Shall I request the papers before asking for a remark?

[HopefullyHopingForTheBest]

DS, got his GCSE results as everyone in England did, on Thursday.

He has a diagnosis of ASD and Dyslexia and worked so, so hard. His teachers always commented on his hard he worked. He’s the same at home tbh.

Anyway, he did a reduced number of subjects and passed them, apart from English Language.
He got a grade 3. I’ve checked the grade boundaries for AQA and his combined score over the two papers is a mark short of the grade boundary. He scored grade 5 on his last few practice papers in the last 3 months or so and we thought he'd at least a 4 in the bag. (Am I right in concluding the grade boundary for English Language is 73?)

I was thinking of requesting his papers and then getting an English teacher I know to check if there’s an extra mark somewhere. Then, I'd request a remark.

Should I just go in straight for a remark instead?

I've read some info on the AQA website but any extra pointers from anyone with experience would be very appreciated.

DS doesn't know I'm considering this because I don't want him yo-yo-ing, being anxious about the 3/4.

Thank you.

It’s not a remark that you can request. I know that some ppl are saying, oh well you know what I mean, but the distinction is important if you are asking someone to look at the papers.

It’s a review of the marking – which means that someone checks if the marking is reasonable, in other words if the mark scheme was reasonably applied. So if the marker put an answer in (say) the band where it gets a mark of 10-12, and then gives it 10, and the reviewer agrees that this is the correct band, then there is no change, even if the reviewer would give it a mark of 12.

If they think this is the incorrect band then it will be changed. That's my understanding anyway. This explains a) some big jumps in marks we have been reading about but also b) why there may well be no change, even if another marker would have given it a higher mark overall.

That said, you may as well request a review as you have nothing to lose realistically (yes GB for a 4 is 73 and the GB for a 3 is a lot of marks lower). Either way well done to your DS, sounds as tho he has a deserved good set of results. Did he get 4+in Eng lit btw? If so that ticks the English GCSE box going forwards FWIW.

edited for stupid typos (it’s late)

Yes get a teacher to look them over then ask for the most likely one to be reviewed first.

You don't want to gain 4 marks on one paper only to lose 4 on the other.

You can't do this without telling him. The access to scripts request needs to be signed by the pupil not the parent. Your school exams office can send you the form. I do agree however that it is a good idea to get the papers and let your friend check them over. I am an English HOD and I am doing this at the moment for all of my 3/4 borderline pupils as ever if there are no grounds for a review the papers will be really useful to help them prepare for the November resit. We are finding that papers are not changing very much for yhe reasons a pp outlined above but mistakes are made si it us very much worth checking.

Thanks for asking this question @HopefullyHopingForTheBest . We’re in the same boat, my ds with ASD worked so hard for English, his marks were improving on past papers and he felt reasonably confident that the exams had gone ok, and he’s come out with a 3. I’d really like the papers back so he can have an idea where he went wrong and how he can improve for the November resit.

Thank you all, really useful info.

I’ll request the papers and then get them checked to decide which to get reviewed. Rally good point @TeenToTwenties

@clary School decided as part of his reduced GCSE subjects that he should only do language and not literature. I didn’t really agree but couldn’t do anything about it.

@Fishlegs wishing your DS all the best

Reviewers are not looking for marks so I'd really recommend someone looking over the papers before you decide.

Also, you cannot do this without the consent of the candidate.

@criminallyvulgar I asked DS this morning about getting his papers back after reading your post and he was more than happy about that. He wants to see them too.

curious about how the review of marking works for subjects like maths and sciences, where there are individual marks per question, rather than bands?

I know someone in a similar situation, 1 mark off the grade boundary in maths, and deciding whether to review. But maths is more black and white marking to begin with, so less likely for marks to be missed, but at the same time, not in bands, either, so if something has been missed in the marks, maybe it's easier to get them there.

I think a review must be a defacto remark in maths given the scoring criteria are so tight.
Unless something like construction maybe?

If something had been marked as wrong when it was right, then that will be corrected, even if it's only one mark.

However, if it's more of a judgement call, then it might not be.

I don’t have any advice I’m afraid and have a question of my own please. We have a situation where DC missed a 5 in English by one mark. If the paper ends up being reviewed by the exam board, could they actually say, sorry we think it should’ve been a 3. He seems quite happy with a 4 as means no resits so I don’t want to jeopardise that mark. Not sure how it all works tbh. Hope that makes sense. Thanks!

Yes, reviews can and do go down as well as up. There is no longer any automatic grade protection.

That's why you really should get someone who knows what they're doing to have a look at the papers first.

Thanks for clarifying, MrsHamlet! He seems quite happy with the 4 and doesn’t need higher for the next stage, so I’ll ask him first then may approach his English teacher. Thanks again.

I personally wouldn't get a review without a teacher/hod ( who knows more about it than I do) looking at the papers first. Because they are probably going to recommend one paper to send back, not them all ( if they recommend any).
English language is such a funny one. Ds was always working at a 7 - according to school. Results day he got a 5 ( one mark off a 6 I think) and this grade was an outlier when you looked at the rest of his results. School did recommend a review but the grade didn't change. Others on here have had dc's get 2 grades higher at review for English lang.
If school recommend a review I'd go with that. We had four subjects go for review last year. Two resulted in an increased grade and two stayed the same.

Oops apologies - I've posted on the wrong thread and have asked for it to be removed .