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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:
Cafeconleche · 15/09/2017 11:30

only one GCSE remark back so far. No change. Still 1 raw mark off the next grade Sad

Teddygirlonce · 15/09/2017 11:43

@Cafeconleche was that an Eng. Lit paper? I feel your pain. DS in the same situation.

Cafeconleche · 15/09/2017 11:53

No teddy it was for Comp Sci. I haven't even put the Lit or Lang papers in for remarking yet as his teacher is trying to see if they can get DS's question by question breakdown from AQA which is not available on line as he typed his exams. I'm trying not to look at my emails every 5 minutes to see if the school has any news. I really feel the clock is ticking and - if we do decide to go for remarks - will have to pay the full £150 for all 4 papers as we have no time left to put a couple in and see if that's enough to bump him up a grade. I'm flippin exhausted!

Wid · 15/09/2017 14:52

cafeconleche We had to pay £126 last Friday to have 3 English papers reviewed, because school only told us day before that DS was one off in Lit and 2 off in Lang. We didn't have time to get the Lang papers reviewed one after the other. To make matters worse, we've just applied for a review in Biology so another £42 off to school.
Still waiting for English reviews to come back.
Piggy Sorry yours didn't come back with enough.

RedHelenB · 15/09/2017 15:25

Just been in to school for remark of eng lit as advised by them. Dd wanted her eng Lang reviewed too and although it was 7 away from next grade but 21 the other way so hopefully not a risk! School also agreed to pay for it thank goodness!

chocatoo · 15/09/2017 15:38

My DD got absolutely brilliant marks for every single subject except both English where her marks were markedly lower...her marks seem bizarre. We have accepted it and moved on but I can't help but wonder how it could have happened.

Cafeconleche · 15/09/2017 17:11

Chemistry paper has just come back - the school emailed over a copy of the typed component yesterday (which had not been marked originally - either lost or never sent with the written part of the script Hmm) and Core Science has now gone up by 2 grades! Smile This is the first bit of good news that we've had since results day. Now having seen the new raw marks for the Chem paper, the Biology and Physics raw marks look very low by comparison, but the exam board is insisting that they have marked the typed components of those. At this stage I am thinking of paying to have the scripts back to check... I know you can't go for a remark once you get the scripts back, but surely there is a way of appealing if they show up a huge error in the marking??

Decorhate · 15/09/2017 20:10

The clerical checks we requested for ds have come back unchanged but his DT remark has gone from a B to an A! Waiting for Eng Lit remark still.

Wid · 15/09/2017 21:41

Friend's DS got her Eng Lang paper 1 review back - no change. She only needed 1 mark to go up a grade ☹️
Cafeconleche good news on the core science. Sorry, don't know about appealing if you get scripts back.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 15/09/2017 22:02

seems Eng Lit takes a long time!!

OP posts:
Boulshired · 16/09/2017 00:04

DS1 failed one exam by 1 mark, just had remark back and gone from a D to B. Glad for him but this is ridiculous how can so many marks be found and how many have failed results who have just accepted the scores. He would of not bothered unless we contacted school and they not only agreed but were willing to pay. I am really happy for him but angry for others who have not questioned or could not afford the fee but have the wrong results through no fault of their own.

Redsrule · 16/09/2017 06:34

Have the problem now that my HT is wanting to get everyone remarked and cannot understand that marks might well go down! The marking for Lang was clearly inadequate, I wonder what the exam boards will have to do to sort it for next year.

Piggy, that was really nice of you. I just feel that teachers need to pick the text that suits their class and they enjoy teaching. That will never be GE for GCSE, madness!

errorofjudgement · 16/09/2017 07:06

AQA English Lit remark has come back for DD.
Paper 1 unchanged, Paper 2 up 16 points, taking her grade from a high 7, to a level 9.

(I did post this on another thread but thought I would add it here - I really hope the national press pick up on how poor the marking has been this year.)

Allthebestnamesareused · 16/09/2017 11:44

Great news cafeconleche and all those gaining grades.

hedwig2001 · 16/09/2017 20:49

My DS's English lang review came back. Down two marks on one paper, up seven on the other. Overall better, but not enough to get him from grade 3 to grade 4.
Worth doing, so we know that it really is necessary to retake the English next year.

Cafeconleche · 17/09/2017 00:50

Oh that's gutting for you Hedwig Flowers. I remember from earlier in the thread you were thinking about getting some other papers remarked (Geog and RE...?) Did you go for it in the end?

Teddygirlonce · 17/09/2017 09:35

@Piggywaspushed, DS's reviews took two full weeks to come back. And now I'll be waiting on the other two, no doubt, for the same length of time...

Such a pity and so frustrating for you and your DC @hedwig2001 ;-(

It seems so very random as to how successful the reviews/remarks are/aren't.

Have to say that I do wish I had the money to get all of DS's done - he is 1 or 2 marks off As in four subjects. So near and yet so far.

Cafeconleche · 17/09/2017 11:29

I spoke to someone at DS's old school and their AQA English Lang came back with no grade change but having dropped 4 marks Shock. They had been a few marks off the grade above.

hedwig2001 · 17/09/2017 12:12

Thanks Cafe & Teddy. Having looked at his mock results, they matched his RE and Geography, so we decìded not to get them reviewed.
Sadly, having only 4 GCSEs, he has been put on a lower level BTEC, with a view to doing the higher level next year. This will mean 3 years at College. It does mean his English retake will be during a less pressured year, provided he passes.

Cafeconleche · 17/09/2017 14:27

Hedwig it might be a good idea to get copies of the scripts back to see where your DS could improve. Also, are you going to go for a November retake (not sure if this is possible) or summer 2018? Kids grow and develop and learn in their own ways and at different times and I'm sure your DS will do well in his retake, especially now he'll have the time to work on his weaker areas.

hedwig2001 · 17/09/2017 17:20

His College only sits exams in the Summer. I'm hoping that only having one subject st GCSE, plus being more mature (DS is summer born) will help. I'm glad it is just English. Maths was his worst subject and I really worried about the outcome. Both his Dad and I had to resit Maths, so he did better than us!

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 18/09/2017 17:23

The dropping 4 marks just seems almost vindictively mean!!

OP posts:
Cafeconleche · 18/09/2017 17:32

I know piggy - AQA are probably worried about their grade boundaries being all over the place after their shocking errors in marking - so some poor students are getting the fuzzy end of the lollypop. Luckily it didn't mean them dropping down a grade but it does feel wholly unnecessary - surely 'no change' would have been enough?

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 18/09/2017 17:33

I guess they have to prove the 'marks may go up as well as down' statistic...

OP posts:
Cafeconleche · 18/09/2017 17:43

Indeed, so they can let us know it's a game of Russian Roulette... I'm so pissed off with the whole thing, especially after DS's Chemistry re-mark debacle. 2 grades higher overall in Core Science after two attempts at a review and not a word of apology from anyone. And it looks like I may never know DS's question by question breakdown for Lit and Lang - he typed them so the scores don't appear on line and this makes him a different species as far as AQA are concerned. I can't risk remarking in light of the 4 mark drop of DS's friend so that's probably it for me. Beyond frustrating.