Why are the grade boundaries for English Literature so high?

[hannahsnail]

Maybe it’s just me but it seems such a hard subject with so much to learn I’d have thought they’d be much lower. 62% for a 6 seems pretty tough.

They change every year. And are based on how the entire cohort perform.

So if the cohort do a good performance overall the grade boundaries will be higher than with a less good performance.

62% for a 6 which is an old B seems quite a generous mark to me. I thought you would need at least 70%

In my day it was 70 for B, 75 for A, 80 for A*. I think to shine in English you need real skill and flair in every area, not just the basics which everyone can do. We all speak the language after all!

62% for a 6 seems reasonable. There are 5 grades below and 3 above so there needs to be a range surely.

It's all marked on a curve anyway.

I think it’s really high considering you only need around 44% for a 6 in Chemistry. I think English literature is way harder to get your head around.

Chemistry has Foundation and Higher tiers. English doesn't.

@ItsCalledAConversation 'we all speak English'- do we. I wonder about the number of frees being articulated by continuity announcers.

Lower than I expected it to b.

Chemistry will be 44% on the higher paper. So the questions are all much harder! It's a very tough paper!

Chemistry grade boundaries also change year on year based on how cohort performs.

I know chemistry has a foundation paper. That’s why I thought English literature would be lower than that, considering it’s taking into account the grades of the entire cohort not just the higher ability dc.

I don;t think you are getting what people mean.

The chemistry higher paper won't have any of the questions aimed at lower ability hence the percentage needed for a 6 is lower than the English paper which covers the whole ability range. A better comparison would be the mark needed for a grade 5.

So looking at AQA for last year

English Literature Grade 5 48%
Chemistry Foundation Grade 5 63%
Chemistry Higher Grade 5 29%

What was the percentage for a grade 4?
Also grade 4 and 5 in English language?

No, it's the other way around. For subjects with a higher/foundation paper, on the higher paper, the grade boundaries for a 4/5/6 will be lower.

The paper is much harder, so everyone is expected to get lower marks, and a 4 is the lowest possible grade. The paper doesn't assess grade 1/2/3 content. Obviously grade boundaries vary, but on a higher chemistry paper, basically only question 1 and 2 are assessing grade 4/5 (standard demand) and the rest is assessing 6-9 (higher demand). Therefore, arguably, you should only need to get 16% to get a 4, 33% to get a 5, and so on.

For a paper that's assessing the whole grade range, from 1-9, you need to assess those getting grades 1, 2 and 3 as well.

Therefore e.g. 11% could get you a 1, 22% a 2, 33% a 3 (I know it doesn't work exactly like this) but you can see it would push grades 4/5/6 much higher.

It shouldn't be easier to get a grade 6 in English lit than in Chemistry.

I'm not sure I've explained this well, but hopefully it makes sense?

Not really relating to the grade boundaries, but just a general point - I think that English literature is really challenging because you have to know the texts inside out due to the all or nothing aspect of having one essay question. If you're really unlucky, e.g. if the Shakespeare question is on a character you haven't really revised enough to write a decent answer then you're stuffed! Conversely if you get an essay question similar to one that you've studied in depth then happy days! In Chemistry though, if there is a topic that you haven't got to grips with (e.g. electrolysis) at most you would only lose around 12 marks max as the content is spread more evenly throughout the paper.

I know that some papers (e.g. 19th century novel) have two questions to choose from, and in theory if you know all the themes then you can write about any of the characters but I still think Eng Lit is a daunting exam. It would be fairer, and kinder, if there was a wider choice of questions so that students could really demonstrate what they can do, and maybe some shorter questions. It must be really hard for students at a 3/4 level. For the poetry (AQA) you have to know 12 (?) poems inside out but you'll only ever have to write about two. It's really hard if you don't have a great memory.

I completely agree with you @BobsbeesIt is a very challenging paper, there’s masses of information to memorise. I just wonder how some DC actually pass it (with a 4 or above).

@hannahsnail because it is all about understanding what gets you marks. The past papers and their mark schemes are all available online to any student or parent willing to help. It lays out the different levels ie highest being a level 6 and also the different AO areas you have to hit, AO2 being language, you get marks for talking about the use of particular words, ie in A Christmas Carol Scrooge says "I can't afford to make idle people merry", merry has two meanings, happy and a bit drunk, you can talk about that. You can also expand on why he thinks poor people are idle. The mark scheme is incredibly helpful to see what falls under each AO category.

I get that it is difficult for those with poor memory but there are ways to help them and one is starting really early with this stuff. They know before year 10 what they will study so they can get a head start over summer holidays before they start year 10. They can read the books, watch the films, start to learn the main themes. But they also get given an extract on the paper to analyse meaning as long as you know the method, which they are definitely taught in class, you can have a really good go at it. It is covered online by several teachers on Youtube (Salles, Bruff) on how to do it, same with the Power and Conflict poems. The revision guides usually provided by school give good insight into the themes and important quotes.

The high grade children are the ones who can do the unseen poetry comparison because you cannot revise those poems which is why they carry a lot of marks.

I think this is where MN comes into its own especially if a parent is looking ahead and can access this information from MNetters so they are ahead of the game.

Oh for a time machine!

Thanks @DuvetMeToday that’s helpful. Do you know what level would a GCSE grade 6 would be?

@hannahsnail sadly no because the grade boundaries shift every year, my eldest got his only 7 in English Lit, the same mark the year before would have been an 8. He was pissed off but it is the English Language grade everyone wants to know along with maths.

I will tell you that it is to some extent formulaic. They are 15 and 16 year olds, they are not coming up with anything ground breaking. Everything, all opinions etc are online easily accessible through YouTube. Both my sons were weak on English but very high grades in everything else. I had to work hard getting Ds2 to understand what he needed to write and we did it with some amazing help from his teacher but also everything from mark schemes and the incredible Mr Salles, we had his books which were eye opening and not quite what they are taught in school. ie Romeo and Juliet is all about patriarchy and no matter what the question you can lead it back to patriarchy and therefore have an argument ready to go. In the original poem Romeo suggests marriage, Shakespeare makes it Juliet. Why? Because it was written in c1595 when women were commodities, she is about to be married off to Paris at 13 years old. She takes her own fate into her hands. Also why does Paris get killed by Romeo at the end? What is the point? To leave you with marrying for love beats an arranged marriage. Just a theory and not mine.

There are plenty of examples of grade 5 and 6 on Mr Salles YouTube channel. I am assuming that whoever you know is sitting their exams next month. There are examples of grade 9, 30/30 essays on his channel too. He is amazing. Understanding what the mark scheme means ie level 6 "Judicious use of precise references to support interpretation(s)" just means use a lot of embedded quotes, pepper quote words through the sentence. "Exploratory" as above with "merry" and its two meanings.

Look at their own school books, what have they been taught. Don't overlook that. And good luck to whoever it is sitting their exams.