English GCSE remark : expert objective advice needed!!

[Piggywaspushed]

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.

You have me fretting too as the whole reason I risked a remark is because unis are asking for min 4 !!

UCL. I could uunderstand if perhaps they used to ask for B's rather than C's

Hmmm. that is a bit naughty or maybe they are just lagging behind the government guidance.

I shouldn't imagine your average UCL student struggles with this requirement, that said.

Oxford considers a 4 to be equivalent to a C!

I think many applying for Science or Engineering courses with good grades might be a lot weaker at English.

They might be but UCL, Oxbridge etc tend to attract (and recruit) the straight A types in all honesty!

The fact that they are out of step with Oxbridge, Durham , Bristol etc is bizarre!

piggy I am pretty sure I would be sent away from reception if I turned up without an appointment.

There are reasons I am happy DS is an ex pupil...

Sounds like Fort Bloody Knox!!!

They are not the most welcoming!

A couple of teachers reply to emails, many don't at all 😡

Have just read all 200+ messages on this thread and can't believe what has happened with AQA English. Thank you Piggywaspushed and Redsrule for all the info..
We were informed by DS's school on Thursday that he was one mark away from next grade up in Lit and 2 away in Lang. We applied to school on Friday for reviews of Lit 2 and both Lang papers. Exams Officer very busy, so wondering when she'll send them off. Paid £126 to school via Parentpay 😱

Good Luck!

Hopefully you'll hear soon! I took ours in last Tuesday and nothing yet but I am imagining we'll hear this week.

@Wid it was as a result of reading all the extremely insightful comments on here that I put two of DS's papers in for review too (on the advice of most helpful HOD for English). Our DS is in a very similar situation to yours in terms of marks required to go up to Level 7s.

The HoD told us that on one of DS's English Lit. papers they said he'd answered a question on a book they'd not even studied. And Blood Brothers (which is the one he was supposed to have answered the question on) was his favourite Eng. Lit. text.

Request went in on Thursday 31 but nothing back as yet...

If we get a positive outcome (and our money back!) we may put his Geography in for a remark too (he was 3 points of an A*).

teddy apparently that's been a really common admin error. The markers have to input data . generally they are English teachers and data inputting and English teachers aren't always happy bedfellows!

If it was more than juts your DS affected by this in your school, the head of centre should have heard something from the board : I think something like a full centre free clerical check should be done.

Teddy it might just be that your DS numbered the question incorrectly, the examiners assign the marks to the number in the margin, so if your DS accidentally put 16 rather than 15 in the margin, the marks will be assigned for a different question. He will still have been marked for the question he answered.

@Piggywaspushed is this why reviewed AQA English papers' marks have gone up - because the markers haven't been inputting the scores correctly (or haven't been inputting them at all)?

Would one know if the school had put in for full centre free clerical check though? Would the school advise us?

@Redsrule I really hope not! He does have quite scruffy handwriting though (it runs in the family).

DD got OCR Eng Lit paper 1 script back. 54/80. Some questions 26/36 when she says she covered everything. It's really bugging her but I just want to move on as she got an 8 fgs! Would it be reasonable for her to speak to her English teacher, for her sake? She's doing Lit at A Level.

I am sad really that introducing this 'super A *' has been quite divisive and very elitist. And I have never really known or understood who it has been introduced for... a tiny handful of the most elite universities, it seems.

And now we have 'two Cs' , too, just to confuse people! If most unis have now declared a grade 4 a C , what even does the C+ exist for!?

Hey ho.

I agree Piggy. On some of DD's science papers, she got full marks and would have got 9s if they were on the new system. I think she just wanted that badge of honour. Personally, looking at the script, I feel her handwriting is not absolutely clear!!!!

A maths teacher friend of mine has told me there is recent talk of perhaps making a 5 the 'pass' mark again despite the recent mosh announcements that a 4 will always be a standard pass.

Anyone else heard anything another this?

There was some chat about this but my understanding was that that was all being said BEFORE Justine Greening''s announcement.

I don't see how they can shift goalposts for young people. any more than they already have done but it is true that schools are publishing 9 - 4 pass rates when they are being measured on 9-5 it seems.

Thanks piggy.

schools are publishing 9 - 4 pass rates when they are being measured on 9-5 it seems

Presumably that means that in some schools there would be a very significant reduction in 'passes' if Level 5 was used as the pass threshold?