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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Anyone to chat/offer advice about unexpected and/or inconsistent GCSE results?

21 replies

NotQuiteSureExams · 28/08/2017 18:40

Firstly DD2 has done well. 9x A* to B grades (or new equivalents). I know there are plenty of parents whose offspring have not done so well, so I do appreciate that our situation is not deserving of much sympathy (we were in a different situation three years ago - but all is good now for DD1).

However, DD" has done far worse than we and she had hoped. She missed all her target grades except two. She was given several Bs when she had been predicted A*s.

She and I have looked at her marks, and there is nothing that leaps out as anomalous. She just did much worse in these exams than everyone expected, and in several subjects lower than in her mocks. But she worked pretty hard for the exams. She did loads of practise papers and came out of the exams pretty confident. She and I are just a bit confounded.

She felt she did much better in her maths than she'd hoped, and from looking at the grade boundary, thought she was a pretty secure 8, but just scraped a 7. She did get a 9 (just!) in her English language, but only squeaked a 6 in English literature (predicted an 8).

In another subject she and one other person in the year were predicted A*. Both got Bs.

Anyone have any thoughts? Words of wisdom? We did consider asking for a remark for Eng lit, but if she drops a mark she'll drop a grade. It all just seems so random though , and she is feeling bad (despite our reassurance and bright positivity) that she is not as clever as she (and everyone else!) thought she was.

OP posts:

glamourousgranny42 · 28/08/2017 18:56

She's got great results. GCSEs are a stepping stone. Is she going to do A levels? If jer gradesign are good enough to get onto the Alevel programme that she wants to do then I would forget it. Nobody will interested in her GCSE results after A level and nobody will he interested in her A levels after a degree. It is all a means to an end. Tell her well done and onto the next challenge.

Original poster

NotQuiteSureExams · 28/08/2017 19:28

Thanks for your reply glamourous. I disagree a bit though!

Yes, DD2 has enough to secure her A level choices. Yes, A levels will be more important in two year's time.

However, at the moment, these GCSEs are the biggest 'test' she has had in her life so far, and to her mind, she has not done well.

Sort of more importantly, she doesn't know why she hasn't done well. Her marks were all over the place, despite feeling consistently good about practically all the papers. Her english language and literature were three grades apart, and one of them two grades below expectations and previous performance. That worries her (and me!), as if could go awry in A levels in a similar way.

What are peoples' view on asking for remarks or checks, or whatever they are, in subjects where results were two grades away from expected? How can DD2 make sense of these results (she is going to a 6th form college so won't have the same teachers again)?

OP posts:

Laniakea · 28/08/2017 19:41

dd was two grades away from expected in one of her papers (A A B A ). It took her overall grade for the subject down from an A to an A. We haven't asked for a remark although it was totally unexpected as the paper in question is on the b/c boundary, we don't want to risk going lower!

We've asked for the copy of the paper though, it's a subject dd is doing at A level & she needs to understand where she went wrong. I know that she knew & understood the material well (all previous assessments have been A*) - maybe it was exam technique, maybe she misread a question, maybe she was a bit blase, maybe just had bad day. If there was a cock up with the marking (unlikely) it will be too late to challenge the grade but she wants to know what happened.

funshine17 · 28/08/2017 19:44

Could her predictions have been a little high initially?

noblegiraffe · 28/08/2017 19:54

If someone else was also predicted A* and got a B that suggests a problem with the prediction/mock marking rather than exam performance. However, underperforming across all subjects, especially maths which is fairly objective isn't easy to explain.

If she did Edexcel for any subjects the school can access her marked papers immediately for free so you could have a look at these to see if you can spot the problem.

glamourousgranny42 · 28/08/2017 20:09

Getting papers back to see where she may have oat marks may well be useful. Predictions are not guarantees and the new English and Maths exams this year have been tougher. I speak as an A level teacher and mum of a GCSE qualifier.

glamourousgranny42 · 28/08/2017 20:10

Lost marks!! Not oat!

woodlands01 · 28/08/2017 20:26

Seems to me the issue is with the school and it's ability to predict correctly and prepare students for GCSE. What are your thoughts on the school? I'm a teacher and in my last school if predictions did not give the picture the SLT wanted there was enormous pressure to modify predictions. It is possible that this has happened here and your DD has been let down by the school rather than her ability. I would forget remarks but that is a very personal opinion. Are you confident in the 6th form college she is going to? If so , as long as she is able to take her desired courses, I would put it down to a bad experience and concentrate on the future.

