Y11 2023/24 thread 5 - results!

[Techno56]

New thread as no 4 is nearly full

There has definitely been an English issue. DD did numerous papers before during and after mocks and never got lower than a 6, and was normally 7/8.
So it was a shock for her to get 2x5 in both English papers, as she has never once got a 5.
Many of her friends had the same, a couple predicted 8 who got 5 and randomly those predicted 4/5 seem to have come out with 7.
Although it’s a pass and I’m happy, it is no word of a lie that that girl worked her arse off for English for months and months and months and the 5 does not reflect that.

I think it’s awful for those who failed but then also when you’ve really put the graft in and got much lower than expected that is also terrible.
I don’t believe her 5 is fair at all, I’m not going to appeal because it’s done, she passed and she can put this down to a blip as luckily she is able to go to her chosen 6th form, but I do believe something is very amiss with the English this year

It strange isn’t it. DC’s English language was a real outlier at grade 5 with all other subjects 7+. I asked him if he’d consider resitting in November but he said no.

It’s also strange because the schools gear up to these exams. She knew the texts inside and out and had done multiple past papers which her teacher had graded. Even allowing for a bit of leeway I would have at least expected a 6.
I can totally understand why she is as upset as she is, she feels she’d have got the same if she had done a fraction of the work.

Thanks for explaining @Rumplestiltz Our school uses WJEC for everything so it keeps it simple!

Looking at the way that some people are reporting big discrepancies in English grades with AQA while others aren’t makes me query how accurately the teachers were applying the mark scheme in mocks etc. We saw during Covid how easy it is to skew things in favour of your own pupils and not be completely objective. I’ve also read that a lot of the YouTube and TikTok ‘advice’ videos aren’t particularly helpful for getting marks for what you’re writing. The exams ask specific questions and have a very set way of being marked. While a student may have written a long, interesting and grammatically correct answer, they may not have answered the question fully or appropriately. If my DS had been affected by this I’d definitely be asking for a copy of the script and asking school for their advice.

@Muchtoomuchtodo

Do you mean the u tube teachers? Like Mr salles? I find them very useful.

This is interesting. DD goes to a comp in an inner city area with a city wide catchment. At the sixth form open evening they really stressed that they were a very inclusive sixth form. In the Ofsted last year if you pay any attention to that lot the sixth form were rated outstanding and they get pupils going on to medicine and Oxbridge, there is a real range of ability and DD will sit comfortably within that.

I’ve had an email from school and they’ve actually requested his English language papers too. School are, I have to admit ‘on it’.

Re the oddities around AQA English (both lit and lang) - it was exactly the same last year as well. Too many very unexpected grades in both directions. It affected my DD last year negatively. She wasn't too phased and we very nearly just left it but in the end went for a review. Large number of marks found and she went up a grade (almost two grades). This year DD2 got a bizarrely high mark for one of her lit papers. She's v good at lit but she was ill on the day and only completed half the paper (and badly she thought) yet she seems to have ended up getting over 70% for that paper. Obviously we're not going to query that as I'm so glad for her sake she ended up with a good grade, but the marking seems v unpredictable.

My DS had a good outcome with AQA English Lang. He ended up with a 7 which is fantastic for him as his practice paper marks in the months leading up to it had suggested a solid 5 and on a good day a 6. English Lit was a solid 5 which is great but out of the 2 exams he had been happier with Eng Lit so it's strange that he did so much better in language.
He also surprised us all including his teacher by getting a 9 in history. Teacher had said cautiously that with really hard work he might hope to get a 7 so we're all pleased for him. The history teachers did work really hard with the y11s all year with loads of revision sessions and offering to mark practice questions etc, so I hope the teachers get credit from the school SLT

yep also the other way round here for AQA Eng Lit and Lang. solid 5, predicted 5 plus but got 7s in both. And he is dyslexic. Worked like a dog and … got lucky? Not sure!

Same here. For my DC and most friends it seems people got higher than predicted on eng Lang and eng lit this year. AQA.

Hi everyone, my daughter got a 3 in her English language.

(bit disappointed as we were expecting a 4 - five on a good day )

anyway , college have been really good, enrolled her straight away to resit in two months or so , but they asked me how close she was to passing. ( presumably to decide if to put her in for the resit in nov or next June )

I don’t have this information anywhere on her results sheet , just a funny little off center p .

have emailed school to see if they have this information, so far no response but it is early days .

where else could I find this information?

