GCSE remarks - chance of going up a grade?

[reallybadidea]

Ds1 got his results and is very happy with his results, as am I. There were 3 subjects though where he dropped a grade compared with his prediction and having looked at the boundaries, it appears he was 1 UMS off the higher grade in two of these subjects

One is English language and the other statistics. Does anyone know what the chance of going up a grade is if we pay for remarks?! I can sort of see how in English it could be relatively easy to pick up an additional mark or two but statistics seems less likely to me somehow. I presume that being that close to the boundary makes the chance of going down a grade very low

I'm a bit cross with myself for even checking his scores now!

I'm very tempted to ask for a remark for DD for her PE exam but DD doesn't think it's worth it! She got a B, so really not a big deal, but she got 9 A/A* so this B is annoying.

The reason is that DD got A*s at the practicals, and got As at both mock exams she took in year. She also felt she did well at the exam (and so far as always been quite a good judge), so I can't help but wonder if something went really wrong that she would have ended with a D (hence the final B mark), like some pages missing something like this. I assume this would very rare though. She's 4 mark points for a C which I think would then give her an A (although would need to check this first).

The question is more whether it is worth it. I'm not bothered with the costs, but is it worth trying to convince DD that she has nothing to lose doing so.

Mmmm, hopefully I'll get over the feeling that something isn't right in the next couple of days and move on!

Thanks for the replies.

Spoke to a friend whose dc also did statistics. Coincidentally, he got exactly the same raw mark as my ds (33/40) but his results also show a UMS of 33. Surely too much of a coincidence that they would both have been moderated down to a UMS that was numerically identical to their raw score?! Also, in some other subjects ds's CAs say 'pmod' (presumably post-moderation?) but this CA doesn't say it has been moderated.

Def sounds like moderated down, yes 2 identical scores originally would have been moderated down to the same score. They will not have examined every script, just the initial sample (top, bottom and some random middles), then a second sample if first out of tolerance. Then whole cohorts marks adjusted down by the same %.

So just a weird coincidence that the moderated UMS score is numerically identical to their original raw mark?

To clarify, their raw score was 33/40, according to results the UMS was 33/50.

Oh ok i see what you mean, yes i guess so but no harm in checking.
You really do need to speak to school does it have a sixth form, because if so there will be members of the sixth form team in.

No sixth form, no. I've emailed both the examinations officer and the subject teacher but I don't expect them to get back to me before the start of term. Do schools know if they've been moderated down?

Yes, they will kmow

Thanks Rosie, you've been really helpful

Just a quick update - school say that the CAs were not moderated down, they are unsure what has happened but that a number of other students have raised similar concerns. They plan to raise it with the exam board, so no definite answers as yet.

Interestingly dd1 has similar for statistics. She was given 37/40 coursework from the school. It seems to have been moderated down to 29/40 which takes her less than 1 UMS mark off an A*. I think we'll ask the school what they think as the rest of her form did get moderated down but not by as much.

Which exam board Witchend?

We have had three papers remarked as ds was only one mark/% below the next grade boundary. Earlier we got the results. Maths went up, and English stayed the same. We got a refund on the upgraded paper.

Edexel I think.

Edexel I think.

Just to say we asked for remark last Wednesday and it came back today having gone up 2marks, and so up a grade.
Was worth doing!