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.

Our school takes CIE board for all but a couple of less popular subjects. Our students' results were all in line with predictions this year.

If you want to know what happened with English Language, get the paper sent back.

Do remember that you want a COPY of the exam paper and not the actual paper as if you get the original paper you can not have it remarked.

Hi to the mum concerned about applying for medicine with a low english grade (B). A friend has spoken to Cardiff univ. about this and has been told that the information on website about English Lang requirements only comes into effect next year (although they have failed to make schools aware of this). So do not be put off applying for medicine with a B in Eng Lang.

Both DC had weird CIE iGCSE English results. For DS it was the only result which was not an A. He got a B, even after a remark, but was not too bothered, because the A in Eng Lit covered him for most things.

We were then forewarned and forearmed when it came to DD, who is dyslexic and wants to be a medic, and who was firmly positioned towards the bottom of her (selective) class. The solution was Justin Craig revision courses both at Christmas and Easter, first to confirm she had been well taught and so knew what she needed to know, second to give her exposure to a more mixed ability group so she realised she was not as weak as she though, and then to really focus on mark grubbing (often given lower priority in schools where the norm is A). What does the examiner want. It worked and she has her A, confounding all expectations.

In terms of medical schools I am not sure it matters too much. Very academic applicants often aim for the BMAT schools where the odd duff GCSE result should not matter as long as the BMAT score is good. Other schools focus on UKCAT, A2 predictions or "all-roundedness". And even the ones who look closely at GCSEs are not expecting perfection. Most candidates do not get the string of A*s that seem to be the norm in some selective private schools. You just apply to the schools which seem to be the best fit. Your son should have enough choice.

(DD does not want to do BMAT as she thinks she wont do well on the essay component, and her processing speeds are sufficiently slow that she was always likely to find UKCAT a challenge, even with extra time. She also wants to avoid PBL as she thinks she does better being taught rather than relying on self study, and so the A* has proved valuable. And despite all these filters, and after ruling out two places she did not want to go to, she has ended up trying to whittle five choices down to four. More than enough. Now she justs needs a place.)