Also if I do find she’s only a mark away , how would I go about a recount?

thank you

We had this experience at three schools yesterday, its soul destroying for them to keep being knocked back, two female teachers were giving such mean girl vibes that I don't think I'd even want dd being taught by them. I also noticed that the attitudes of some teachers completely changed between interviews and open/induction days to appearing at the school with a lower grade in a subject than predicted - they may as well just say 'we don't want you at our school'.

P is a pass for speaking.

You need the centre to tell you the mark. You can't find that on your own, sadly.

If you want a review, you ask the centre. It's £46 per paper, if I remember correctly - but you're always better to ask for the scripts first and get someone who knows what they're doing to have a look and see if a review is worth it.

My DD also had low English grades (6 Lang, 5 Lit) but not entirely surprising as she hated her English teacher. She has worked hard though and we had 4 months of tutoring - English was the only subject where she had tutoring as she wanted 7+. She was predicted 7 in both. Not sure if requesting scripts would help in any way.

All her other grades were 9s and 8s apart from Art, but Art was in line with her prediction.

A bit of a shame, as she is an avid reader and she writes stories for fun.

We're already getting the maths looked at. He got , 71% 60% and 63% in the 3 foundation papers but got a 3 so the grade boundaries must have been high, but we've had an awful day because of the 4 in English language. Most places want 5 in lang so we're going to get that relooked at as well. Otherwise it's going to have to be a year of resits 😞 He never got below a 6 in mocks either and was expecting 7 and maybe 6 in lit, but got 4 and 5. .

I honestly think there is a big difference in getting English marked by your teacher and by someone else entirely. Even with the grade bands and descriptions etc. My son always got higher than I felt he should from his teacher (not being mean but having read his stuff and model answers of higher grades).

It's strangely reassuring to hear how many of our DC are in the same boat with AQA English. I mean it's awful that so many kids have had a disappointment yesterday but it's reassuring to think it's a wider AQA problem rather than something just DD is experiencing.
School is sending for review. I can't help but wonder if this is a money spinner for AQA. It just doesn't make sense that so many kids have grades totally out of keeping with all their mocks and predicted grades.

Looking at the way that some people are reporting big discrepancies in English grades with AQA while others aren’t makes me query how accurately the teachers were applying the mark scheme in mocks etc
But as it's throughout the country in different schools and only seems to be AQA either the examiners have been told to be extremely harsh, the training given to schools is insufficient or incorrect and/ or the mark scheme is way too vague and open to interpretation. It's not as likely that so many individual teachers in so many settings can be so off in a specification that has been used for years, and it's only the ones teaching AQA.

I think I might start a separate thread just on AQA English so we can find out how we all get on with reviews.
@Panic71 @Sparklingwineandcheese @stopscrollingandgettowork

I'm just popping by to point out that AQA has by far the largest cohort for GCSE English, so you will naturally hear more about them.

Sorry to distal but can anyone point me in the grade boundaries for WJEC Film Studies C670QS GCSE - I have found AQamA and Edexcel but this is alluding me

The trouble is, one-off stories are not evidence of any kind of systemic issue. Some kids will always do better or worse than predicted. That depends on the accuracy of internal marking for mocks, luck on the day of exams, etc etc etc. It could also be an exam board marking thing but there is no actual evidence of that. Obviously easy for me to say as my child did better than expected. But for balance did (considerably) worse in another subject than predicted so, swings and roundabouts...

I agree, @WhereAreWeNow - if my DS wasn't such an avid reader and good writer, I'd shrug off his 6s, but I'm hearing a lot of people talk about odd grades (I know, it's only anecdotal evidence, but there's quite a few anecdotes now). Also he was consistently getting higher scores on mocks.

We are going to ask for a review for his Lang as it was 2 marks off a 7 so I will pop my head into your thread.

Also want to say that IMO it takes all kinds of minds to make the world go round and I wish more schools appreciated that. I really hate to hear of schools making kids feel less valued or unwelcome due to their scores. A student who may not get on with academics might be brilliant at a trade, or fixing things, or counselling, or business, or any number of other things. The kid who got a low score in English might be the person fixing up your car or boiler in a few years, or running a business. Not talking about anyone on this thread. Only to teachers or anyone making someone feel small due to their scores. Off my soapbox now.

I've name changed for this. DS did AQA English was predicted two 8s but actually got two 9s.

He basically got his predicted grades or a grade above in all his exams but his school say they mark harshly in mocks etc. I would say all his friends got what they expected or slightly better with just the odd lowered grade.