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.

Sorry been a bit quiet, waiting for marks before updating. Some really interesting information on this thread, thanks to all.
The good news is that DS now has a provisional place on A Level course; but because he went alone, doesn't know on what proviso i.e remark etc. Form for remark signed and plenty of emails between us and Director of English.
DS only two marks off a Level 7 with his literature, although six marks off a Level 6 with language. Both language papers being remarked.

Your DS's marks are basically the same as mine : nearly a 7 in lit and mid way between 5 and 6 in lang! We only went for the one lang paper though as his performance wasn't consistent between the papers.

I know that feeling Piggy - keeping fingers crossed for your DS!

DD was told today that her remark for OCR Eng Lit had come back, mark amended but no grade change. New mark not divulged. £45 and they won't release new mark, is this normal?

It should make it on to the school's computer systems I would have thought?

I am no expert on that and other will know, but that does seem odd.

DS's AQA Eng Lang 1 review came back after a week and he got the extra mark needed to get a 6, which is a relief. His expected result was a 7 in Lang and Lit. Still wondering about Eng Lit - he got a 6 and was 9 marks off a 7 (P1 4 off and P2 5 off). I wouldn't normally bother as he was mid-boundary range but these are strange times.

great to hear about your DS going up

I'd wonder about the Lit too, but I guess advice would say he could slide the other way...

Interesting updates - thank you. DD is undecided what to do about either contacting her old teacher/asking for a remark. Anyone know the deadline for AQA remarks? School have not been in touch, so I can only assume the 9 for Lang and 6 for Lit from a high achiever is seen as just one of those things.

DD's reason for remark would be just lower than expected marks - but she is just one mark into a 6, so it would be a huge risk. She had always done so much better, and I am genuinely confused when I hear about other kids who got the same or better grade, who to be honest, were nowhere near as 'good' as DD. What went wrong?!

The deadline is the 21st.

It has been intriguing this year : we had lots of students with weird differences as I think is said above and some odd anomalies. I can understand DD and you would be frustrated!

Schools tend to look through results for remarks for data improvement so will target students 1 to 2 marks always from a higher grade, regardless really of who they are and what the story is/ the predicted grade etc. So, just like you, my DS's school showed no interest in him performing 2 grades lower and at my won school , no one seems much intrigued by someone who got an 8 and a 4!

I have to say, in your DD's particular case, galling as it is, I wouldn't go for a remark : I mark is just too too close for comfort.

Many thanks for all the info.

NotQuiteSure dd1 is similar marks to yours for lit/lang, despite being much better at language she was only just off a 9 in literature (never scored above 6/7 borarderline before) and was just on the 6 (expecting an easy 7, possibly 8) by one mark on the language.
I suspect if we had the remark on language she'd go up to at least a 7, but don't dare as 1 mark would mean she would go down.

If the results had been the other way round we wouldn't have blinked at all, but it seems odd.

Two more in:

Both - 2 papers English Language. Both up 2 marks which is enough to take them into grade 4.

Posted too soon....

Of course we're pleased that the pass/fail - 3 to 4 (how that works when it's one exam for all is infuriating) will reflect positively in the stats.

But, genuinely, the reason we do remarks/reviews (and all the differentiated teaching) is because we're over the moon for our students who have worked hard and achieved the next benchmark, at 16 years old, which will allow them to follow a higher programme in subject areas they are most interested in and enthusiastic about.

That's the real result.

That's great news !

Dd was told to talk to her English Head of Year about the new mark. I'm really hoping they give us it. Does this mean the £45 charge is waived as it was marked incorrectly even though it hasn't forced a grade change?

My understanding was you get your money back if their marking is wrong : but hat may only be if the grade changes...

Hmm, hopefully she will have spoken to said teacher today. A change of mark is an admission of error so it makes sense to not charge. She got an 8 but keeps coming across lower achieving students who got a 9. One girl in her A level Lit class says she hates reading , hasn't read all summer,has some interesting answers to questions in class that indicate a lack of understanding. DD asked her why she chose lit at A level, she said because she got a 9 (predicted a 4)and other grades were C. Can someone really have that much of a fluke?

No not really but who's get that remarked?!

Sounds like an admin error!

The poor Eng dept will be held to that mark in terms of target grades etc for two years!! I bet on the sly they are asking for the paper back...

It is across two papers though so it seems really odd. She may be one of those girls who writes absolutely reams of nonsense : some examiners still are taken in by pretty handwriting and lots and lots of words.

One of my colleagues today was bemoaning that one of her students missed a 9 by 1 mark and a less deserving and able girls had got a 9. I did find myself saying ';first world problems' ! He is a lovely boy,though...

One has gone down today - by one mark. Student only needed an increase of 1 to get the 4 grade boundary.

They won't get their money back because it's only if the grade changes. I'm not sure if that's the case if the awarded grade goes down, but I've never known that happen as only the ones nearer the top of the grade boundaries are entered for review.

That's a shame for them :(

Such an important grade boundary.Bad exam board.

So we got DD's AQA Lit review of results back today. Was getting nervous as was put in the day after results and I know others on here (Redsrule as an eg) had them back quickly.

Anyway the upshot is that she has gone up 34 marks (!) and therefore from a 7 to a 9 overall. We are really pleased as are school. She is nonplussed (or being modest and pretending she is).

We don't know what happened as school didn't seem to have the enhanced AQA data but we are assuming the marks from one question were simply missed. I'm livid really - it always looked an odd result and the boards ought to use patterns to double check weird looking results - but of course they probably didn't have time did they given the stat about 70000 unmarked at the end of July. She was 1 mark under an 8 so a remark was safe - if she'd been a mark over we might not have taken a risk. It doesn't bear thinking about really.

DD never gets that opening of results back again and she's now concerned about whether AQA are the board for her A level Lit.

The AQA letter to the school is fucking awful. The 'apology' just isn't and DD doesn't seem to get anything. As she's gone up 2 grades we are going to press school to ask AQA for feedback. In the end the taxpayer is paying for this shambles and I'm inclined to let my Tory MP know what I think given it was her party's ill thought out reforms that got us to this message in the first place.

Sorry rant over.

Mess not message clearly. She's the one with the 9 - clearly not me!

34 marks!!??

Fuck me.

Excuse language.

Get school to ask for copy of the paper and you will be able to see what happened!