Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

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

Original poster

English GCSE remark : expert objective advice needed!!

602 replies

Piggywaspushed · 28/08/2017 19:56

Ok, I have been batting this round on a few threads and need to preface this by saying I am an English teacher... but it isn't helping me at all!

DS got a 5 in Lang and a 6 In Lit. Both below (rather generous ) target grades of 7.
We d found out he was 5 UMS marks into 5 in Lang and therefore needs 8 marks (I think) to get a 6. Not normal remark territory and I'd be terrified of him being downgraded.

However, I have now found out his breakdown and it is bizarre:

Language paper 1

1.4/4
2.4/8
3.3/8
4.12/20
5.8/24 + 6/16

Language paper 2

1.4/4
2.5/8
3.5/12
4.6/16
5.18/24 + 11/16 (this is amazing compared to paper 1!)

The last wording is not mine but the HOD.

The discrepancy between P1 and P2 is marked and the section Bs are the real oddity given that they aren't very different tasks. I have checked and he did paragraph. You also need to know his spelling is highly proficient. He has that teenage predilection for commas and probably didn't use much punctuation other than full stops and commas. His handwriting is hard to read sometimes but he does tend to write quite lengthy answers and was (before the exams) quite confident in jumping through the hoops of each question.

I would be interested to hear from fellow English teachers who have no emotional investment in this what they might advise? I'd like Paper 1 looked at - but once seen it can't be remarked.

I know a 5 is 'good enough' but he is a better student than that. In one of his lit papers he missed an 8 by one mark!

Any thoughts gratefully received.

OP posts:
EllieFredrickson · 07/09/2017 20:18

Yes we've asked for a copy!

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 07/09/2017 20:23

By the way, I teach AQA English A level : it's been good so far! Pleased with them and the marking.

OP posts:
Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 07/09/2017 21:20

Oh ... and Ellie 34 marks would be a full mark score for Q1.

Sounds like a rather catastrophic admin error....

OP posts:
EllieFredrickson · 07/09/2017 21:49

Yes we've assumed admin error but I'm astounded they don't have triggers in place to highlight.

cantkeepawayforever · 07/09/2017 22:01

Put in one of DS's History papers for a remark today.

Very high As on CA and paper 1. Mid B on Paper 2. 1 UMS from the A / A borderline overall.

Feels like a first world problem, but equally it looks ever so odd, and I would just like to check that it is him as an exam taker (he's not great under exam conditions, though fab in class, across all subjects) rather than an admin error.

I gather lots of requests have been rolling in as school term starts, so am not expecting a reply for a long time.

Teddygirlonce · 08/09/2017 07:10

Still waiting for outcome of two English paper remarks here...only just over a week since submitting them though, so not expecting results imminently although you'd never know it from the number of times I've checked for the email(s) from the school's exam officer.

Wow, well done your DD, @EllieFredrickson! Great outcome.

Wondering how many of the Grade 9s/8s marked have been erroneously given too?

It's a scandal. It almost needs a massive sample to be remarked/reviewed by an independent body to see what the margin of error actually is.

MsHarry · 08/09/2017 07:24

Ellie that's great but I totally understand how you feel. Good for you for taking it further!

MsHarry · 08/09/2017 07:27

My DD totally accepted she might not get a 9(even though school, perhaps naively, predicted one) but from what we have seen, some of the recipients, in fact quite a few, are not the expected. I know this happens with every exam but after being told they would be rarer than hens' teeth it does leave a few raised eyebrows.

ProfessorLayton1 · 08/09/2017 11:40

Dd just texted me.. she has gone up a grade to 9 in AQA Eng Language after remark. She does not know by exactly how much but she was told that her marks went up loads so most likely an admin error.
Very pleased for her...

Teddygirlonce · 08/09/2017 12:09

@ProfessorLayton1 brilliant news for your DD. Out of interest when did you put in for the review/remark?

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 08/09/2017 12:10

Hoorah!

I am so glad I started this thread as we are sharing such fantastic news.

What is the opposite of Schadenfreude? (may not be a very Germanic concept...)

OP posts:
ProfessorLayton1 · 08/09/2017 12:15

Teddygirlonce - on the results day.
Piggywaspushee - thanks for starting this thread
Redsrule - many thanks for your encouragement and prompt information for all the parents on this thread

Teddygirlonce · 08/09/2017 12:17

Mudita apparently @Piggywaspushed Wink - one learns something new every day!

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 08/09/2017 13:00

New word!

I love new words! Thanks!

OP posts:
MsHarry · 08/09/2017 13:29

That's great Professor ! Grin
I have no faith in the system now though. It's shocking that marking has not being done thoroughly enough after all the hard work the pupils have put in.

Teddygirlonce · 08/09/2017 14:27

Thanks @ProfessorLayton. So, essentially a fortnight? Interesting that some, including @Redsrule, have had reviews/remarks results back sooner? Any reason why that would be, other than school admin-related?

DS's school exams officer intimated that she would be in every day from 24th August processing and actioning requests. But when I asked how long it would take for a remark she said "it's taking two weeks", even though that wasn't even two weeks down the line from GCSE Results Day!

The whole thing is beyond shocking...think they need to review/remark the whole lot!!!

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 08/09/2017 15:23

I have heard of remarks with a turnaround of a couple of days and then some at a couple of weeks. I have no idea why that is.

I do think it is possible some exams officers sit on a few and process in batches. They shouldn't really do that.

In the case of huge numbers of marks being gained, I think there is then a larger review of marking done in the exam board and they have a bit of a pow wow, so they may well have delayed the example above.

My student who had a successful A level remark was told a full week and a half after it came back. I wasn't allowed to contact her (no idea why). The exams officer sent her a message asking her to call or call in. I think possibly she had to sign something.

OP posts:
Redsrule · 08/09/2017 17:57

The reason our initial remarks came back so quickly was that we submitted the request on results day. I got permission there and then, having been up since the crack of dawn analysing every pupil question by question. Fortunately the school paid to speed the process up. Unfortunately since the success of the initial remarks I have been inundated by requests from other pupils/parents!

Notanothergiraffe · 09/09/2017 14:06

So I emailed the exams officer last Friday (1st) to get a breakdown of DS's English and maths marks. I didn't get any reply so I phoned yesterday and left a voicemail asking her to call. Still heard nothing.

I know they are busy at the moment but surely that is a bit rubbish? I wonder if they are less bothered as DS has now left the school?

Genuine question, I assume it is a ten minute job to get the mark breakdown or is it more complicated than that? (I am talking just getting the marks not any reviewing of them)

Am I right that the deadline is 21st Sept?

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 09/09/2017 14:08

Yes 21st Sep.

Less than a 10 minute job to be honest so it is a bit shit of them.

Have you tried his English teacher direct/ Head of English? That's who I got my info from.

OP posts:
Notanothergiraffe · 09/09/2017 15:16

Thanks piggy. No I have only tried the examinations office so far. His English teacher was pretty shit to be honest so not sure I would get much from her.
He got 4s in both English overall. His previous mocks were mostly level 5/6 with one 7 and one 3. He has what he needs but if he was close to getting a 5 we would like to consider a review.

I will phone her again on Monday then escalate if I can't get the info.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 09/09/2017 15:40

The thing is with line management structures in schools being as they are (convoluted!) the head of English isn't escalating as such : it probably is who many would go to in the first place.

Ours is great but in some schools they are a very low paid admin worker (that is the case at DS's school definitely : she is about 17).

Are you able to actually go into the school at all? Parents and students do have access to our exams officer so you'll get what you want quicker if you can go in and pretty much insist on speaking to him/her.

I'd still (separately ) try the head of English too. You might get two responses but that's better than none!

OP posts:
Redsrule · 09/09/2017 16:51

Strangely this new, more challenging, exam seem to have caused problems for the most able. Looking at the scripts we called for - purely to inform our teaching for next year- a lot of sophisticated inference is not credited unless it is spelt out in a simplistic way. Even the scripts of our 9 pupils show sophisticated analysis being labelled as 'verbose'. well they will be, that is generally how very able 16 yo are! We had amazing results but I am incredibly disappointed with the marking.

We are AQA, I am now considering changing. How did other people find the other exam boards?

Decorhate · 09/09/2017 17:08

Something I gleaned today at a Uni Open Day which may be of interest. Their general entry requirement is a C in Maths and English Language as well as whatever the specific subject entry requirements are. They stated in the prospectus that for the new format GCSEs they consider a 5 to be equivalent to a C. I'm now fretting in case S1's remark goes down instead of up....

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 09/09/2017 17:19

Did they ?

Which uni was that ? All the ones I have looked at have said 4 so where you went is not listening to or heeding Justine Greening!

OP posts: