A Level NEA disappointment

[Flower235]

Hi,
My DD has received her History NEA back - grade D/E. Her target is a B.

She is shocked as she thought she had done everything that was suggested when her draft was looked at by the teacher. She was given the impression that the work was good.

I understand that A-level students need to work independently, but she is still a child and the school didn’t bother to call or email me.
I’m cross about this, and disappointed for DD.
I am planning to complain to the school - is this unreasonable? Thanks

I wouldn't expect a school to call or email about a students coursework, either GCSE or A level.

If you complain, what outcome would you be looking for?
They can't change the marks.
'She thought she would get better marks' isn't really grounds for complaint.

If a lot of the students have the same issue then maybe the teacher has been remiss, but then a group of students should feedback/complain together.

You can appeal her mark (that's why you've been given it now).

Teachers are limited in what support they can give for the NEA. It's meant to be the student's work.
I'm not sure what you expected the school to tell you in an email or phone call? They could only have repeated what they would have told your DD (feedback on her draft and signposting to the assessment objectives).

The NEA is about 20% of the marks I think? So your DD still has the chance to do well in the exams and get a higher grade overall.

There are only limited things we can actually do to support students in improving their NEAs. You can appeal the mark and it will be moderated by someone else but in all likely hood your dd's teachers will have given her the best mark they felt the could justify. They will have had to annotate the NEA to show where parts of the marking criteria have been met. We are not allowed to mark it then give it back and tell how to improve their grade.

Agree, when i taught in school there is no way I would contact a parent about a poor grade, even at GCSE (when we did CW).

I would perhaps discuss it with the student if I felt they could do better in future efforts. But yy the possible input from the teacher is limited tbh. Your dd can appeal but I agree, it may not change. What are you complaining about exactly? That it's not as good as you hoped?

Why would you expect the school to call you about grades? Your daughter must be 18 or nearly 18 - her grades are her business, not something the school needs to discuss with parents at this age / stage.

The coursework process is quite controlled.

the teacher is usually only allowed to do one set of comments on one draft. Schools can be required to show evidence of this in moderation.

a sample of coursework is usually moderated by the exam board from each xchool (or it used to be) and it is possible for them to change grades.

the process doesn’t include contacting parents at any point.

you may be able to appeal? We used to appeal ass school if we felt the moderation was unfair.

Complaining to the school about the lack of support is one thing - but it won't change the outcome now.

If the candidate believes the work to not have been marked according to the appropriate processes, the school will have a mechanism for the mark to be appealed. But the timescale is very tight - and you'll need to act quickly.

I have had this from parents when I used to teach EPQ - challenging anything that wasn’t an A. There are strict rules that apply. re the amount of feedback and the pupils have full access to the Assessment Objectives.