as a supervisor in the accounts department Smile never did retake the maths!

Toooldtobearsed · 21/08/2014 13:21

Can I just tell a quick story about DS1?

He mucked around terribly in his last year at school and got terrible GCSE results. The best was C in combined sciences.
He could not stay on to 6th form, left and worked in dead end jobs, losing them due to not bothering to turn up.

He then had a rush of blood to the head, realised how immature he had been and approached a university to ask about doing a (very) advanced computing degree. With crap GCSEs and no A Levels, they took a chance on him. He came out with a 1st and now has an excellent career.

There IS a future for them, no matter what their results, so don't lose heart.

zen1 · 21/08/2014 13:29

I was just browsing this thread (eldest DS only starts secondary this year), but I wanted to say to Santas that your post has given me a lot of hope for my five yr old DS who has ASD and dyspraxia. I was advised to send him to a special school, but fought to have him educated in mainstream where he has made good progress (still not at national levels though) with 1:1 TA this year. I would be over the moon if one day he could achieve similar results to your DSSmile

Solo · 21/08/2014 13:36

CaptChaos last year when my Ds had one of his English exams, he missed out by 1 mark, so the school put him forward for a re mark. We didn't have to pay for this, the schools decision. Apparently, around half the class were put through by the school for this. Others, the parents paid for a re marking. My Ds and most of the others that the school queried, came back at least 3 marks less than their original marks. The ones whose parents paid? they went up by at least 9 marks and they, I believe were the ones who were less able. Money talks, which is a shame as I don't have any money really and Ds has not done well this year. Exams are not his thing. Much the same as me; practical...show me how, I'll do the job and do it well. Ask me to write about it? nah! Ds seems to be the same sadly :(

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 21/08/2014 13:39

Thank you zen1. It's horrible having to fight, but hopefully it will be as worthwhile for your DS as it has been for mine. Smile

Purpleflamingos · 21/08/2014 13:41

Toooldtobearsed - that's the story I needed. Dnephew had a crap few years, cahms helped but too little help too late. He knows he's loved and we will be right beside him supporting him as he makes his plans now.

ancientbuchanan · 21/08/2014 13:41

Ds has done v v well and we are proud of him, combating a tough year one way and anothet and dyslexia.

But Santa, your story is truly fab, ol pass on congrats.

And a young man I know has just got 3 A*, 5 Bs, 3 Cs, 3 top BTecs, despite a horrid year including losing a parent.

Well done to all who survived.

And, as a friend has said to me, their parents/managers!

TalkinPeace · 21/08/2014 13:47

Solo / CaptChaos
DDs head of English has already submitted the 20 test papers for a remark and if they go through, the whole cohort get rechecked - no cost or paperwork for us.

It is REALLY mean what they have done with the English results two years running - last year was the C/D boundary, this year is the B/A boundary

Changes to the rules should be made at the START of the course, not the end.

LIZS · 21/08/2014 13:48

which board is that Talkin ?

TalkinPeace · 21/08/2014 13:53

LIZS
AQA English Language - Unit 1 is the bit they are unhappy with.
Lots of kids who were expected to get A got B in particular

Solo · 21/08/2014 13:53

Santa that's a brilliant result for your Ds. Well done to all of you :)

Well done and/or commiserations to everyone and their Dc's. I hope it was at least as good as you all hoped for.

Solo · 21/08/2014 13:56

Talkin I hope it is a better result for you and your Dd.

My Ds is absolutely gutted with his results. No idea where he goes from here.

eatyourveg · 21/08/2014 14:08

If you are 1 ums off the next grade boundary am I right in thinking that is less than 1 raw mark? ds is 1 ums short on one subject and wondering whether to go for a remark.

In another subject his CA went down 10 ums and I am not sure if having been moderated once they would be likely to change it - he'd have to drop a fair bit to go down a grade but if he was able to recoup just 2 of the ums he dropped, it would change his overall grade upwards.

He's gutted even though he has done well - taken himself off to the gym to work it out of his system Sad

Forgossake · 21/08/2014 14:11

Thank you for posting that, Tooldtobearsed. I really am devastated for my Ds. He worked hard once his mock results came in so I'm gutted that he did not really improve on them. But he was a lazy so and so before that and is now suffering the consequences Sad.

He's really matured in the last couple of months. Has worked hard over the holidays at his part time job and was excited about starting college.

I just wish I could shake the feeling that I have let him down. I didn't want to try and force him to revise more. I nagged, encouraged, tried to boost his confidence and excite him about the future. But he had to do it for himself, didn't he?

HisMum4 · 21/08/2014 14:15

How to get the grades/marks detail of CIE IGCSEs? (Sorry if this was already discussed)

DS's sat them as private candidate at his school. So the school gave us the results, but without the ums and withour the breakdown by paper. How could I get those?

damepeanutbutter · 21/08/2014 14:21

If it helps, my DD did GCSEs last year and was 2 UMS off an A so school asked us to apply for a remark at our cost. We did and she got an extra 15* UMS marks. The examining board do not know who is paying for the remark (we made a cheque payable to the school, so the school would have sent in one big cheque to cover everyone's request for a remark) so I really don't think 'money talks' in this case. Because the exam board realised they had made a mistake they sent us the money back by way of a cheque.

My advice is that if your results are at the high end of the grade (ie NEARLY an A or NEARLY a B) then get a remark as it is unlikely that any reduction of marks will lead to a lower grade. Unis don't look at individual marks for GCSE so you will not have lost out (except the cost of the remark) and you may well find the grade going up if only one or two more UMS are required. Good luck to you all

mrsmaturin · 21/08/2014 14:26

MASSIVE relief here - 6 a and 6 a * including all her a-level subjects and maths. She's happy, we are very happy Grin
I want to thank you all for the support I've had through these last few months, it's been so helpful. Congratulations to everybody who got what they wanted and a big to those who didn't. I hope everybody can get on to the next steps they want.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 21/08/2014 14:39

Thank you for all of your lovely comments Smile.

Congratulations to everyone who has done well and much love & hugs to those who are disappointed.