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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:
hertsandessex · 12/09/2017 18:24

We have gone for a remark in similar situation. I can't remember now but Paper 2 was a 9 and Paper 1 a 4 or 5. Just getting Paper 1 remarked - need to gain 5 but thought no way can go down 8 so worth a chance.

Notanothergiraffe · 12/09/2017 18:39

Thanks for the headsup on the name Piggy - I have reported.

I think if I ask for any more detail they will be ordering their voodoo dolls of me Grin. I do have another DS to go through the school and an unusual surname...

Have you been told when you're likely to hear back yet?

I have no idea re paper 1 or paper 2 being more difficult, I hate English and resat the GCSE to get the C myself Blush.

Notanothergiraffe · 12/09/2017 18:44

Well done to MNHQ - Thank you Smile! I reported the post and less than 10 mins later my DS's name has been removed. Wow!

Redsrule · 12/09/2017 18:46

Have P1 remarked. We had another 15 back today, all more than 4 away from boundary. 9 have gone up a grade, 5 up at least 3 marks and 1 down by 2. Our average uplift has been by 7 marks, across all grade boundaries. Good luck!

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 12/09/2017 18:48

still not got mine back....

OP posts:
Notanothergiraffe · 12/09/2017 19:05

Thanks for that. I do wonder if your school had a particularly bad marker Redsrule. Our school have said that so far they are coming back unchanged.

Surely the chances of him dropping 7 marks are pretty slim???

Cafeconleche · 12/09/2017 19:11

I had thought that each AQA Literature paper was marked by one examiner, but that the Language papers were marked by different examiners all marking the same question (ie one examiner marking Q1s, another marking Q2s). This would mean that redsrule's school had a load of dodgy markers. Or they were amongst the 70,000 that were still awaiting marking at the end of July...

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 12/09/2017 19:27

ps at my school it's apparently been 50/50 change/no change.

None have gone down.

OP posts:
Redsrule · 12/09/2017 19:34

Because of the possibility of alphabetical assignment I am assuming we were in that final 70,000, our Lit remarks have been as expected, very few upgrades. It appears to me most of our successful remarks have been down to admin checks, so simple addition errors. This would tie in with the idea it was rushed.
However we have also queried every grade where even one question highlighted as an anomaly.

tararabumdeay · 12/09/2017 21:43

Another one up and over the grade 4 boundary this afternoon - by 3 marks. And another no change. 70 when 72 needed.

One examiner/marker does not get a whole centre. The Qs are randomly allocated.

A review of P1 seems like a good idea Notagiraffe. Paper 2 does seem harder but the marking must have been more generous. Of those whose two papers were pretty evenly matched there was a slightly higher points score on paper 2.

Your DS is comfortably over the grade 4 boundary. It's unlikely to go down 7 marks on one paper.

The difference between 16/40 and 26/40 for the 'creative' Q5.

We're looking for 45% for every Q (and overall) to get into pass grade 4.

EllieFredrickson · 12/09/2017 22:00

A bit of an update. Following the extra 34 marks AQA found on the EAR of DD's paper 2 for Lit we asked for feedback. According to the JQC guidance think we should have had this automatically. Anyway school asked this morning and the feedback and paper came back this afternoon.

I know that we and others on here were pretty convinced it was an admin error - well it wasn't.

We can see 'levels' being allocated by the original marker,at level 3 for example and then the principal examiner coming along and writing all level 6 - severe. We assume this means severe undermark. Worryingly theresults are spelling errors made by the first examiner. One word is repeatedly misspelt. We can see some typos which I think can be excused.

We've asked school how we might make more of a fuss about this. Our DD has been lucky - what about others?

Teddygirlonce · 13/09/2017 06:13

@Piggywaspushed DS's ones haven't come back yet either...

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 13/09/2017 07:08

Hopefully soon! When did your go in teddy?

OP posts:
Teddygirlonce · 13/09/2017 08:09

@Piggy it went in on 31 August. DS's school's exam officer seemed to be working full-time from the results days onwards, so would hope it was processed the same day. So two weeks tomorrow.

@EllieFredrickson that's horrifying.

LooseAtTheSeams · 13/09/2017 11:18

On Eng Lang. paper 1 and paper 2 difficulty, as a teacher I thought paper 2 would be harder because it has the 19th century extract but this year the extract on paper 1 was pretty obscure and the paper 2 extracts were actually well chosen!
My colleague marked paper 1 and said a lot of candidates struggled with it but she was being as possible as she could be! Neither of us marked after the initial allocation but I can well believe there was a rush to add the marks!
For language you mark questions 2-5. Generally you'd focus on one type of question each day. The essay style questions are double marked - again, that may have changed when they had a backlog but I didn't see anything to that effect.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 13/09/2017 12:03

DS's Eng Lang came back. Went up by two marks but still a grade 5 :(

Might contemplate putting P2 in now ...

OP posts:
Rufus27 · 13/09/2017 12:08

Have come to this late, OP. We've noticed a clear disparity between P1 results and P2 for Section B SPAG element (which should be fairly similar). We're with Edexcel. In your situation, I'd definitely contemplate putting in P2.

Teddygirlonce · 13/09/2017 12:23

@Piggywaspushed oh that's a total PITA - how many more marks does he need - is it two? Worth trying with P2 surely? At least then you won't have a 'what if' niggle.

BTW didn't you only put your DS's paper in last week? Taps desk impatiently wondering where the hell our DS's have got to

Cafeconleche · 13/09/2017 12:35

Oh piggy I feel so much for you Sad. I think you most definitely must put P2 in for a remark. You have nothing to lose (except money...) and at least your DS has gained the 2 extra points which means he almost certainly won't go down a grade overall. I'm having my own nightmare issues with my DSs old school at the moment re exam reviews. I don't want to go into too much detail for fear of outing myself, but a lot of it seems to stem from a catastrophic failure on their part regarding the typed elements of his exams. I am fewmin Angry!!

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 13/09/2017 13:12

I feel sorry for me too...Grin

Am pondering next steps.

OP posts:
Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 13/09/2017 13:16

Misprint above : DS went up by FOUR marks not two. Is now 3 away from a 6...

OP posts:
Cafeconleche · 13/09/2017 14:09

piggy definitely put the other paper in for review otherwise you'll forever be 'what if?'

LooseAtTheSeams · 13/09/2017 14:21

Agree - nothing to lose by getting paper 2 remarked!

bexxx · 13/09/2017 19:04

AQA Geography GCSE: so, they did very well, but the awarded grade, with mid -grade score, was not in line with predicted (18 UMS needed to go up a grade, 22 to go down a grade). On AQA website we translated awarded UMS to raw marks and they were EXTREMELY low, like they have never ever received at school , therefore requested review of just the first paper. Result - up 18 UMS into next grade (7 raw marks on one paper!). Very pleased to have requested review.

Gettingthroughtheweek · 14/09/2017 07:49

Final update - after paper 2 Eng Lang AQA went up by 11 marks, my DS insisted on putting in paper 1 as well, rather against my better judgement, and have just found out he got the extra mark to get to a 9. Hugely pleased as he's aiming for language degree idc. So English Lang has gone up two grades since August, and History one grade.... luckily no other results look rogue, so our case rests here. Good luck to all still waiting.