Another GCSE re-mark one! Marks on History paper seem to be wrong: is this possible?

[Toomanyminifigs]

I would welcome some advice about a situation with my DS's GCSE History result. Predicted 8/9, got a 7. He's 4 marks from an 8.

He is taking History A level. He needed a 6 for that so he's in regardless. His passion is History and he worked so hard - he was a little disappointed with his 7.
We requested his papers out of curiosity and they came through from school the same day.

The first thing that jumped out at me was on the page that shows what marks he was given for each question, on one paper he had been given a 0/4 for one question. He obviously could have misread the question etc but it seemed odd. I know someone who's a History teacher and they kindly had a quick look at his script and they think the 0 is a mistake and that he has answered the question.

I have contacted DS's Head of History but I don't think she's picking up emails at the minute (which is completely understandable as she's on holiday!). I know that the deadline for requesting a review isn't until mid Sept so there's time to address this.

In the meantime, I wondered if anyone had ever known this to happen? It seems so unlikely that a mistake like this could occur.

In light of this, we're trying to weigh up if it's worth putting in for a review of the paper.

Does anyone know if it makes a difference at competitive universities if someone's got a 7 or an 8 at GCSE in their chosen subject? I'm assuming the A level grade is all that matters?

Thank you.

To answer your last question, his history GCSE grade will only be relevant if he is applying to a uni or course that routinely looks at GCSE grades. I am thinking Oxford or maybe Cambs, also medicine (and allied degrees) which are looking at the average of the top eight (I think) grades.

I assume med is unlikely (tho history A level is not a barrier if taken with sciences; in fact it is a positive) but is Oxford possible? If so it would be worth having the paper looked at by his history teacher.

The grade 7 in GCSE history if applying for history degree as such is neither here nor there in terms of most unis, even RG ones. GCSE history (and indeed A level history) is not needed anyway for many history degrees.

I would wait to hear back from the history head at his school but it sounds as tho a review may be beneficial.

Thank you @clary I was hoping you would see my post and be kind enough to reply. I value your experience and opinion!

Oxbridge is an outside bet at this stage (personally I don't think it would suit DS even if he were to apply) but I want to ensure I have all the facts when weighing up if it's worth going for a review.

It's so tricky as if there has been an error, that 4 marks would see him over the line!

This is almost exactly what happened with DS last year. He was one mark off an 8 and was taking History for A Level. His teacher looked over the paper and agreed that a four mark question hadn’t been marked correctly so we put in for a review. Lo and behold, the paper came back with an extra three marks so he was safely into 8 territory.

I don’t know for sure that it was that particular question that got the extra marks, but it seems likely.

Of course, this is only anecdotal evidence, but I’m mentioning it to show that it can happen. I might not bother putting in for the review if it wasn’t for an A Level subject.

Uncanny. I could have written the first two paragraphs of your post myself. We have requested a re-mark but haven’t seen the papers. Just looking at the distribution of marks across the four individual paper sections has thrown up the biggest question for me - 18 out of 40 in a topic he knew really, really well…. I’m really hoping there are some missing marks to be picked up.

Last year he took a GCSE early, was 1 mark off an 8, but the review picked up 12 missed marks and he jumped from a grade 7 to a grade 9!

Is this edexcel? If so there are a couple of 4 mark question types where it is very common for students to get 0/4. The follow up on a source question on paper one and the reason for the difference in interpretation question on Paper 3.

I have also seen things just plain marked wrong though and every so often papers do go up on review.

It is Edexcel and it is paper 3. That is really interesting @unabashedopossum Thank you. This is exactly why I posted, hoping that people with experience/expertise could advise.

It may well be then that he has failed to understand/answer the question properly. I think we'll need to see what his Head of History says. The History teacher who kindly looked at it did seem to think he had answered it, in her opinion, well enough to pick up some marks (she teaches the same board). I appreciate the mark scheme is very prescriptive in what it's looking for though.

@somethingerudite can I ask if your DS's board was Edexcel too and if so what paper it was? My DS seems to have dropped marks in a paper that he was also really strong on (History of Medicine) so I'm thinking of asking for his teacher to look at that one too.

@LittleGreenDuck Thank you for that. 1 mark is so close! I think 4 may be pushing it for us but nothing ventured I guess?

When school reopens ask the teacher to look at the script which you can send them. And then consider the review. There is no urgency and deadline is late Sept.

@Toomanyminifigs No, we are AQA, and it was paper 1 part A

I'm the head of department (history), teach GCSE, and marked paper 3 this year for Edexcel.

So the 4 markers are likely either: the inference question, the what is the difference between these 2 interpretations question or the why are these 2 interpretations different question. Which one scored a zero? It's pretty easy to get zero on the interpretations questions.

Wow! Thanks so much for replying @ProudCat . It was 3c.

Am I allowed to paraphrase what he wrote? I'm not sure if it's allowed due to exam integrity?

Can’t see what rules it could break to share it given that it’s his paper and the qualification is now over and certified.

Thank you. I wasn't sure as I know exam papers are 'locked' for a year from the public. Although as he scored 0, I'm not sure seeing his response would benefit anyone!

