Grade boundaries...

[BaconAndAvocado]

...How do I find out what these are? I think DS2 might have just missed an 8 in Maths.

Look them up on the awarding bodies’ websites

Most links here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48993830

You need to scroll down a bit

Well dd is 3 off a 7 in one subject and 1 off a 9 in two!
Paper recall time 😀

Is it worth it? DS is 2 marks off a 7 in one subject

School have advised you can recall the papers for free now. They will review and then you can apply for a remark if it's worth it

Similar here, dd is one mark off a 9 so going to ask for it to be reviewed.

Why bother reviewing them though? Does it really matter? My DD was 2 off a 9/9 in science and 1 off a 9 in maths. She's doing A level maths but I don't see the point in getting it remarked when she's got what she needs.

I guess it's just bragging rights ?

DS was two marks of a 7 for business and 4 off a 6 for French. He has got what he needs for a levels. My question is could they also downgrade the paper? Although would have to be a huge number of marks to go down a grade. Not sure I could be bothered 😕

It matters to her, not me, so that is why we’re requesting it, and none of us discuss results with anyone, so definitely not ‘bragging rights’. She’ll be forever wondering about that one mark if we don’t get it checked, that’s just her personality.

Marks can go up or down. At our school they have said only to review if you are three marks or less away from the next grade up (unless there’s an obvious issue like a lost paper)

I worked as a teacher and had students downgraded although usually only when the parents go against our advice for a remark.

@sparepantsandtoothbrush if you were applying for medicine it would matter. Some universities look at GCSEs when making offers.

I'm curious about this too. DD did 8 GCSEs and is 2-4 points off the upper grade boundary in 6 of them. But as she has got the grades to get into 6th form I'm not sure it matters. The one that could be important is maths as she isn't taking it at A level (but is doing physics and computers), but I think that was one of the two she was slap bang in the middle for. I'm just relieved she got the grades she needed.

@sparepantsandtoothbrush that's really offensive actually. It's not about that. It's about our kids having the right grade they worked for.

DS is one mark off a pass, so I've asked his teacher if they think worth a re-mark and she's said yes. For the difference between a pass and fail it seems worth it, but I wouldn't bother for others (he was fairly close to next grade on a couple of others, but GCSEs unlikely to matter much for his next steps, so won't pursue. If he was pursuing a highly academic career, I might raise the question with school).

GCSE grades will totally matter for kids looking at competitive unis later on

My DC is one mark off a 8 for French and one mark off a 6 for PE. They are not doing either for. A Level and have got into college regardless. With it being so close, I’m wondering if it’s worth asking for a remark? Do you have to pay ? And how much does it cost? Thanks

Depends on the exam board. For a review with a copy of the script the charges are as follows:

aqa - £40.35
cie- £77.45
edexcel - £44.50
ocr- £72.25

This is the charge per paper. Some subjects had four papers…

They don’t remark the papers through, they just check the marking was done fairly (which is different because a lot of subjects have a lot of subjectivity). So if the person checking the script thinks they would have marked it slightly differently but the mark awarded was still fair then you don’t get any extra marks. The marks can also go down.

Yes, you do have to pay, depending on the exam board - top wack seems to be OCR at about £70 and I’m not sure if that’s per paper for the whole thing. Very occasionally, the school will pay, especially for English and Maths, close to a 4. However, gone are the days of schools throwing a lot of money at this because the rules have changed about what the boards will do and state schools are skint. Be prepared for ‘admin fees’ added on, especially in the private sector. There are other far more knowledgeable posters who work for exam boards, such as @ MrsHamlet who know more about current regs.

If it's like A'levels this year, then in fairness, it's about kids being given false expectations.

I'm an A level teacher. SM is full at the moment of people complaining about grade boundaries and wanting remarks. Their understandable anger (in many cases) should be with schools not teaching the syllabus properly and inflating predicted grades for whatever reason.

Sorry if you're offended by me asking a question!

I couldn't see any reason for it if you're child has got what they want for next steps so was asking if there were reasons beyond bragging rights. Others have answered that without being offended.

I asked my DD if she wanted to get hers remarked after reading some of the comments and she said she's more than happy with what she's got. But we've been very much "it doesn't matter what you get as long as you can move on to what you've got planned" so I guess that was her mindset

This is something else we've talked about. The mocks my DD did and received 9s in almost all of were the past papers for the last 2 years. She was well aware the grade boundaries meant she might not get those 9s this time which I think has added to her not worrying too much about missing out by a mark or two.

I do see how others might be frustrated by that though

Yes, that's the shame of it all for the kids. Especially as schools KNEW that the last few years' exams/results were a necessary anomaly and should just have been discounted when preparing for this year.
So many threads (last week A levels in particular) about exam boards being wrong, because parents have taken schools' inflation/misinterpretation of grades as gospel that that was what their child's exam result was going to be.

It's a shame for the kids who have done just fine, but are being set up for thinking they haven't.

This is really important. Reviewers are not looking for marks. We're looking to see if the awarded mark is reasonable.
The vast majority do not change.