GCSE English Lit and Language review of marking

[SomersetBrie]

There is lots of chat about review of marking on the GCSEs threads but I am interested specifically in anyone who is reviewing English (Lang or Lit) and whether the review provides an increase in grade.
DS, predicted a 7, got a 6 in both. He is not very close to the grade boundary (4 marks away) but the difference in marks between Paper 1 and Paper 2 have encouraged me to request access to the papers and see if it's worth a review.

Is anyone else asking for a review? I am curious to know how many marks people go up/down and if it results in a change of grade for many people.
(DS does not need a 7 but he was expecting a 7 out of 1 or other at least.)
This is AQA.

This was last year.

Exams office got back to me pretty much straight away and said Special Consideration had been applied, but they couldn’t say what. I doubt they’d go back and give him the extra mark on English Language just to be kind.

In English Literature, his Shakespeare paper was an anomaly but they’d need to give him an extra 9 marks to take him up
to a 9 (he just sceaped a 7) so chances are just didn’t do what was required on the day. His paper 1 was marked as a 9. So 8 overall seems like a good result.

I wish we could award kindness marks - but OFQUAL wouldn't approve ;)

I've just looked at one of my own students' papers. He's struggled with his "voice" all the way through so I told him to write it as if was talking to me. Several times, he's written "So, Mrs Hamlet, I'm sure you'll agree..." or variations thereof. I'm so blooming proud of him even though he didn't get his 4 :(

Oh bless him 🥰. He will go far!

Sorry to hear. Hopefully not affecting next steps.

Very quick turnaround. Which board?

Oh this would make me cry. I'm a dyslexia tutor and it makes me so happy when I read their work and it's clear they're doing exactly what I said, it's just funny when it's word for word 😂

I bet it's Edexcel. They're the only ones that do priority reviews for GCSE. I have a feeling ours has come back but the exams office is closed now based on their OOO message.

He was a very naughty boy - always in trouble for being late or rude ... except to my lessons.

When I asked why I was not constantly having to tell him off, he said "because you're not a dick". I'll take that.

The op has already said her son doesn’t need a 7. If he did it would be worth it. But he doesn’t so it’s not.

I'll have a look and see if I can find the link. I'm actually involved in AI marking trials myself, but those all have humans doing it as well as part of the trial- this is the first time I'd heard that AI literally has any marking responsibility!

Have only managed to get through to school today, had to ask what the raw marks were for the grade 7 English Language(Edexl), as they were not on the statement of results. Glad I did, as was only one mark off an 8. Should know in a couple of weeks.

Since AI makes up quotations (yes year 12 students, I know the texts better than AI), I think the notion of it actually assessing live marking NOW is concerning.

Except, of course, multiple choice questions. Which it can easily do.

Well, many universities do lots of 'coursework' - ie assignments that count towards the final degree grade, especially for courses like English Literature. But it is problematic in universities, yes.

It's already been 'scrapped' for most UK exam board qualifications as GCSE. For my subject, it's International GCSE that has coursework as an optional route.

Some schools are moving away from it, or doing it under controlled conditions now (like the old 'controlled assessment') to prevent AI usage. This isn't an official requirement though.

Further change is definitely needed, I fully agree.

But this doesn't say that AI is being used to examine in this exam series. Quite a lot of posters have mentioned it is/has, but does anyone actually have a source that states that?

(I'm involved in AI/examining trials myself, but certainly not AI being let loose to independently mark the 2025 summer series exam papers!)

I agree. There is a LOT of misinformation on this thread!

@NorthenAdventure I've been on this thread since p1 and someone mentioned the use of it and possible trials, another poster a few pages later mentioned it again, someone misread it, and ran with it and now we've got to the stage where people think it's actually happened this exam series. It's like the Mumsnet Chinese whispers.

Thankfully, it's not your decision whether it's worth it or not - unless you are the exam officer at DS's school?

Ah, I'm an examiner (have done GacSE and A Level, for multiple exam boards, over the past 10 years). What I see horrifies me.

I once emailed an article proposal to a national newspaper, offering to share my 'behind the scenes' experience as an examiner as I was so appalled by what I saw. They never got back to me - presumably because it's not really news. I think there is a wide awareness that the system is not fit for purpose, although many pupils/parents don't necessarily know quite how bad it is.

Haha yes - that's exactly what I saw too. It seems to have ended up with the belief that AI marked some of these students essays in exams this year, which, to the best of my knowledge, is not the case.

Isn’t just about grades needed. It’s about getting the child’s hard work recognised, boosting morale. My child has worked exceptionally hard to achieve what she did (I think she’s always been capable but ADHD ruins a lot) she had a lot to catch up on and she did it. She was struggling with Year 3 maths a year ago there were that many gaps in her knowledge. She finally applied herself and Being 1 mark away on several subjects is a mood killer. Going forward it’s ’what’s The point of working hard’. Nothing wrong with giving the kids some confidence. If they’re a few marks away I think it’s unlikely they’ll get pushed to a lower grade. So I don’t see any harm in it. Even if she didn’t need the 7 to do her course I’d still do it as Biology and Chemistry she’s really good at (eidetic memory) but if she’s not interested in the subject (Physics) it ain’t getting looked at. So it’s pulled her grade down and made her feel rubbish that her knowledge of biology and chemistry isn’t acknowledged.

Exactly this!

We don't 'need' the 6 in Lit, but DD is so disappointed not to have got it given the work she put in that it seems silly not to have it reviewed given she'd have had a 6 last year with same mark.

The Language is more of a WTF, and also my concern that some universities seem to want a 5 in Lang.

Either way, I want to be sure that she has the right marks to be best of the system's ability,

My DC doesn’t need the higher grades for his A levels at his school, but school said they are sending four off. I offered to pay but they said no. With a 20% chance of an upgrade seems a no brainer tbh. If school had not wanted to I wouldn’t bother in our situation, but that is just me.

I’m so jealous you guys are getting responses from school. I don’t know what’s happening with my daughters and I can’t cope with the unknown. No one is answering me.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow definitely get it checked or you’ll always be wondering what if. I hope you get the result you want, keep us updated on what happens. I’m just gutted I didn’t push her for physics now or kick up a fuss about the extenuating circumstances. She wasn’t planning on going to that sixth form so didn’t think we would need 7’s at all. I can’t express how proud I am that she got straight 7’s.. I’ve been so worried since Year 3 when she wasn’t getting anything.. and really started panicking when mocks were coming back with 3s and 4s. So I’m elated, and shocked. But we spent hundreds of pounds on tutoring and she devoted every last minute to revision in the end. And I just want it recognised for her really - English and biology she poured her heart and soul into. And going from a 4 to 1 mark off an 8 in months is brilliant. Those two subjects was all she cared about doing well in (was desperate for an 8 or 9) and I want her to see hard work pays off.

@NorthenAdventure thanks for trying. This thread has helped educate us a bit so you are helping us navigate. I suspect there isn't much more you can do other than continue to raise awareness in places like this, your MP, Dept for Ed etc...

I know there is no perfectly fair system but I wonder if some are fairer than others.

@Molko1503 I understand the worry but schools will start back next week and I'm sure they'll reply then.

I know our exams officer is working from the influx of papers in my inbox today - but we won't be contacting candidates with feedback until next week. I've looked at up to two of the up to 4 English papers, but one of my colleagues is definitely still away. We all need to have looked at our papers before we can advise.