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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:
Redsrule · 29/08/2017 15:00

Just got some of our remarks back. The minimum any went up by was 8 marks. I would go for it.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 15:01

It doesn't affect his A level choices as such : he has now decided against A level English Language. But this by default means he is taking French, which means he can't do Politics A level at his current school : which means he has to change school, so it's convoluted.

However, I am not sure a remark would affect all of the above since he got an A in French. He doesn't want to change school at all and doesn't like change so there may be trouble ahead.

OP posts:
Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 15:02

oh reds - thanks for that !

And glad for you!

OP posts:
Redsrule · 29/08/2017 15:04

Paper 2 seems to have been very badly marked.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 15:05

not really surprised. None of us teachers really ever felt we knew what the exam board expected or wanted!

OP posts:
robin64 · 29/08/2017 15:08

hey that is interesting Redsrule it was paper 2 that we asked to get remarked but edexcel - was that the board you used or AQA?

Redsrule · 29/08/2017 15:15

AQA but it was strange how much some went up!

Danglingmod · 29/08/2017 15:20

Ds got a higher mark on paper 2 which should have been his weaker paper; he was getting much closer to full marks on paper 1 on mocks set by school (aQA).

Piggy, you should definitely query your son's paper 2. That's a huge difference in, essentially, a SPAG mark. With the slight exception that comma splicing is more acceptable in creative writing (stream of consciousness?) than in non-fiction. But not that much difference, surely?

Cafeconleche · 29/08/2017 15:31

Loose thanks so much for your lovely words Flowers. Am feeling somewhat deflated by everything at the moment, but DS just told me that his Head of History (who was a bit of a tough nut to crack tbh) chatted to him on results day and told him that he should be proud of what he had achieved, and that he was really sad that he wouldn't be teaching him History A Level because he has such a passion and aptitude for the subject. DS has to leave because they can't offer MFL at A Level, but I think the history department will stand him in good stead for his new college. (He also told him to come back to the school in 2 years' time and wave his stellar A Level results at the HOY - that made me laugh out loud, and has boosted DS's confidence no end).

reds - that's so interesting.

ProfessorLayton1 · 29/08/2017 15:49

cafe - good luck to your son.
Redsrule - that's great news !

cricketballs · 29/08/2017 15:53

Personally I thin examiners marking individual questions prevents them from getting into the rhythm of a paper - I think it's a double edged sword

But the candidates have to answer the set question so there is no flow of a paper

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 16:06

I meant more the rhythm of marking a candidate's voice and style. All that chopping and changing must be a bit manic.

OP posts:
Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 16:09

dangling yes, agree with what you say ; it's the other way round, though : DS did better in p2. His shocker was the p! creative writing. I'm not that surprised it was his weakest section but surprised by how weak!

Generally , he has underperformed in the Sect As too - so it's not just about the one question. Think I'll just go for a p1 remark as I'd be worried about p2 Q5 going down!

OP posts:
Cafeconleche · 29/08/2017 16:14

Thank you prof - and I meant to thank you for your lovely words on another GCSE thread, but am jumping around them so much at the moment I'm finding it hard to keep track of what I have posted where!

Redsrule · 29/08/2017 16:14

I agree Piggy you can get a real feel for a pupil marking English.

None of the remarks we put in for went down and we have had some shocks, 4 to 6 and 3to 5 for eg. Our marks overall were fabulous so don't want to rock the boat but it does concern me.

Danglingmod · 29/08/2017 16:22

D'oh. I should give up posting today. Keep misreading or misremembering all over the place!

Hmmm, that is even stranger then.

Just looked again at the grade boundaries on the AQA website. Ds did much, much worse percentage-wise in language than as marked by his teachers and much, much better in lit. But got the same grade for both. It's lit he's taking for A level, so I'm pleased he got 7/7, not 6(lit)/8(Lang) which he'd have got based on his teacher's marking of mock papers.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 17:09

dangling think you might need Brew

OP posts:
Danglingmod · 29/08/2017 17:21

I do - thank you!

cricketballs · 29/08/2017 17:39

Sorry dumb question- do they scan them all or photocopy them and give it to different examiners.

Each page is scanned in, if it is a short question then it is cropped so a marker doesn't see any of the next question. All responses are scanned, so even if nothing is written it is scanned in and put in the pool of responses to be marked. If the answer continues past where it is cropped we have to flag it up. We can annotate online to show where/why we are awarding marks and then have to enter the marks awarded.

ProfessorLayton1 · 29/08/2017 17:51

Cricket balls - Thanks
Have found this whole process fascinating!
Blimey.... to do this to every single questions on every paper for the thousands of candidates!

MsHarry · 29/08/2017 17:58

Emailed a chase-up to school this morning for DD's AQA English Lang marks. No response!

MsHarry · 29/08/2017 17:59

Is anyone else still waiting for actual marks?

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 18:07

I am for maths _ DS's exams officer is on holiday : this seems like a very odd week to have one's holiday if one is an exam's officer!

Remark deadline is 21 September so there's plenty of time really.

OP posts:
user1471451159 · 29/08/2017 18:13

Sorry to hijack - has anyone had AQA Eng lit remarked? DD got a 3 with 10 marks off the 4 boundary. Wouldn't normally request a remark for that big a gap in marks but now I'm wondering! She was predicted 4/5 based on her mock.

Original poster
Piggywaspushed · 29/08/2017 18:17

Have you had the question by question breakdown? That could tell you a lot, specifically whether she did better in one paper than the other and that could inform your decision. My DS rather annoyingly did far far better in one paper than the other! But his teacher di put him through Great Expectations...

To be honest, I might go for that one as a 3 or a 2 is no odds to your DD but having a 4 could make a huge difference.

OP posts: