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Secondary education

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Original poster

GCSE Results Day 2017

979 replies

justmumof1 · 21/08/2017 06:45

Hard to belive that I was here 5 years ago sweating it out for the results of his secondary school offer!

Only a few days now bwfore the GCSE results come out. DS is starting to get nervous....as am I!

OP posts:
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7
Fleurdelise · 24/08/2017 20:54

Maisy I don't get it, we got a paper from school saying they do a mark review the description is: this is a post results review of the original marking to ensure that the agreed mark scheme has been applied correctly.

Does it mean they don't go question by question to check if it was marked correctly?

MaisyPops · 24/08/2017 21:01

Fleurdelise
They don't check whether somebody else agrees with the every question. They just check that the marker used the mark scheme properly.
E.g. if the student has made an AO2 comment (analysis) then they'd check that the examiner has shown they hit AO2.

In a remark, the blank paper goes to a new marker and they would mark the entire thing from scratch and the new mark stands (up or down). This is what they aren't doing unless there is a problem flagged up in the 'review of marking'.

As a teacher I think it's appalling.

Dancergirl · 24/08/2017 21:04

Did anyone else's dc do IGCSE Edexcel History?

I posted before that dd was disappointed with her B grade. Have just found out that she got 75% overall and 81% is needed for an A and 90% for an A* Shock High grade boundaries.

EllieFredrickson · 24/08/2017 21:05

Maisy - can we just ask for a review on Paper 2? Can we get the clerical rework and then decide on the fuller service later. It is very confusing. I don't want to risk her having marks removed but she's convinced they might have missed something.

Fleurdelise · 24/08/2017 21:05

That's disgusting! I think marks 1-5 marks away from the next grade should be check 2-3 times to prevent errors and then there wouldn't be a need to remark at all.

As a teacher do you advise to leave it or shall I still ask for a remark? He wouldn't change his options, it is just the results seem off to what was expected and what he got in mocks.

ProfessorLayton1 · 24/08/2017 21:18

Dd has had brilliant set of results but one of the AQA language paper was way off the mark.
She has always performed very strongly in English and was predicted a 9. In this particular paper her mark ( and most of the students from the school) was way below predicted, she got a 8 as she had performed expetionally well in the other paper... it is really odd!
While I am over the moon with her results she wants a remark - as she is 7 marks above the grade boundary and thinks it is worth a risk..
I keep telling that it does not matter as she is going to do science and maths in A level.. But according to her that's not the point... there are so many things to fight over so have to let this go...
Why would AQA not remark if they are takIng money to do so?
That's is wrong though? Sorry am all new to this..

ProfessorLayton1 · 24/08/2017 21:21

She is 3 marks away from the next grade boundary of 123 in AQA English

MsHarry · 24/08/2017 21:34

The school couldn't get on to the AQA site earlier as it had crashed. Are we able to access it at home with her candidate number? It's the Eng Lang she is querying.

TheFallenMadonna · 24/08/2017 22:19

Unlikely. Results are on eAQA, secure access. I would email the exams officer and HoD.

Redsrule · 24/08/2017 22:23

Firstly any school who predicted a 9 in any English exam is ridiculous. How can a school have any idea of national standards? I say this from a HOD of one of the top English dept in the country for progress and achievement. We did not predict a single 9. but got well above national average, but you cannot predict a grade based on national %.
However on 30/07 AQA had 70,000 scripts unmarked, how well were these checked? I would ask for a remark. We had a boy today who had 9 in lit and 5 in Lang , checking with the exam board it was a admin error and he went up to 8 on the spot.

JumpingJoey · 24/08/2017 22:26

998A*AAAAAB

Wouldn't be cheeky enough to say this in real life but hahaha to the Conservative MP who screwed their nose up at Dd for going to a comprehensive!

So so proud of Dd. She missed quite a bit of school as my Dad (who she was very close to) took his own life last year.

