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Original poster

Results from GCSE remarks?

132 replies

3076Worb · 06/09/2018 13:09

Just making final decisions about which to get remarked and heard some shocking info I wanted to share. (I realise marks can go up and down.)

A student who was 1 mark off a higher grade in English GSCE (AQA) has just got the results of the remark of paper 1 and has gone down 10 MARKS! She has now dropped a grade and has a tough decision about whether to get paper 2 remarked or not.

I was advised with being only 1 mark off a higher grade (around 10-11 marks between each grade) a remark was 'a no brainer'. School have now said, with this shock of 10 marks down, they have suggested no remark. There are saying it seems the boards are being a LOT tougher this year (esp. after getting so many marks wrong last year, with the new system, they want to show they have now got things sorted).

Has anyone got results from THIS year's GCSEs remarks yet?

OP posts:
Kazzyhoward · 13/09/2018 16:52

DS just had the results of his Eng Lang remark. Original marks were 16/40 for one question and 13/40 on the other paper. Had both remarked as he was usually scoring over 30 and even the teacher couldn't believe the marks. Remark came back as 34/40 and 36/40. You really have to wonder how they could have got them so badly wrong - on two different papers too!

LARLARLAND · 13/09/2018 16:54

Is that AQA Kazzyhoward? We may now get Eng Lang done.

Catblues · 13/09/2018 17:06

Wow, amazing remarks, you must be glad you asked for a review but agree how can they get it so wrong?

Oldowl · 13/09/2018 17:39

Kazzyhoward, what was your DS original grade and what has he now been awarded?

I am amazed how wrong his first marks were. So glad he got the marks he deserves.

MaisyPops · 13/09/2018 19:56

LARLARLAND
If their mark is significantly out from what you were expecting then it's worth doing.

I know from friends who marked that AQA were a bit turbulent (shall we say) on the English Language front due to shortage of examiners and people routinely getting locked out and refused to mark any more of certain questions. It would seem even people I know who marked said they'd mark 2 seeded ones to standardise and they wouldn't get how the mark had been decided on some questions.

I wouldn't risk a 7 for an 8 if they were a 7/8ish student but if someone was consistently getting 8s in school and came out with a low 6 then I would.

LARLARLAND · 13/09/2018 20:40

Interesting Maisie Thanks for the advice.

daisybank2 · 14/09/2018 09:50

My dc got a low 6 (just 1 mark in to the 6 grade) for her English Lang (AQA), when predicted a high 7.
We asked for a breakdown of individual question scores, but they came through a couple of weeks ago with Paper 2's marks missing. Apparently the paper wasn't scanned in and AQA are can't seem to find it!
With the remark deadline only a week away where does this leave us? Obviously with the current info, a remark is too risky. But if we get this question breakdown back and there's some strange marks ie zeros, then we would be pretty sure there's an error. AQA seem to think that if they can't find the paper then not much they can do. We'd have to decide whether to remark on the info we have. But this would surely put us at an unfair disadvantage compared to other candidates.
Anyone got any experience of this?
Thanka

areyoubeingserviced · 14/09/2018 12:09

Daisy- surely it’s up to AQA to find the missing paper. I would take this further if so were you

On another note.
I am concerned about the fact that examiners are making so many mistakes, particularly in English Language papers
AQA. I would advise anyone with a random rogue EL mark to get it reviewed. It’s a travesty that some kids may have to retake exams that they have ‘passed’

daisybank2 · 14/09/2018 12:26

Areyoubeingserviced - yes totally agree, but I think they're inundated with requests and are 'behind' on their work! I spoke to someone today who said it was now at their top of their list to find the paper, but I don't hold out much hope.
Just can't take the risk of a remark without all the info. How can they just lose a paper!?? And why wasn't it scanned in in the first place!?

myrtleWilson · 14/09/2018 12:37

if it hasn't been scanned in presumably it hasn't been marked (I am assuming that the papers are scanned then marked online somehow - happy to be corrected...)?

Surely if its not been marked and been lost they'll have to come to some sort of proxy mark based on Paper 1 scores?

apologies if I've misunderstood

daisybank2 · 14/09/2018 13:45

myrtleWilson - it's been marked but we only have the one overall paper mark, (which is lower than we think it should be). We want to get the individual question marks.
Apparently some papers aren't scanned - maybe because the writing is faint so it won't scan or that it's done on a laptop (neither being the case for our dd) or that it just falls through the net for some reason.
So somewhere at AQA's HQ there is a pile of unscanned papers!!!
If they really can't find it, then I wonder what would happen if we requested a remark?! Perhaps you're right and they'd have to look at Paper 1 mark and adjust? Who knows! It just seems unfair that we can't access the info that is normally available, from which to decide if we want a remark.

daisybank2 · 14/09/2018 15:27

Update: AQA have found the paper! We have the mark breakdown, but nothing untoward so won't risk a remark!

myrtleWilson · 14/09/2018 15:55

oh I suppose that is better than having to gamble on the unknown. Presumably the 6 she got doesn't disrupt her plans moving forward?

daisybank2 · 14/09/2018 16:31

Yes it would have been a gamble. And no it doesn't disrupt her plans, but it was more of a shock at just scraping a 6 rather than the high 7 / low 8 she was predicted and been working to. She was really disappointed, and the marks we got are the lowest she's had. But just can't risk it going down to a 5!

