GCSE English Language - is this review worth appealing?

[ThinkingAgainAndAgain]

DS sat iGCSE English Language in the summer. He’d been predicted an 8 (which I thought was pretty generous) and on results day we were really surprised when we saw that he had a 4.

His teacher felt similarly, as his 40% coursework was a high 6. He looked briefly at the script on results day and said that he felt he’d been undermarked. He recommended a review, which we applied for, and his mark went up by 22 points. He is now 1 mark off a 7. I can only think that the mark from one of the questions wasn’t included in the total, but I don’t know this. Obviously he and we are massively relieved.

Should we submit an appeal to see if he could achieve the 7?

Does he need the seven to progress further?

school should be able to tell you what the change was in more detail

im surprised that they predicted 8 on. 6 coursework at 40%. He’d have to be getting 9s in the exams surely.

I don’t think it’s worth appealing - it’s another more convoluted process more complex than the review of marking , and in this case I’d be surprised but we have appealed before and gone up two grades after a paper stayed the same so it is possible.

He doesn’t need the 7 to progress further, he isn’t studying English at A level and his other grades are higher.

He got 41/60 for his coursework and 56/90 in the exam. So 97/150 overall. The grade boundary for a 7 is 98.

Only you can really answer whether it’s worth it then. After A levels and certainly after degree he is unlikely ever to be asked the final grade. His CV is likely to just say something like “10 GCSEs grade 6-9” or even just 10 GCSEs

You can appeal if you believe that the marking is unreasonable or if you believe that the correct process has not been followed.

We’re unsure. The review ‘found’ 22 extra marks, so we’re not that confident with the whole marking process.

Appeals are expensive and there has to be a reason for them.

Reviews are done by the most senior people.

What you actually want is the other mark so it goes up to a 7. At no stage in the process does anyone know what the total is or how close to a boundary it is. That isn't how it works.

You can, of course, appeal. But you need to have a reason to do it.

I appreciate this. Would a lack of confidence in the marking process (22 marks not having been given originally when they should have been) be a good enough reason, do you think?

No because you've raised that by going to review and it's been rectified.

Got it. Thanks so much for your input, I appreciate it.

I am confused by this. How can someone senior review whether the marking was reasonable if the reviewer doesn't know what mark was given?

The reviewer knows what mark was given for the section they're reviewing. But not for the paper or the component.

I see. So when a paper is reviewed is it reviewed by multiple people (ie a different reviewer per answer on the paper)?

You review question by question, for my subject you get a fixed time on each question before the system moves you on. It would be exceptionally unlikely that 1 person would review the whole paper for a candidate but that might happen in smaller entry subjects ( as they will naturally have fewer reviewers).

I get the appeal esp as it's so so close to a 7. I don't know, I think I'd probably do it if the money was a drop in the ocean. With him being so close to 7 it's unlikely it would drop so many marks that it would go down a whole grade so the worst thing that would realistically happen is it stays a 6? Or go down to a 5? Which is still ok right?
Lots of people had issues with English this year.

We are in the same
situation
review only went up by one grade and he is 2 marks off a 7
we are thinking of appealing but not sure school will allow

The papers belong to the candidate so they can't stop you.

Having said that though, it seems that you're considering appealing because you want another few marks, not because you think the process hasn't been completed properly.

Just like reviews don't look for extra marks, neither do appeals.

I also have no faith whatsover in the marking/review process...my daughter recieved a grade 3 in English Language this summer. It was a complete shock as is one of her strong subjects, with a high 8 in the mock, and achieved a grade 9 in her GCSE English Literature. Head of English at school reviewed her paper and thought it had been very harshly marked and so we put in for a review. The review came back without a grade change.

A few other English teachers at her school have also reviewed her paper and marked at a high 8. We have therefore put in for an appeal which can take 42 days, in the meantime she'll have to resit. Seems absolutely crazy how it can be so far out, but have lost all faith in the system and don't hold out much hope for the appeal. Has anyone else experienced this and had a successful appeal after an unsuccessful review?

@Favouriteflavour was your daughter’s appeal successful? I’ve got a similar issue this year, and want to know the likelihood of success with appeal. Don’t want all the extra stress if it’s going to be another dead end.