And shame on you '*' exam board. I asked if you could indicate to me what would happen if 'suicide' came up in the Ethics paper as Dd wouldn't be able to answer it. You said it has only ever been a short question so she wouldn't lose too many marks. I stupidly relayed this to Dd to reassure her.

First (big 12 mark) essay question on her very first gcse paper:
Suicide is wrong. Discuss.

So Dd took a very deep breath and answered it. That is what I am most proud of than anything.....although the 8 in maths comes close!

ProfessorLayton1 · 24/08/2017 22:32

Redsrule- I may have got this wrong.. she may have been predicted A*?! and not a9.
However there has been too much discrepancy between two language papers..

Redsrule · 24/08/2017 22:45

Sorry, what I meant is no school can predict a 9 because it is based on National data but you must challenge the grade. I challenged one pupils result today, 50 min later he had gone from 5 to 8, pure admin. Go for it! Good luck!

MaisyPops · 24/08/2017 22:47

Fleurdelise You can't ask for the remark. Depending on what the school is offering you could request a review of marking.
A discrepancy between langauge and literature isn't uncommon. Quite a lot of my class are a grade higher in one than the other.
I probably wouldn't in your situation because I think it would pass the review of marking and would be unlikely to get to a further review.

Schools havent had any grade boundaries for when they were assessing these new courses for English/Maths so some variation in mocks etc is to be expected. I set my boundaries about 1/2-1 grade higher than the % for the old spec and tols my students that their mock grades are based on my educated guess.

EllieFredrickson If you think something has been missed then a review might be worth it, speak to the head of department and see what they say because they'll know your child. If it was one of my students I'd be querying it.

Draylon · 24/08/2017 23:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MsHarry · 24/08/2017 23:26

My Dd was predicted a 9 in Eng Lang and Lit after she got 9s in her mocks.

TheFallenMadonna · 24/08/2017 23:29

But mock grade boundaries were an educated guess at best. Ofqual and the exam boards all counselled against giving grades (clearly having no current experience of schools!).

MsHarry · 24/08/2017 23:31

Well, I have no idea about that as a mere parent. On her last progress report they were given a target grade and a predicted grade. Hers was 9 for Lit and Lang, she got 8s which she was happy with until a friend, who got a 5 in her mock Lang and struggles with grammar and spelling, got a 9 today.

MsHarry · 24/08/2017 23:34

The Eng Lang exams were, she felt, her best. Hopefully school can access her marks tomorrow and put her out of her misery. If she got a definite 8 then she'll be ok.

TheFallenMadonna · 24/08/2017 23:38

I'm a year 11 parent and a Maths teacher. I wanted to have a feel for how my son was doing, but equally I understood the difficulty of predicting the boundaries. I may have interrogated DS's Maths and English teachers a tad vigorously re mock grades...

noblegiraffe · 24/08/2017 23:39

How did it come to this?

Michael Gove. What a twat.

TheFallenMadonna · 24/08/2017 23:40

I hope so too. DS is the opposite, and would prefer not to know. I want to know! I respect his decision though

Eusebius · 24/08/2017 23:40

Pls does anyone know wether you can ask for a remark on up to 3 papers?
no one seems to be answering anything I've asked Blush or am I unknowingly asking stupid questions?

MsHarry · 24/08/2017 23:44

I think it's because she wants to study English Lit at A Level and possibly degree level that she feels an 8 has knocked her confidence. If it was an old A* she would be fine, it's because it's not the highest grade. Ridiculous to me but she's been a high achiever throughout school and this is the pressure she puts on herself.

ProfessorLayton1 · 24/08/2017 23:45

MsHarry- I completely understand how your daughter feels..
Three children who were predicted the highest grades ( known these kids for a long time and they are superb in English) did not get 9 but someone who has always performed at a considerably lower level and was predicted his grades in line with that got a 9( May be that child really really worked hard, don't want to undermine his achievement and he is a lovely lad)
As said before there is a huge discrepancy between her two language papers...so it is questioning how she was awarded such mark.
Her English teacher and HOD agreed for the remark ...