Worth re-marking an English Lang GSCE to try to go from Grade 4 to 5?

[HasThisSoddingNameGoneToo]

DS got a grade 4 in both his English GCSEs. His English teacher just rang me to say his total mark on English Language was 85. If he'd got 86, he'd have got a grade 5.

I think it's worth having it remarked - what do you think? Any other subject, probably not. But I think English Language - like Maths - is a subject that lots of places look at in the future.

It doesn't affect his immediate future as he did really well in his other subjects and is comfortably into Sixth form doing A Levels.

What do you think? His teacher pointed out that re-marked papers can go down as well as up, but she would be very surprised if his went down.

[Musmerian]

Worth knowing that the system has changed. It’s now a review of marking rather than a remark. That means that so long as the mark scheme has been applied correctly the mark will not be adjusted, even if the person looking at it might have given it an extra mark or two. That means small changes are much less likely to happen. That said it’s unlikely to go down a grade so worth a punt but unless there’s a mistake it will stay the same.

[HasThisSoddingNameGoneToo]

Uni's will accept the 4 for courses such as Engineering as long as Maths is a 5 or 6, but if you are looking at arts type subjects he might need a 5+ in English.

This is useful info - thanks! He wants to do Computer Science at uni. He got 7 in maths, computer science and an 8 and a 7 in his sciences. The English probably doesn’t matter so much, does it?

Have I just wasted £76?! 😂

[HasThisSoddingNameGoneToo]

@Musmerian Thanks for that info. Unlikely to change, then.

[AJ45]

Exactly the same happened to my son for Eng Lang. He got 85 and so we had Paper 1 remarked as his score was much lower on that than in his mocks - but it came back with the same mark! We are now getting Paper 2 done as his tutor has looked at it (I paid for a review copy) and she thinks he should get 1 or 2 more marks. Now got to wait and see!

[Taxanimal]

Definitely definitely worth a remark. It doesn’t matter at all for yrs 12&13 but when you get to university applications some require a 5 in eng language and without it they won’t consider you. Same goes for maths, many require a 5 or even 6 which is harsh, particularly as schools move kids down to foundation where 5 is the best you can get, I think. They don’t tell you that at the time....😡😡

[TeenPlusTwenties]

Tax What uni courses require a GCSE 5 or 6 in maths - 'many require' sounds like a lot. Are these 'maths using' courses which is reasonable or random things like History of Art or French?

[Taxanimal]

To be fair it was my friends boy who applied for business courses and got rejected as he hadn’t got high enough Eng Lang GCSE. I’m all for keeping options open though, so I think it’s better to know these things in advance.

[Hadalifeonce]

Just had DD's remark back, she has an extra 6 marks! so has had her grade increased. I was surprised how quickly it came back.

[LolaSmiles]

We are now getting Paper 2 done as his tutor has looked at it (I paid for a review copy) and she thinks he should get 1 or 2 more marks. Now got to wait and see!
I'll keep everything crossed for you, but his tutor has been a bit misleading there. Papers aren't remarked so the fact the tutor thinks the paper should have a couple more marks is irrelevant, just like 1 or 2 marks in a review of marking wouldn't be relevant. The review looks at application of mark scheme and clerical errors, not whether a second marker would give a mark or two higher.

[PBLR]

The best way to find this out is to go on to the websites of unis you may be considering - go to the course you want and look at 'additional entry reqs - the GCSE requirements will be listed. Try a few unis and you will get a feel for the courses you want to apply to. The schools don't always help much so better to get ahead of the game yourself