AQA GCSE English reviews

[WhereAreWeNow]

Quite a few of us in the big GCSE results thread are looking at getting AQA English reviewed.

Starting a new thread in case anyone wants to share updates about the review process or have a bit of a moan about AQA!

DD got 8s and 9s in mocks and all classwork. She's an avid reader and writer and she knew the texts inside out. She felt the exams went well. But she got a 6 in Lang and a 5 in Lit. School is definitely asking for Lang to be reviewed.

2 marks off.

Excellent! I bet you are pleased!

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 😁😁😁

Great news @gingercat02
Im getting a bit impatient with school. They've said they want to send DD's English Lit and language for review and they keep saying they'll send me the consent form but they still haven't done it. I know people are on holiday so I should be more patient.
I'm wondering if I should just bypass the school and submit them directly.

@WhereAreWeNow you can't. They have to go via the centre.

Thanks @MrsHamlet . I thought some of the posters were submitting themselves.
I guess I'll just have to be patient!

@WhereAreWeNow the deadline is still a while off yet, so there's no need to panic

DS's school hasn't yet responded to our request to see the paper.

Spotted this in the BBC this evening, might be of interest to some in this thread: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80ejyryz32o

I do wonder how much exam companies profit, especially off resits.

They may not be working this week, @Scattery, especially if it's an 11-16 school.

The deadline is a little way off so no need to worry just yet.

yes this year one of the 3 was GCSE English language. Last years was an A level. English lit GCSE was also likely inaccurate this year but in our favour so we wont be asking for a review of that

Just fyi it’s also pretty common for exams officers not to be in the last week or two of the holiday as they’re in obviously pre and during results weeks

Interestingly my DS who was predicted a 7 for both got 9s for both English with AQA however another subject was the other way around. 1 mark off a 9 - Still thinking about whether it is a waste of time to remark. Teachers have requested papers.

@MrsHamlet could I please ask you a question?
I've now got copies of DD's papers (English Lit and language). Obviously I'm not an expert and I don't know know what the examiners are looking for. What she's written is all good in my (inexpert) opinion: perfect spelling and punctuation, varied and complex vocabulary and techniques, insightful analysis of texts etc. But I've noticed that for some of the questions her answers seem fairly short compared to the number of pages available in the booklet. I suppose what I'm asking is how much quantity counts in the mark scheme. Can you get a high mark for a succinct, high quality answer or do you need to write a lot to get a higher mark?

@WhereAreWeNow in the writing section, writing needs to be sustained. That's specifically mentioned in the mark scheme.

In reading, it's not impossible to get a high mark for something relatively short: it's about hitting the criteria.

Thank you @MrsHamlet

We have asked for dds English Literature papers to be remarked, and paid for it using parent pay, we haven’t yet had any confirmation from her school that they’re doing it, which I understand because I’m sure the exams office deserve a break.

We’re now thinking of leaving the school but wonder are they obliged to do the remark under all circumstances? I’m worried they might find an excuse to not do it. I don’t necessarily think the grade will go up but dd is desperate to know now even if it’s not good news.

we’re just upset that she was getting 8s and 9s for two years and yet one bad day means they won’t let her do literature a level.

@stealthninjamum the script belongs to the candidate so the centre have to do what they have asked for.

Their part is simply to process the request: it's the exam board which does the review.

@Jumpy2018 I don't think you'll get the answers you want on this thread!!

@MrsHamlet Sorry! I’m very new to this so still trying to work out how to!

@Jumpy2018 scroll to the top and click the pen icon, then you can start a new thread

Thank you. I think I’ve done it correctly this time 🤞🏼

DS predicted 6s achieved 6s in mocks for English but came out with 3s. He is absolutely devastated as he now cannot sit his level 3 college course due to his low English grade. His teacher has recalled both papers and we're pinning everything on a remark to bring his grade up to a 4.
What is wrong with the educational system that it allows for this to happen! Absolutely disgraceful that these youngsters are put through such a poor process that has such a massive impact on their future choices in life.
Utterly ridiculous I'm so angry about it all.😡

My DS predicted 5/6 for English but got 3 (1 mark away from a 4) in English language and 4 (2 marks away from 5) in Literature. Having papers reviewed hope to hear back early next week.

So no school 6th form A levels which he was so looking forward to going back to school to do and not accepted on T level at college as doesn’t have the English language required so he’s doing a business course which requires no GCSE passes! We’re gutted for him but he didn’t really put the work in sadly.

Will report back on the review results.