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Secondary education

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Does the school need to support a remark - or is it you call as your cash?

13 replies

kittybelle · 26/08/2014 02:25

Also what is the turn around time for remarks? If you need a grade increase to start that subject at A level....

OP posts:
ChillySundays · 26/08/2014 18:45

Don't know the answer but would have thought your cash your decision. It might be best to discuss with the teachers though

Lifeisadancefloor · 26/08/2014 18:55

The deadline (i think) this year is the 20th September. Turn around time can be quick - but if you put in a reason it may be marked quicker. It might be that the school/college will let the student start the course pending the remark

Normally if you pay for the service the school will be happy to put the remark in - but beware because marks can go up as well as down and those who have marks close to the grade boundaries may already have been checked by the boards internally before results were released.

Hope that helps - hope you get the grade you need!

secretsquirrels · 26/08/2014 19:06

At GCSE and A level my experience has been that the school will ask and pay for it if it's in their interests. Otherwise you just fill a form in and pay up.

DS1 asked for a none priority re-mark of an A level paper. It cost £36 and he took it in on 28th August. It came back today having gone up by 18 UMS (not 12 as I first thought) from A to A*.

We will get the money back apparently.

kittybelle · 27/08/2014 03:07

Wow thanks for that.....can you just ask for one of the papers/units to be remarked? Can the ca be remarked?

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kittybelle · 27/08/2014 03:09

Are there any stats on what % go up, down and stay the same and is this related to where it is at grade boundary?

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ShanghaiDiva · 27/08/2014 04:10

You can get just one paper remarked.

ChocolateWombat · 27/08/2014 18:36

It is up to you to ask for a remark and to pay. You ask the school for a form and fill in it and then they process it, as they were the examinations centre. It does have to go through school.
Schools sometimes put in for remarks themeselves, but this is rare, because if you are remarked, the new mark counts and it can be lower as well as higher. So schools don't want to risk pupils being downgraded generally.

When schools think everyone has been wrongly marked, they will usually put in for one or two remarks, of candidates who are not near any grade boundaries, so for whom a downgrade of actual grade is less likely. They will only ever do this with the knowledge of the pupils.
If the school find a few remarks rise (perhaps ones which were put in for by pupils....school always informed of outcome) they may decide to complain and if a certain percentage of papers have been raised,the exam board will look at the whole schools papers again.

If your mark changes, your fee is refunded.

Most remarks do not result in an increase in marks. Those that do, often don't lead to a change in actual grade. Exam board remarkers are under pressure to not change marks. A certain level of difference in marking in essay type subjects is allowed (called tolerance) so if the remarker thinks the original marker was within tolerance (often just a couple of marks) there will be no change in mark. Lots of papers will see increases in marks, but they are a fairly small % of the total remarks.

ChocolateWombat · 27/08/2014 18:49

A remark is more likely to result in a grade change if the original mark is close to a grade boundary. So a mark close to an A grade, is more likely to become an A or a remark, than a mark that was only just above the B boundary. This is simply because fewer extra marks were needed to get to the higher boundary.
Equally, getting a remark is more dangerous if someone is close to the grade below, as remarks can lead to marks dropping and falling into the lower grade bracket.

Also remember that the overall mark and grade is usually made up of more than one paper, so the odd extra mark on one paper might not make much difference.

If someone is very near an important grade boundary though, the risk of dropping to the grade below is little, so it may well be worth just having a go, to see if you can scrape into the next grade. However, it's best approached without an expectation that this will happen, as most remarks do not lead to changes. Never good to base all your hopes on a remark.
If planning to do it, do it NOW because you want the results asap for starting the 6th Form.

Noodledoodledoo · 29/08/2014 13:53

At my school and in my department we recommend remarks for those who are a couple of marks away fromthe next grade boundry up - there is the risk it will drop but if you are close to top end it is unlikely to go that far down to the next grade.

Very rarely would we support a remark if you are more than 5 marks away as the most we have ever know marks go up by is 1 or 2 marks. Although parents are able to pay if they wish but we do let them know it might not give the outcome they want.

We do it for all grade boundries, not just the magical C one - although these do get the quickest focus on results day as it will impact students choices.

They do come back pretty quickly - couple of weeks.

Kimaroo · 29/08/2014 13:58

Dd3 absolutely distraught not to get one A at GCSE (she was on track for at least 4). She was one mark away from A on her Geography paper so I am going to request a remark. She knows that it might not change but her self-esteem would rocket if it does go up. So money well spent we think!

TeaAndALemonTart · 29/08/2014 19:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChocolateWombat · 30/08/2014 10:16

Coursework tends to be marked internally. It is then moderated externally. This usually means a handful of samples are looked at to confirm accuracy. Only if in accuracy is perceived, are more looked at.
Are you suggesting the teacher marked it incorrectly? I would think that of all marks, the coursework one is least likely to be changed AFTER it has already been moderated. Yes coursework is moderated up and down, but that has already happened by now.

TeaAndALemonTart · 30/08/2014 10:22

I think they may have put the wrong mark on the system. I have not spoken to the teacher since July but will do so next week to see what they say.

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