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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:
Monkey2001 · 02/10/2017 22:17

We got English back today (finally got to the top of exam lady's to-do list!)
WJEC
English Lang, paper 1 down 3, paper 2 up 3, still 7
English Lit, paper 1 up 8, paper 2 up 37(!!), grade up from a 6 (just over the 5/6 boundary) to a 9!

Great for my DS, but how many others are wrong?!

Still waiting for a couple more, but statistically I should hope for 1 change out of 5, and hopes are not that high for the others.

Notanothergiraffe · 02/10/2017 22:25

😮 up 37!!!!!!!!

Uninspirednamewise · 03/10/2017 00:05

For anyone still interested in re-mark results, DS got his back for AQA English language recently and has moved up two grades from 6 to 8! I gather his paper 1 was up by a couple of marks and his paper 2 by more. He tells me the school's general experience on re-marks was that paper 1 marks moved up very slightly and paper 2 marks moved more, but in some cases down.

Teddygirlonce · 03/10/2017 08:09

Wow that's an awesome result Monkey2001.

Notanothergiraffe · 03/10/2017 15:29

Well done uninspired

Still no news piggy? Cake

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 03/10/2017 15:36

nope....

OP posts:
Monkey2001 · 03/10/2017 15:53

Great news Uninspired. Fingers crossed that Piggy has the same paper 2 upgrade experience

steppemum · 04/10/2017 10:52

went to parent information evening for year 10 last night.
The head told us that they had sent a LOT of papers for remark (can't remember the number - 30 out of year group of 120?) and a significant amount came back marked up two levels eg grade 5 -7.

And pretty much all the others came back up one grade.

Astonishing really

Monkey2001 · 04/10/2017 13:05

Steppemum, that is shocking, although impressive that the school dealt with it, as have Reds and Tara. I expect most comprehensives will not have done anything; I am fairly sure that at my DS's comprehensive remarks were only requested if parents took initiative and paid, which we did on the advice of friends with children at private/grammar schools.

What sort of school is yours?

steppemum · 04/10/2017 13:12

ha , ha well spotted, super selective grammar!

The head did say something about reported issues over marking, hence their confidence to ask for so many remarks.
He was very clear that marks could go down as well as up, but in this case none did.

Teddygirlonce · 04/10/2017 13:29

Just got DS's Eng. Lit final remark back. NO change at all in the grade or even the mark. Still one point off a Level 7 - Angry. There was a 20 points difference between papers 1 and 2 too - all very bizarre.

He's at a super-selective and there was no such 'upward trend' report back from the HoD.

All that money, effort and stress for nowt Shock. So near and yet so far.

Monkey2001 · 04/10/2017 13:37

Teddygirl how frustrating for you. Still a lingering question over whether AQA have to restrict the number of changes politically.

Sad
Teddygirlonce · 04/10/2017 13:44

Monkey2001 thanks for kind words. I just feel sorry for DS, particularly with Eng. Lit. He was always much better at the literature than language side of thingsm so I really do struggle to see how he got the same grades (with only a couple of marks difference).

Yes, I do wonder whether the outcome would have been different had we put both papers in at the same time (end of August) rather than one at a time, with the second only going in on 20th September.

Would it be possible to obtain a graph of the remark trends by date of submission, one wonders...

Monkey2001 · 04/10/2017 15:01

There is all sorts of info in the OFQUAL report, but I don't think that was there. I think this year might be different from usual though. See www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reviews-of-marking-and-moderation-for-gcse-and-a-level-summer-2016-exam-series

Teddygirlonce · 04/10/2017 15:19

Just been discussing the marks for Eng. Lit with DS - he got 44 in Paper 1 and 69 in Paper 2. Seems very strange to get such varied marks. WTF!!!

Danglingmod · 04/10/2017 15:25

But there are more marks available in paper 2. Paper 1 is out of 64 and paper 2 96.

Cafeconleche · 04/10/2017 15:31

Oh teddy I've been looking in for news of your Lit paper. One flippin mark! It's so bloody frustrating (not to mention expensive) and yes, I'm also sure if the scripts had gone in on August 24th things would have been different. I'm still smarting from not getting DS's raw marks breakdown until deadline day as his paper 1 Lit paper was so much lower than his paper 2 and I had the chance to ask for a review on august 25 but didn't know what I was playing with... He was so much better at Lit than Language and yet got a better grade in Language (which itself had weird individual question scores, but again too late to do anything about by the time I was sent them..) All I know is that DS is now in a great SFC doing the A Levels he wants to do and is enjoying them and I need to move on (DS moved on weeks ago). Luckily he wants to take a gap year and apply to uni with his actual A Level grades so (hopefully) his lack of 10 As won't be too much of an issue. In the meantime I'll keep an eye out on these threads for all my virtual friends who I feel I've bonded with thanks to piggywaspushed* WineCakeSmile

Monkey2001 · 04/10/2017 16:22

Cafe I think it is easy to get sucked into thinking GCSE results are bigger than they really are. DS's school had a Cambridge admissions person come in to talk to people and they said they are not that worried about GCSEs, it is A level predictions and how well you can demonstrate extra-curricular interest in your subject. DS wants to do medicine so we have looked into what the requirements are and the only ones for which you really need at least 7 A*s are Oxford, Edinburgh and Cardiff, so he will avoid those.

When you are in the moment, the randomness of it is so frustrating, but it is important for your sanity to step back and look at the bigger picture.

I am really dreading A level results day already, but at least we now know how to prepare so that we can help our DCs to negotiate that one!

Teddygirlonce · 04/10/2017 16:24

Blush I wasn't aware that the total number of points differed per paper (and DS didn't seem to be either, so didn't enlighten me)

Cafeconleche · 04/10/2017 16:42

I completely agree monkey and (contrary to my mini-moan above) I really have moved on. GCSEs really are just stepping stones onto the next level and, thankfully, my DS got the necessary grades to get into his chosen SFC and do his A Level choices. I'm trying not to dread A Level results day just yet Confused but am acutely aware that the next 2 years are going to fly by. And I will definitely be far more prepared second time around - though I'm obviously hoping I won't need to put the experience of the past few weeks to good use again!

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 04/10/2017 17:01

Stiiiiiillllll waiting......

Sorry to hear your news teddygirl

OP posts:
Teddygirlonce · 04/10/2017 17:33

As my mother would say, "It is what it is." Onwards and upwards.

But Piggy - how frustrating still not to have heard. I've got everything crossed for you and your DS.

Notanothergiraffe · 04/10/2017 18:43

That’s crap piggy, I keep checking back to see if you’ve had any news. Fingers crossed it is soon.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 04/10/2017 18:45

It was 22 days for lit. Now on 15 days for Lang paper 2. And I know what the outcome will be!

OP posts:
Tanaqui · 04/10/2017 21:27

Does anyone know if it isn't too late to ask for an aqa gcse remark now?

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