UMS marks and grade boundaries - help please!

[nandio]

My DD got her GCSE results today. She was predicted 8 As and 2As and she has come out with 5As and 5As.

She is feeling sad as in two of her exams (chemistry and drama) she is 1UMS mark away from an A*.

In two others (biology and physics) she is 7 and 5 UMS marks away.

She is wondering if there is any point in having her papers remarked.

Do any science teachers out there, or anyone else, have any advice on whether or not to go ahead and do this?

A lot of people are asking that question today. I have learned that there is no longer such a thing as a remark anymore. The most you can have is a review, where they check the mark scheme has been followed and the marks added up correctly. All for the privilege of a hefty fee for every paper involved.

I'd defintetly do it for the one point ones and prob the five. I think uou should email her school and ask. I did and her teacher responded and advised but did not recommend either way, as clearly it can go up as well as down and she didn't want to be responsible . My daughter couldn't decide, so I decided and we had a nail biting tense period where she thought I'd made a mistake.

She is also straight a a star, it was one of her history papers got a b, and it was only a couple of points off an a, so they remarked and she went up quite a lot, well into the a.

So email the school but I'd recommend it when it's this close.

Newbie is correct: a re-mark no longer exists, but you can request to have the marking reviewed. The mark will only be changed if the original examiner did not apply the mark scheme accurately.

Still might be worth a punt on the ones where there is just one UMS point different, if you can afford it!

Does it matter that much? At A level it might make a difference with getting into uni but at gcse it isn't going to affect her future, they are still great grades!

A remark is pretty much the same as a review- ultimately. Just remember marks can go down just as easily as they can go up!

Also bear on mind marks can go down so take into account any risk it may fall below the next boundary.

Tesecondrule that's exactly how I feel.

Not sure it is worth bothering but she says she want to feel proud of her results and she currently doesn't.

Now that exams are marked online and checking is done continuously, they are very very unlikely to change the mark (I got this at an exam board meeting). For example, our tolerance in English is 5 marks per paper and if the script is found to be inside this tolerance when reviewed, then it will not change

I forgot to add that 1 UMS is essentially 1 raw mark (it will depend on where in the scores she came as a raw mark towards the bottom end of the paper is usually one UMS but as you get further up toward the middle and upper middle one raw can be as much as 2.5 UMS

Shadowboy it seems to be the other way in science, the lower marks equate to more UMS marks.

I think we are talking about 1 mark essentially but there are 4 modules (one of which is coursework) to choose from.

Which paper would you have remarked?? The one she got the lowest mark in?

Which paper would you have remarked?? The one she got the lowest mark in? That's my dilemma as well. Surly it has to be the lowest scored paper as the high scoring papers have very little room to increase and are more susceptible to losing marks.

You could do it, but there's no guarantees. I suggest spending some time with her figuring out why she isn't proud, and trying to get her there. Is she by any chance at a grammar or other highly selective/academic school? That sort of thinking was really common at my grammar, especially at GCSE, and it was because we lacked the perspective of how GCSE results looked nationally.

Can she do the A levels she wants to do? If she can then its not that important in the grand scheme of things. By the time she is at uni they'll just look at her A levels, by the time she is working her degree.

I know it seems a massive deal at the moment but it isn't, especially if you read some of the other threads where people's kids have failed thier maths or english for the 3rd or 4th time and can't get an apprenticeship or entry level job.

If you can afford it go for the remarks but perhaps show her some threads. Show her some local schools' webpages showing their grades and perhaps she will realise she is in the top 10% of kids in the country and its not as bad as she believes.

I promise the thier is a typo rather a spelling mistake!

Anyone know about Art marking? S1 was 1 UMS off an A but I think that was in the portfolio section so not sure a remark is possible?

I think its best left. She has good grades. You don't want to risk one going down. You can ask the school to get the papers back to see what they thing, maybe

no, can't remark a portfolio, but again, one UMS could be quite a jump anyway.( I'm not whether it is in art)

Those are really great grades she really shouldn't be disappointed.

Jeez what's the education system coming to when a kid can't feel proud of 5 A's and 5 A* . I just don't recall all this competition and angst when I was a kid and ok it's subjective but feeling all sorts of negative emotions seems to hit significant numbers and at both ends of the spectrum . All our kids did their best ( most of 'em anyway despite what some might think ) and they should all feel that they've achieved something .

I agree, great grades, get her to move on. Once she has her A levels nobody will care what GCSE grades she got.

Well, some jobs ask to see GCSE certificates even if you have a Masters, but I suspect it is a rarity :)

That's unusual for top end to be worth low UMS simply because it would make getting full marks or close to full marks very difficult! Currently for example full marks in a 120 mark paper is only 102 raw marks. I'm guessing (I dont teach science) that there were too many top end grades so they have to skew it down a little?

Is she applying to Oxbridge/vet med/medicine? Those are the only real careers/study areas that bother with GCSE results. She should be ruddy proud of what she achieved bearing in mind the national average!!

Her chemistry teacher contacted her this evening and asked if she had seen her marks. She sent a reply asking if the school had a policy on getting papers close to grade boundaries reviewed/remarked. She also contacted her drama teacher and enquired in the same vein.

Thanks for all of your comments, it's been helpful hearing your ideas.

Shadowboy she may be applying to Cambridge who I don't think put too much store by GCSE grades although there is evidence to show that those with more A*s are more likely to get an offer of a place.

Just updating to say that the school has been in touch with DD and encouraged her to go for a remark of the ones that she was 1UMS away on. Thankfully they will pay.