Original poster
3076Worb · 15/09/2018 11:24

I'm shocked that there are so many cases where remarks are coming back a whole grade boundary difference! This can't be right? I'm predicting that AQAL will be critical of AQA again this year!

It's sad to think there are so many kids out there, with grades that are wrong. Most would only consider a remark if they are just below the grade above, so there are going to be loads of kids out there with mid range marks that won't be taking the chance of a remark but it seems may be deserving of a higher grade (or sadly a lower one). It really should be such a risky decision to make, and especially on a subject so vital for any kid, whatever path they take in the future. Let's hope schools are taking note and reporting all of this to the relevant body.

We are still waiting for remark from Language paper one, just hoping we get it back before the deadline, so we can decide if we go for paper 2 remark (we only need 1 mark).
We got remarks back from Biology (Excel) - got the 2 marks needed to go up a grade, and Business (Excel) - went down 2, so grade remains.

OP posts:
thisagain · 16/09/2018 11:08

We are being asked if we want to pay (£36) for a remark for a Geography GCSE that was 2 marks off a 9. Would you bother? Her Geography teacher was really bad and she taught herself the syllabus so was very happy with an 8. She is taking it at A Level.

We have English Language being remarked (at the schools expense) because she was 2 marks off a 7. Again, she doesn't feel like she deserved more. She would have got a 7 on a good day but she knew she messed up the first paper but as the school are paying, we just had to agree. I know it can go down too.

Original poster
3076Worb · 16/09/2018 11:32

Thisagain - I'd look at how many marks between each grade. If it's AQA, then I know the mark difference between a grade 3 and 4 is 24, so 2 marks is REALLY near the top (English is only 10 marks between each grade). If it was me, I'd go for it; though get advice from school about which paper (there were 3 if it's AQA). My son got v.high marks for paper 2 and 3, but got virtually nothing for the first paper. He got 0 for 20/34 questions (many of which were 6 or 9 markers!). Either he had a massive brain freeze (which he says not) or there has been an admin error. We've gone for a remark of that paper. It can't get much worse than his current grade 3, so we agreed it was worth the risk (he's 4 marks off a grade 4 and 20 away from a grade 2).

OP posts:
thisagain · 16/09/2018 13:57

On English she is 9 marks into a 6 and 2 from a 7. I think both papers are being remarked.

For Geography, it was WJEC Edaqus spec b and I can’t find the grade boundaries. They have asked for £36 in total though, not per paper. I don’t know why.

Catblues · 18/09/2018 16:23

We've gone up 9 marks and one grade just on a review of English Lit AQA paper 2. Kinda wished we'd put paper 1 in too now, but dd decided to quit while she's ahead as she's happy with her new grade

chloesmumtoo · 18/09/2018 16:49

Dd only had her English lit (wjec/gcs) remarked as teacher approached us saying she only missed a 6 by 2. We probably wouldn't have bothered else as she was happy. However she sent it in and finally got her remark back as a 6! But it raised by 9 whole marks! It has written on form 'the original marking was unduly harsh' Shock

chloesmumtoo · 18/09/2018 16:51

Yes was also paper 2

WoWsers16 · 18/09/2018 17:16

Back when I did GCSEs (1999 argh!!) lol I got a D in geography and the school had it remarked - turns out I got a B but when th put my coursework mark in the marker put it down as 16/60 instead of 60/60! A massive difference! Xx I understand that was many moons ago but always think how crazy things like this can be x

KittiesInsane · 18/09/2018 17:23

Hmm. We haven't contacted the school to ask for actual marks as DD is pretty happy with all hers, but like some others, she had an unexpected result for English Language (predicted 9, got 7). Worth asking about? It hadn't actually occurred to me, but I suppose it might make a difference for very competitive courses later.

She's gone to a different 6th form, so I can't just get her to drop in at school and ask.

Alwa · 18/09/2018 17:29

You could email the school to ask kitties but you'll need to be quick as they cut off date is looming.

Cherryburn · 19/09/2018 08:51

I’d email and ask for her marks kitties. I think a review is worth doing if the grade awarded is surprising. We sent one of DS’s back for review for this reason and he went up a grade to A. But as Alwa* says, you’ll need to be quick as I’m pretty sure the deadline is tomorrow.