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.

I agree. For the vital ones like maths and English the exams should be competency based, so if a child reaches a certain level of competency they pass. The way the system is designed with the moveable grade boundaries is that a percentage are always going to be below a 4, even if they were better than the 4's the year before. It's ridiculous, time wasting and demoralising.

But that's not how the government want it to work.

I was surprised at this chart. I thought the English grades were brought into line last year in England. But actually there is quite a big drop again this year in people getting 7+ in English language.

Just sharing this article from a different thread about grades. I thought it was interesting. https://www.sec-ed.co.uk/content/blogs/can-gcse-and-a-level-exam-grades-be-trusted

It’s worth looking at a Level 2 functional skills in English or maths for those who struggle with the GCSE. A pass with functional skills is equivalent to a 4 pass at gcse for most college courses and red brick unis. It’s much more Cavour practical competency based skills as well. Can be sat online with lots of study books available to revise.

The GCSE English language seems a particularly hard exam to get the pass mark in if you struggle with this style of exam or have any kind of additional need.

And, of course, a certain proportion of candidates have to get grades 1-3.

So over 22% of GCSE mark reviews result in a changed grade. That’s much better odds than I expected, as it’s frequently said on this board that grades rarely change.

Yes, and only 0.1% of challenged grades were changed down, which is reassuring.

(from the original source below)

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reviews-of-marking-and-moderation-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series/reviews-of-marking-and-moderation-for-gcse-as-and-a-levels-summer-2023-exam-series

They’ll have been in over the exam week but it’s very common not to be in this week as anyone needing priority appeal for places would already have done it and the deadlines aren’t until end September

Daughter predicted a 9 and she was 4 marks off. She felt the exam went very well. Sent off to have it reviewed and it went up 11 marks. 9 in comprehension and 2 in written. CIE.

Wow congratulations! Did you send off one paper or both?

@MysticCatLady our daughter asked for both to be marked again.

Great news @MaryleboneParent

@WhereAreWeNow thanks. She's very happy and a little shocked her marks went up so much.

Which day did you put in the request for the review of marking? We're also waiting to hear about both English language papers.

@MysticCatLady the same day as results came out.

@MysticCatLady 🤞🏻 good luck.

We are also waiting for our AQA English language review. DS had 9 as target and achieved 9 in mocks. Never had any issues with English. He got a 7 and was very disappointed so we have requested a review. He got 9 in literature but 7 in language. I am glad to see some positive outcomes in this thread.

@BhamMumOfThree I was hoping it would help with parents seeing that it does happen. 11 extra marks could potentially move up 2 grades. One question had been marked 6/10 and it was remarked to 9/10.

@MaryleboneParent Thanks. That’s reassuring. Fingers crossed as we wait to hear the outcome of our review.

Hi all, we reviewed one paper for Eng Lit and got the review back today, he gained 4 marks on that paper and has moved up a grade.

My child was 2 marks off their required grade in English language. Papers reassessed, grade unchanged.
It means he can't go to the particular 6th form college he was so keen to attend. Passed everything else with flying colours.
The course is over subscribed, so the college won't consider my dc attending and resitting in Nov ☹️

Sorry to hear that @feathers7
Is there any room for negotiation/pleading with the 6th form?