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Original poster

Eng GCSE grade oddities

220 replies

Sausagesandpeas · 25/08/2023 09:10

DD consistently pulled 9s in her English Language mocks but has come out with a 6 in her results yesterday. She said she’d thought the exams went well. I am requesting copies of the papers to see if there is anything glaringly odd going in. Is it worth asking for a review? It just seems so odd.
Didn't get chance to talk to school staff in the bedlam yesterday.
Thanks

OP posts:
Hmmph · 22/09/2023 21:00

We asked for a review for one where there was a 3 marker calculation question (not English obviously!).

One of the figures had been copied incorrectly from the question so the answer was incorrect. But the working was shown and was correct, albeit with wrong figure. The answer was given 0/3 but the teacher and us think there should be one or two marks for working out. They are one mark off the higher grade. This is why we put in for a remark.

We have now received a letter back saying the marks had been unchanged. But no paper so we can see that they have now marked this question. I have no faith in the exam markers that they actually have marked it and this seems to be the end of the road with where we can go with it. It seems to unfair to miss a grade because the paper hasn't been marked correctly.

MrsHamlet · 22/09/2023 21:06

If you think it hadn't been marked, you can appeal.
Does the mark scheme specify marks for working?
If the mark awarded is reasonable, they're nor going to give extra marks. OFQUAL don't allow it.

Sadtimes1 · 22/09/2023 23:21

@lazysummer that is interesting, OCR tell you the question and the change in marks. I think with the AQA subject we were able to request a review of marking with a copy of reviewed script and it was the same cost as just a review of marking. I hope that I got that right 😬.

immergeradeaus · 28/09/2023 11:00

Update ds had a mark recount and went from 6 to 8 in English literature. Still waiting for English language.

WaitingforThursday · 28/09/2023 11:02

Congratultions to your DS immergeradeaus - 2 grades is huge! Was that from one paper?
My DC went up 16 marks (and one grade) on one Lit paper (AQA) but we are still waiting for the other.

Sadtimes1 · 28/09/2023 11:10

@immergeradeaus wow, congratulations but that is shocking at the same time. Well done to you DC!
I have just heard from the school who suggest a remark of one English Lit paper. As the closing date is today, my DS has decided not to go for it.

immergeradeaus · 28/09/2023 11:15

It was one paper - the school could see immediately that the marks hadn’t been added up correctly even though that’s meant to be a very rare error. We had to decide between a total remark and just a recount. The school said the latter was a completely safe option for an 8, but he could end up with a 9 or risk a 7 with a total remark, so we went with the certain 8. Ds had been on track for a 9 so the 6 was a real
shock.

in language he got a 9 in one paper and a 5 in the other so we have gone for a remark of the paper where he got a 5 - as the school
is certain that is not the right grade for him. His overall grade on results day for language was a 7, which is great, but there’s a personal pride thing for him as he’d been working so hard to get straight 9s (and did in everything except English).

immergeradeaus · 28/09/2023 12:26

And ds has given me the email ‘clerical
check on literature 2 found 19 marks’. I guess mistakes happen and I’m glad we challenged this one.

Sadtimes1 · 29/09/2023 14:43

We’ve had Biology back and it’s gone up 5 marks on the one paper we sent for review. DS is happy it has gone up to a grade 9.
Wish he’d decided to send for a review of English Lit now 🤷🏼‍♀️.
Good luck to everyone still waiting.

immergeradeaus · 29/09/2023 17:42

And English language now gone up 7 marks from a 7 to an 8. So from a 6 and 7 to two eights. Worth the re-mark!

Housetreehouse · 29/09/2023 18:20

3 reviews back today from AQA. Eng Lang up 3 marks to 9. Biology up 1 mark to an 8 and Physics down 4 marks but grade unchanged. Really glad we took the leap

Sadtimes1 · 29/09/2023 19:25

@immergeradeaus @Housetreehouse great news, well done to your DC!

LighthouseCat · 05/10/2023 08:25

Got DDs review back and 11 marks increase on paper 2 AQA Eng Lit. Glad we went for it. The marking for English seems v erratic this year.

WaitingforThursday · 05/10/2023 11:45

LighthouseCat that's good news, was it enough for a grade change?

LighthouseCat · 05/10/2023 12:43

Yes, she'd only been a couple off the next grade, so lovely to move up!

plumbgood · 05/10/2023 14:50

I posted earlier that my DC's literature grade had gone up. Now his language grade has also gone up (from 6 to 7). As this one was the result of an appeal we got more of a breakdown of the rationale, explaining where several additional marks were coming from. They were enough to put him over the boundary on their own, but then they also added 3 marks for "special consideration". Not sure why. Isn't it just used for illness, bereavement etc? He did have a very bad cold on the day, so perhaps his teacher mentioned it in the appeal case, but we didn't have a doctors' letter or anything.

lazysummer · 06/10/2023 00:03

i am interested in the appeal. Was that following a review that was unsuccessful? In my school, a few students didn’t change their marks, despite evidence that the original paper was not marked accurately. I am considering a couple of appeals.

plumbgood · 06/10/2023 00:07

lazysummer · 06/10/2023 00:03

i am interested in the appeal. Was that following a review that was unsuccessful? In my school, a few students didn’t change their marks, despite evidence that the original paper was not marked accurately. I am considering a couple of appeals.

Yes, the initial review didn't change the mark but two senior English leaders thought one particular question had been marked too harshly, so they decided to appeal the decision and were successful.

lazysummer · 06/10/2023 10:48

Thank you. That’s interesting.

Smoothbananagram · 07/10/2023 16:44

We are still getting the reviews back. Last one went up 13 marks on Lit Paper 1... student now a good grade 9.

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