11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on remarking a GCSE. My Ds was one UMS point off an A* in English language yesterday. He had been predicted an A* all year. Although he has done really well this is annoying him (first world problems!)
Does anyone have any experience with remarks, is it worth having a go and has anyone had their grade significantly lowered by a remark, which is his main concern!
I've contacted the school who are saying it's his choice and otherwise not offering much advice at all. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

I have spent the last couple of years updating some of my O levels to GCSE's and I have applied for a copy of the papers and a remark for each one. Every single time I have picked up a couple of extra marks, which sometimes has elevated my result onto a higher grade. I have never lost a single mark, only gained. I know of a student who got 12 extra marks on a remark. I have never heard of a student losing marks on a remark. So I would certainly recommend you to apply for a remark and a copy of the papers. My dd is going into Y11 next month and we will do the same if she ends up in this situation. English marking is very tough, I do it every day and so I know how easy it is to slip up. It is possible his mark could go down but in my opinion that is not the likely outcome. He is solidly an A now so he would have to lose a lot of marks to go down to a B. Good luck, you need to act quickly on this. Let us know how you get on. DG

If he is one short of an A* then definitely worth a remark , although the score can go down (as well as up ) it is highly unlikely to be more than a few marks so wouldn't jeopardise the A and may come up with A*

DD lost 6 marks on an AS remark. Even if your DS lost some marks it would be unlikely to make the overall grade go down.

Read the rules carefully. At GCSE you need to get a re-mark and the paper back in that order - a returned paper first means no upgrade is possible.

At AS/A2 you can ask for a photocopy before requesting a re-mark.

Pupils certainly can lose marks as well as gain them.
However, since he is right at the top end of the A range, it would be highly unlikely to lose so many marks as to be downgraded to a B. If he was nearer the B boundary than the A, it would be much more of a risk to pursue this.
Grades can change but equally it is possible to be 1 or 2 marks from the grade above and to remain there even after a remark. I think the last staistics I read were for 2011 when 19% of all requested remarks resulted in a change of grade.

It's a no brainer as they say.

DS sat GCSE Stats in Y10, and as he's youngest in his school year(he was still 14yr when he got the result) An A, just missed his target grade of an A* by 2%. 91.5% in the exam and 78% in the controlled assessment. So just wondering if I should look at a remark of the exam and assessment. If so what do I need to do etc?

same here with Engl Lit and Eng LAng - 2 As despite being predicted A*s right through out course. Eng. Lit was 173/180 UMS - is it even worth considering re-mark or is 7 UMS too far off?
Thanks for advice

Alty - only the school can request re-marks of controlled assignments and that would need to be the whole lot. Were the assignments downgraded?

Errors in maths are rare but not unheard of.

Minesh - how many raw marks is that? You can find out via exam board website or school should help.