Resitting GCSE English Language exam

12 replies

Fortunei · 16/09/2019 08:37

After having a low mark at this exam my son lost his place at his grammar and we moved him to a private school. The new teacher is encouraging him to apply for resitting English Language, the problem is at Grammar he studied EDEXEL, and at the new school they use a different exam board AQA.
Where do we check how much these exam boards differ?
Anybody had any personal experience doing it with their kids? Any advice?

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SqueakyPig · 16/09/2019 09:30

For English language the content is the same. The only difference is the style of the questions, which the school should be supporting your son to learn how to answer. I sat AQA English Lang in 2016 and got an E, then resat this year with Edexcel and got a 7 (an A in old money). I found the transition fairly easy.

HugoSpritz · 16/09/2019 11:15

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clary · 16/09/2019 11:37

Look at the AQA website for past papers and mark schemes. The school will be covering this too, but it does no harm if you can support.

Original poster

Fortunei · 16/09/2019 16:42

Thanks for the answers. He got 4 at the exam, which is a pass even though we had a very good tutor for him, he went all very confident, also he had predicted 7 from the mocks :( we just don’t know what went wrong for him on the day :(

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Blueshadow · 16/09/2019 18:46

AQQ has masses of past papers on their website, there are also study and revision guides. Can you ask for his exam paper so you can see where he went wrong?
Having tutored a few different exam boards for English Language, there is not all that much difference between them. Mr Bruff is a good you tube channel for AQA.

clary · 16/09/2019 19:02

If he got a 4 I wouldn't bother resitting tbh. It's a pass and all that employers and even universities want (apart from Oxford and Cambridge perhaps).

Why are they advising a resit?

keiratwiceknightly · 16/09/2019 19:06

Edexcel papers are available for teachers to view on their website. However I agree with the pp - unless he desperately needs a better grade in English (medicine/vet science or A level English) he really doesn't need to resit if he has a 4.

noblegiraffe · 16/09/2019 20:28

Ask the previous school to look at his exam paper to see what went wrong on the day - they have free access to view his paper. That information will be useful for him if he is resitting (would also be worth checking to see if there hasn’t been a horrendous marking balls-up if he was confident of a 7).

Darbs76 · 16/09/2019 20:32

Time is running out if there has been mess up in marking, all review of papers applications are due in soon (can’t remember exact date but it’s soon)

noblegiraffe · 16/09/2019 20:36

19th September!

GrammarTeacher · 17/09/2019 06:18

I probably would encourage a resit if he only got a 4 as it does close down some options going forward. I'd ask for his paper back quickly so he knows where to focus his efforts.
With our lower performers it was often poor time management in the exam (so not enough time spent on the higher tariff questions) or sometimes a real lack of care and attention on the writing tasks.
Poor handwriting can also be an issue.
English Language can take some students by surprise. Particularly those (I've had a few over the years) who have put minimal effort in until the last minute. There's not enough known content for that to work.
Reading widely will help.
The AQA papers are ever so slightly less time pressured and the unseen fiction is twentieth rather than nineteenth century which can help some students.

Original poster

Fortunei · 17/09/2019 08:00

Thanks for all your answers, I didn’t know we could ask to see the papers, I will contact his old school
We feel he is capable of so much better than what he achieved. He is quiet academic, but more maths and science than humanities . Thank you all 👍

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