Question about grade boundaries for various subjects, and whether it’s worth a re-mark

[VillageFete]

English Lang, Sociology, Drama and History…

AQA for all bar History, History is Edexel

3 marks off next grade boundary in Eng lang, History and Sociology

4 off in Drama.

Those with more knowledge- is it worth submitting for a re-mark?

My child is studying Lang and Sociology at A level so keen for a re-mark, even though she got very decent results.

She’s adamant she wants the papers looking at.

I’m thinking “3,4 marks - definitely easy to achieve” But I know nothing, zero experience or any of this and I imagine it’s not as easy as it sounds on paper.

I imagine she won’t drop enough marks to be given a lower grade as she’s sitting within very comfortable limits, the higher end.

Out of those 4 subjects/exam boards, is it worth pursuing?

That's priority deadlines, though.

My daughter was predicted a 7 in language, was one mark off an 8 so have paid for the review. Predicted 7 in lit, got a 9. Aqa also.

prediducted 9 in history , got 8 four marks from a nine. Too much for a recheck to be worth it.

if all the class were lower that suggests something wasn’t covered or the grades predicted too high to me, not that they’ve all been marked incorrectly.

It's not (as another poster mentions on a different thread) really about how many marks short a student is though. It's whether the grade awarded is very surprising and out of sync with expectations and whether the paper when examined appears to have had the MS wrongly applied. If that is the case, the mark can change by quite a lot. If it is not the case, it won;t change even by one mark, if that makes sense.

ETA Oh gosh ignore me it was MrsHamlet who has said the same on here hahaha. Too many "shall I ask for a review" threads today lol.

Yes my child asked for her history script yesterday and she had it by the end of the day. I think I’ll get her to speak to her history teacher to see what he thinks , as I say it’s four marks off a 9 but it’s also not loads of marks off a 7 so it’s a risky game!

I think we're echoing each other @clary 🤣. At least we're in good company!

I can beat this!

Last year my DS's English Lit went up from 5 to 7...18 marks! All in paper 1.

My DD this year exceeded expectations for Eng Lit and got a very high 9 and she still doesn't know how or why as it's one of her weaker subjects. But it was her only 9!

We have an essay based paper going back for review as the teacher feels it has been marked too harshly and the mark scheme not followed.
All the papers we have submitted for review have always been after a teacher review and them telling us to submit them.

Thanks @Doodledoggle . I emailed them and they've sent me through the scripts.

I don't really know what I'm looking for though. She seems to have got fewer than half marks on the 40 mark questions on each paper which is what has let her down but as I'm not an English teacher, I don't know whether it's a fair assessment of her writing or not.

A couple of years ago.
Ds one mark off a 9 for Maths and Biology. Two marks off a 6 for English lang, 4 marks off a 9 for RS.
His school were amazing with this. The kids signed a consent form on collection of results, consenting to school being sent scripts back. School looked at them. Recommended a review.
Maths and Biology went up to a grade 9, English Lang stayed exactly the same. RS gained 3 marks but that still left him 1 mark off a 9. School paid.
So in our experience it was worth it.

Hiw far is it from the next grade down stowick? You can apply for review of marking without teacher input. It helps , but isn't a necessary step and not all teachers will be hanging on their inboxes.

Do you know if they asked for specific papers to be reviewed? I’ve been told we have to state which papers so without teacher input it’s tricky to understand what to ask for!

Yes, the teachers only asked for one specific paper per subject to be reviewed, except for RS where it was two.
This was a state school, bog standard ' comp' (as they'd have been called), where loads of grade 9 's are not the norm. Seven teens in his whole year group got a grade 9 for maths, as an example.
I wouldn't have felt confident about doing it without teacher input tbh because they know better than I do about exams.

She's one mark off the next grade up and 9 off the next grade down so hopefully safe Piggy.

I can message the school on Monday and ask if an English teacher is around to review and give their opinion.

A friend at another school told me they send all papers back that are within 4 marks.. Sounds expensive!

That's insanity!

Not according to the DofE.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reviews-of-marking-and-moderation-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2025-exam-series/reviews-of-marking-and-moderation-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2025-exam-series#grade-changes-following-review
1.2% of English Language grades were changed and 1.3% of English Lit.

Definitely do not have anything remarked unless she needs it for the next steps - if it’s just a vanity remark steer well clear. My DS was 2 marks off a 6 in geography year so we had it remarked as he was predicted a 7, and he dropped 7 marks and scraped his 5. If he’d dropped to a 4 he wouldn’t have been allowed to do it for A level. As is it, he did much better at A level and is now off to study it at an RG uni. Unless you have to, or the teacher can spot something really glaring (e.g. a 20 point question completely unmarked), then leave it well alone.

In my centre, across eng lit and eng lang, 10% of our cohort had an increase in grade with AQA.

Priority deadline has passed. This is why I don’t trust the AI result at the top of Google. I always check the actual website.

Not for GCSE! They only got results on Thursday.

The deadline to request a 'standard review of marking' for AQA is 24 September.

Only one board operates priority review at GCSE anyway. So it definitely hasn't passed.

Yes, Pearson. God knows why.

Maybe they need the cash. Because that's certainly a cash cow for them.

DS was contacted by the school who suggested a review of his Maths paper. He typed all the exams with the exception of Maths. He didn't need it for sixth form or uni. He went up from a 6 to a 7. Still his lowest result, but a bit of a boost nevertheless.

Edexcel English Lang, DD got a 4 - very severely dyslexic so not totally shocking but lower than she hoped for. But one paper was a low 3 and that was very odd as always her best paper of all the English papers.

It was a long slog, but eventually had it reviewed. Extra 8 marks awarded which took the paper to a 5 and an overall grade increase to a 5 which she was much, much happier with.

Definitely ask for a review if something just looks really off and no reason obvious.

Thank you for all of the input. I understand the process a lot more now.

I’ve requested the scripts, emailed the exam’s officer and put the 2 English Language papers in for a review. She gained100 marks, but needed 103 for the grade 7.

It’s what my daughter wants, and to be honest she absolutely deserves a 7. Whether she gets it or not, we shall see- but at least we’ve tried.

Looking at all of her results is blowing my mind. In 5 subjects she is just on the cusp by 2-4 marks for the next grade.

That being said, she gained a 7 by 1 mark in another subject!