Disappointing IGCSE results - CIE board - English, etc.

[RandomFriend]

Does anyone have information about changes to grade boundaries for very high grades with CIE board? DS has received his results and is a bit disappointed as he had expected A,A,A, but got ABB.

We are going for re-marks but any information or links about changes to grade boundaries would be useful.

My son's very academic school had some weird CIE. English Lang IGCSE results. He got nine A*s and the only A was in English language--a lowish A, too, because of some 'unexpected' marks in one written paper. He and his teachers are surprised, but we have been told it is probably going to be best to keep the A, as if he fell down to B on a remark, it would look bad on his medical school applicaTion.

They are waiting to see what happens with candidates who were more securely in the A boundary have papers remarked.

Abraid thank you for your reply and for sharing. It is interesting to hear that other schools have had weird results.

Congratulations to your DS on his 9A*.

Anyone else have any information on CIE results to share?

Same again here. Predicted A/A* got B. Mentioned disappointment to head of English, apparently there is a national enquiry, whatever that means. Dd is doing science subjects at A level, so it doesn't impact her too much, but I feel sorry for people on C/D boundary.

Our trouble is that there are now at least four medical schools DS can't apply to because A* in English Language is effectively required on their tariff for GCSE. Sorry for sounding as though I am winging when the results are otherwise so good, but it's a bit worrying to have lost those options already.

Good luck trying for a re-mark with Cambridge, my DD 2 years ago was predicted A/A for Art she ended up with a D 1 mark from the C boundary, it was sent for a re-mark and it came back with absolutely no change. The best part was it was her essay which was marked so low it was barely a D despite her getting A's in both English exams. 2 other students were also in the same position.

Our results seem fine with CIE all in line with expectations. One strange one, but it sounds like the student in question didn't answer the right questions and that was literature not language. Our Language results seem in line with previous years' results.
Good luck with any remarks, I know CIE are involved with a bit of a struggle with ofqual and the government at the moment as their exams are not going to count in the new league tables which will of course seriously impact upon their business model. There has been a perception amongst some in the dfe that the IGCSE is 'easier' than the GCSE.

Which medical schools require A* in gcse?

*should read English GCSE

DD was expecting Bs in IGCSE English but got A*s. She still can't believe it.

Do you have a link for the A* at English GCSE requirement
as I've looked at top uni requirements rather obsessively for the last couple of years and not spotted that one

My son took maths A* and English language A - both results as predicted by school. However, a much stronger candidate in his class got a B for the English, which is odd.

At DD's school the CIE Eng lang results across the year seem rather random and there were fewer A* than expected.

From memory, Cardiff, Leicester, Liverpool. Can't remember the others from my initial trawl of the medical schools of the UK. They ask for a set number of GCSEs to include Maths, Science and English Language, with a tarrif of points for each grade. Really no point in applying to these without maximum marks, I am told by parents of last year's candidates, as you only get four applications for medicine and it is so hard to get in.

Please don't think I am moaning--just a little concerned that it's that particular subject.

Devastating to achieve 9 A* and a D in iGCSE English language - out of the blue.
Hope the re- marks are taken seriously.

Abraid, don't panic to much about the medicine issue. Like you say not all score on gcse grades. I would also be wary about what parents tell you, For example I just looked at Liverpool, yes they score on Gcse grades but they give the same score for A and A*. All the students I know in recent years who got into medicine all have amazing grades but there are occasional As and even a very rare B. Read admissions policies and then get on the phone. You don't sound like you are moaning, it can be very difficult to discuss issues affecting high achieving students without sounding insensitive!

CIE results this year have been down mainly because the entry profile changed dramatically - more entries, more at lower end, need to recruit masses of markers plus the usual boundary changes. The mark scheme for Lang is extraordinarily prescriptive: not great for very bright kids who think originally.

Another disappointed child here too. We were expecting an A and daring to hope for an A* in English Language and got a B.

Gutted. Going for a remark though.

Abraid can you fall down on a remark? I didn't think it could go down, only up. Does it vary depending on the exam board?

Yes you can go down on a remark, very rarely happens as must students who select a remark are very near the grade boundary ie 5 marks off an C. So they have a big enough cushion if they drop a few marks the other way so the original grade will normally be safe.

Well if he's only on the boundary of a B/C instead of an A/B I'll be flabbergasted! It's a shame CIE don't tell you online (like Edexcel do) how close they are to the grade boundary.

The school will have that information. There have been some prescriptive changes to the Language recently - particularly strange is the summary task where there are more marks for the bullet point list than the full write up.

Different IGCSE board, but my two got A not A in English langugae, despite each getting an A in English lit and both being in top set for English at an academic school. I was surprised as English language is probably their best subject, but we are not bothering with a remark as it will not matter to their university entrance.

It sounds like from what DoctorD says this is a general issue with changes to English language.

Yes, those asking you can go down on a remark. If you are very close to the next grade up a remark is worth doing - mine is going that for his only B which was half a mark off in one paper (French) and the teacher recommended a remark. He was off an A by a whisker so I don't think a remark will take him down to a C.

Not necessarily a general issue. As I said our results were as usual. More A* in lang than lit, with one or two students doing better in lit than lang. However, approaching a question in slightly the wrong way can result in a much lower mark. I see this often in mock exams and the change to the summary may have caught some people out. We also see some students write a narrative for the descriptive task and this results in a lower grade as well. No one can say for sure until you know the marks for each paper.

It depends also on the combination of units. Did he do coursework and s+l?

Thanks, Bike, yes I realized I'd got the Liverpool GCSE requirement a bit wrong but we were on the move again and I couldn't get online! I am hoping we can just dig in with the A and not do anything. :)