Decorhate · 29/08/2017 06:59

OP, I have a similar situation with my ds. Yes, he got ok grades in everything but only met his target in Maths. School have suggested applying for remarks in a couple of

Decorhate · 29/08/2017 07:02

Grrr, posted too soon (on phone)

Going for remarks in a couple of subjects where he is close to the grade boundary.

He doesn't seem particularly disappointed but I have concerns with how he will cope with the jump to A Levels if the reason is him not working hard enough, for example.

KeiraTwiceKnightley · 29/08/2017 07:12

English and Lit grades are really inconsistent this year - not surprising as they were still asking for markers after the exams were sat... One of our first jobs in sept as a dept is to sit down and look at grades, then the a papers online (Edexcel) and make some decisions about which to challenge.

That said, unless she "needs" eng lit to be a top grade, it might not be worth the emotional stress etc. Remember that they had to write 10
Essays for that subject - a huge ask - and to get grade 9 could only drop a handful of marks across all the papers.

HSMMaCM · 29/08/2017 07:59

If she's nearer the lower grade boundary, which I think you said, I wouldn't risk it. If she's a few marks short of the grade above it might be worth it.

Original poster

NotQuiteSureExams · 02/09/2017 14:08

Thanks for your responses. Had a bit of drama the last couple of days with DDog, so didn't get round to replying.

DDs papers were all AQA (except one, I think), so am I right in thinking her teachers won't be able to see the papers? So if we have a query we have to go straight for a review? Yikes!

She doesn't NEED to get higher grades, but it is more that her confidence has taken a huge dent, as she can't quite see why her consistent performance across the GCSE courses has taken a nosedive in (most of) the exams.

She is too embarrassed (I think it is usual teen self consciousness) to contact her ex teachers to talk to them about it though. She basically said 'I'm obviously not as clever as I thought I was, and now my teachers know that too, so what would be the point'. The Bs instead of A*s are the ones that hurt the most, and one of them (Eng Lit) she is taking for A level, so it travels with her as she goes into A level (in her mind at least).

I had no idea this would be so hard! Any other thoughts welcome.

OP posts:

Mumteadumpty · 16/09/2017 09:48

if she did Edexel the school can access marked papers immediately or free
Does this mean that teachers can see which papers it is worth asking for a remark? I imagine in Maths for example, it would be quite easy for teachers to see where marks could be picked up.

shushpenfold · 16/09/2017 09:50

Hi OP. What do you mean by 'she worked pretty hard'? Did she underperform because she just didn't work hard enough?

shushpenfold · 16/09/2017 10:02

Sorry, to clarify, it could be that she is very clever, but just didn't pull her finger out quite far enough and thought she could reply on innate skills/knowledge. It might be the best thing for her in the long term as she won't leave anything to chance for her A levels. My nephew did the same with his A levels and ended up retaking. Gave him a big, fat shock but he's now final year Uni and heading for a first. I'm a big believer in making the most of mistakes and using 'failure' as a learning point; it all contributes to mental resilience which is exactly what we all need, but especially them as late teens, heading for independence in a few years.

shushpenfold · 16/09/2017 10:03

Rely, not reply!

Redsrule · 16/09/2017 13:17

Sorry to be pedantic but if she did AQA Lit she had to write 5 essays. Has your DD's English teacher given her a question by question breakdown? She might just have performed badly on one text. I had a pupil who I thought would be an 8 but was a low 7, when I asked him he had compared Bayonet Charge with London, because that was his favourite poem !?!? As a result he scored so poorly on that question he lost a grade. Get the teacher to check each question and see what your daughter remembers about her response.

cansu · 16/09/2017 13:33

You could perhaps help your dd to develop a bit of resilience by telling her that she has achieved good results even if she didnt achieve all her predicted grades. She now needs to stop dwelling on it and move on to work hard on her a levels. An exam is a snapshot of performance on a given day. She perhaps didnt work hard enough or her teachers over estimated her ability to complete exams or exam marking was harsher or standard required higher than in previous years. Dwelling on any of these is really unhealthy for her and also a complete waste of time.

BertrandRussell · 16/09/2017 13:47

My ds got a B in a subject he loves and was predicted an A* in. He emailed the teacher and got a lovely long reply explaining that the grade boundaries were so high that even though he got 89% it was a mid B! He felt much better after that- could your dd do the same?

TheFrendo · 16/09/2017 15:09

BertrandRussell,

Wouldn't it be the case that the grade boundaries were high because the paper was easy?

A student who can tackle advanced concepts but also tends to make repeated minor errors, could well do worse (relative to peers) on easier papers and better on harder papers.

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