Y11 2023/24 thread 5 - results!

[Techno56]

New thread as no 4 is nearly full

@FrankWelker as long as you've not requested originals, you can request a review. Not a remark - that doesn't exist.

I assume whoever has looked at the scripts believes that the marks awarded are unreasonable, rather than that someone might find a few more marks.

Aah thank you- we requested copies. Yes, my son ‘struggled’ with English Lang so we got a tutor- we showed her the copies and she said he ‘was robbed’. I do trust her judgement as she was against reviewing until we showed her the paper- but I’m waiting for the opinion of his Head of English as well before we go forward.

Sensible to check - "was robbed" isn't on the list of reasons OFQUAL allow, sadly!

True!!

Hi!

I just wanted to update from my post on results day last Thursday.

DD failed maths and therefore wasn’t able to enrol on the BTEC she had her heart set on at a school sixth form, she was absolutely devastated and the school were not very sympathetic and there was no wiggle room even though the subjects she wanted to study had no maths requirement. She cried for the whole of Thursday and most of Friday and really felt like she failed everything even though she had good passes in all other subjects.

Anyway, today she has been offered a place at a different sixth form in a school much further away, the head of sixth has been so supportive, welcoming and kind and it’s really opened my eyes to the difference between teaching staff. She starts next week and is so happy even though it wasn’t where she thought she would be.

I’d also like to say thanks to all of the posters on here that offered support and advice when I really didn’t know where to look or what to do.

Oh your poor DD. I'm so glad it's worked out and she's got a place at a school that sounds more supportive.

@Johaanah So pleased to hear it’s worked out for your dd, sounds like the new place will be a much better fit for her all round.

It’s interesting hearing about how schools approach reviews - ds’s school is completely hands-off. He’s had no contact at all, even though a couple were just off the next grade. It’s very much up to the student to judge if they want to review.

Oh bless her @Johaanah - I'm pleased she found a school which sounds much better for her.

Same here @Pharos I've just posted on the new Year 12 thread that DS has two which some schools it seems would routinely review (one grade boundary and one mark off grade boundary). However the school have said they will only review if the student requests it. I'd have thought they'd want to do it for their own stats. They are very competitive within their MAT- always vying for "top school" status.

DS has just had his English Lit review back, and paper 2 has gone up by 10 marks, which does improve his grade. It's definitely worth doing. He was either 2 or 3 short of the grade boundary, but I can't remember which 😁😁😁

Wow! Same here in that DD is a few marks off some boundaries (I think 2 or 3 off a grade 9 in both Chem and Maths) but nobody has suggested a review, and I don’t really see much point myself. She doesn’t want to apply to Oxbridge or anything so 8s will do her just fine.

Yes, if DS was getting 8's, that would have done him fine, too. Sadly not!

Thank you for the advise, that's really helpful. We have three subjects, so I've checked boards, AQA and Edexcel, checked the info from the exam board and they advise you to get a copy of the script before asking for a review. It seems it's my DD's school that's putting the barrier in place, telling us that if we have a copy of script we cannot then ask for a review! I have sent an email to the exams officer, let's see what she responds with.

@OhMrBennett I sort of hope they're being obstructive rather than not knowing what they're on about!

DD has asked for the school to look her physics which is 2 off an 8. She doesn’t need it, but I can understand that she’d like it to be an 8!
I’m not fully across this, the school make the decision on asking for a review right? (But then I pay ?🤨). How long would it take for them to receive the script and look it over ? Are teachers back or would this now not happen until term starts? I don’t want to miss any deadlines.. DD had a tutor for physics so in theory I could also ask her to take a look as DD’s physics teacher was not very ‘present’. But I’m hoping the head of science would be doing this rather than the individual teacher?

This is great for your DS! But also very worrying! This happened to a friends’s dd last year. Makes it seem like pot luck what mark you get !

What is also worrying about your DS's marks being so off is that I bet we can pretty much guarantee it's the middle classes who can a) afford a review and b) are more likely to push for one and therefore widening the attainment gap even further. My headteacher friend says it's shocking how far out some of the marking of A levels are. It's scary.

Sorry have read back and seen we have until 22 Sept to ask for a review?

In our case I think the school do look at it as they say it’s their decision on whether to ask for a review? But I’m keeping the tutor in the back of my mind as she is so good and I’d value her opinion. Not desperate to spend £50 on an exam that really doesn’t matter for dd though - although she is thinking about applying for Oxford so an extra 8 is helpful.

I know! Bless him, he got his marks sheet and the AQA grade boundaries out yesterday and looked at all of them. No more than 3 marks off the next grade up for all of them. He's a bit gutted. He worked out how much it would cost to have them all reviewed. Over £1000.

Yes as £50 is a lot to charge. I personally feel it should be the school’s decision and they should pay, to provide a level playing field.

although it’s already not level eg dd had tutoring for both physics and maths (this was not easy I spent all my savings on it and now have £25 left in my savings account! But at least I did have savings..)

School did suggest the review and they did pay (I wouldn't have even known/thought about it) They only do English and Maths, so presumably league table related! It's a pretty mixed school.

In our case I think the school do look at it as they say it’s their decision on whether to ask for a review?

Not true. It's the decision of the candidate. The school can and should advise but the work belongs to the candidate. Only they can ask for a review.

Thank you. The school have definitely said it’s their decision but good to know I can push back.

one more Q. As physics is two papers would a review be £50 each paper ? (In which case I would def ask the tutor’s advice as I’d have to be 80/90pc confident !)

It is charged per paper. It's worth getting the papers back and asking the tutor to check over them first.

@MysticCatLady thank you. I’ve just gone back over the school letters and actually they say a review should only be requested upon recommendation by the school (not that it has to be approved by school). But I will def follow their advice given the costs. Have explained to dd accordingly. Guess we may hear something on this late next week.

DS's teacher said he can't find the one mark for his maths but we can still send it off if we want. He is enrolled at college to resit his gcses but we had an existing appointment at a 6th firm close to us this morning. She said he had the grades to get in and it was a waste of time doing gcses just on the off chance he gets higher. She also said the English language results are the worst shes ever seen, so they are being a bit generous with them.She said he could sit the maths in November. He is all confused now. Another issue is that the A Level subjects aren't the ones he wants to do.