I wouldn't presume to ask anyone on this board to 'mark' his answer but it would be invaluable to know if people with experience would also have given him a 0.

Or I could DM someone if anyone would be kind enough to offer to take a look if they feel it's safer?

I’m happy for you to DM me. I didn’t mark for Edexcel this year but have in the past.

3c - why are the interpretations different.

This is one of those questions where the student is usually coached to produce a standard answer using a standard sentence starter.

For example: One reason the interpretations are different may be because the historians used different sources. For example, in interpretation 1 the historian has likely used a source like source B (or C, depending on which one matches the interpretation). Whereas, in interpretation 2 the historian has likely used a source like source C (or B, depending which one matches the interpretation). This means the historians will have reached different conclusions about [insert the language of the question here]. This can be followed with brief detail.

Students make 4 common mistakes on this question that results in either 0 or just 1 mark:

1. They mix up which are the sources and which are the interpretations so don't answer the question.

1. They don't use the language of the question so make general comments.

1. They simply repeat how the sources are different without saying why.

1. They make an unsubstantiated claim, e.g. they were written at different times. So? Why would that make them different?

I mark for two History papers,3c questions are asking why the interpretations are different here there are three ways to answer the question, the simplest way is saying they are different because they consult different sources then link each interpretation to a source ( best with quotations) highlighting the differences. Not all students do this, it’s common that students simply state the content of the interpretations which is wgat 3b asks. It’s an easy question to get 0 for if you don’t follow the correct structure.

This is SO helpful @ProudCat Thank you. I took History at GCSE and A level but that was a million years ago. It seems that the papers are a lot harder to answer now, especially the shorter questions.

@lovemetomybones Thank you for taking the time to respond. This is what I love about this site - there are such knowledgeable and kind people prepared to help strangers.

His total raw mark was 135/168. He is 20 marks away from a 6 so I'm assuming it's unlikely he would go down to a 6? But I accept it is possible.

I'm going to paraphrase the question and his answer here if that's OK? I would really value your opinions on if you think 0 was correct. (I obviously wouldn't expect you to say what you think he should have scored or how he should have answered it.)

If you think this isn't allowed, I will delete this.

Question; Suggest 1 reason why Interpretations 1 and 2 give different views about the problems faced by the WR in 1923?

A: 'One reason is that they focus on different events and therefore challenges that the WR faced. For example, Interpretation 1 focuses on the hyperinflation crisis, saying the it was the 'final blow'. This is in contrast to Interpretation 2 that focuses on the Munich Putsch, saying that Hitler ordered 'local and national governments to be replaced'.

Senior examiner here: Just email the exams officer at the school and ask for a review of marking. It's not a big deal and schools request them every year for pupils who are close to grade boundaries. Your son will need to sign some paperwork at school first. No point dissecting his paper and trying to work out if/where there might be extra marks - if they are there a review will find them. HTH.

Thank you. I don't want people to feel uncomfortable by putting them on the spot about specific questions. So I think you're right. I will leave it and see what school says. I am leaning towards a review though so I will post an update here.

I do find it interesting that History in particular seems such a difficult subject to get high marks in.

If my DS has misunderstood this particular question then it's a hard lesson for him to learn but hopefully he will be able to improve on his exam technique for A level.

Thank you all so much for your time and help.

Actually, now seeing the answer with the quotes, I’d be inclined to say that 0 probably is about right. Whilst a difference in focus can be rewarded as a valid reason for difference, his explanation is more describing the different focus rather than giving an explanation for the difference in view.

Like others here, I always teach my students to use the “sources” answer as it’s the easiest to pull off successfully. I don’t think a review will change that by more than one mark, unfortunately. Probably no change at all. That doesn’t mean that there might not be other places in the paper where a mistake might be picked up and get him some more marks.

Agree.

Also. I don't think it's a waste of time to want to understand the marking criteria for the papers your kids have sat. Parental interest and engagement is vital to the success of our students.

I’m sorry but in my view that is worth 0 marks. What he has done is explained the difference between the content of the sources which is 3b question rather than say why they are different. It’s a common mistake made by many students. He could have suggested that the reason why the interpretations are different is because they focus on different issues because they have consulted different sources, but he hasn’t done that. I’m sorry but I doubt a remark would change the score for that particular question.

Both 3b and 3c appear similar but the what and why in the questions have different formulas for answering.

Thanks so much for your explanation and expertise. I'll see what his teacher thinks in September. If she agrees I will leave it. It's a harsh lesson for him but hopefully it will teach him to read and answer the bloomin question!

I wanted to add that the info here by history teachers and markers is very interesting.

It just shows how key it is to read and understand the mark scheme. My main subject is MFL and while it doesn't have questions of this type, it is also key there to include the elements you need to include (range of tenses etc) which is not always specified in the question.

Many thanks to those posters who clarified this - always good to learn.

We are having History reviewed too. Son scored 48/50 in coursework. 33/40 in Paper 2 and 27/60 in Paper 1. He ended up one mark off an 8 because of this Paper 1 score. He’s baffled but we haven’t seen the script yet. It’s being reviewed so hopefully we will know soon. The waiting is very tense, I’m hoping for a quick outcome. This is the Cambridge Exam board and it’s the iGCSE - no idea why!