Contolled assessment problem for GCSE physics

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bucks234
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Aug 24, 2013 9:39 am

Contolled assessment problem for GCSE physics

Post by bucks234 »

I'm hoping someone may have experienced this problem and will be able to let me know whether it had been able to be rectified.

When my son got his results on Thursday he noted that his controlled assessment grade for Physics had been severely marked down (his other science controlled assessments were as he thought they should be). With all the talk in the press about controlled assessments being marked down by moderators, at first we just thought that this was one of those things.

However, my son then spoke to his classmates and all of their controlled assessments had either remained the same or gone up, so he was concerned why his had gone down.

My son then remembered that at the end of term, when his teacher called out the controlled assessment grades in class, my son noted that his first, poorer result was called out. As such, he asked his teacher about it after class and it appeared that his second, much better mark had not yet been entered as another teacher was also assessing it (as the highest in the class).

My son has worked out that the grade he has been given for his controlled assessment is in keeping with that he was given for his first, weaker piece of work, and is concerned that his second better grade was not submitted to the exam board.

If there has been an error and the wrong controlled assessment was submitted by the school, can this be rectified? Alternatively, has anyone heard of one student having their work marked down by nearly 20 points when the rest of the class remained the same or went up?

We have been in contact with the school and the exams officer but have not received any news. My fear is that the school has made a mistake, but that this can't be amended. As you can imagine this issue has taken the gloss off what should have been a very happy day after all my son's hard work. Any advice or shared experiences would be very much wlecomed..
hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Contolled assessment problem for GCSE physics

Post by hermanmunster »

Welcome - sorry to hear that your DS has had this problem with his controlled assessment marks.

Not sure if you have discovered it yet, but there is forum called thestudentroom where there has been discussion (amongst many other things) of controlled assessments at GCSE - might be worth having a look there . Also useful for info re university applications etc
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Contolled assessment problem for GCSE physics

Post by Daogroupie »

Get your ds to record the sequence of events in writing. He is correct to say that two CA's are done and only the highest mark will be entered. He should have been told what that mark was Our students record their mark in their Science book. What was his predicted Grade for Physics? Get him to record as many of the other CA marks from other students I his class as possible. He should have been given his CA back to take a look at the mark before returning it to the teacher to enter it. Did he ever see his second CA or hear what the mark was? Is the mark on his results sheet the mark from his first CA? Did he see that and record the mark? This is why I love exams and hate CA's. It sounds like the school entered the wrong CA which can't happen to you if you only sit exams. I would send a letter with the sequence of events to the school and to the exam board. Request a remark and a copy of the scripts as a priority, you will then be able to see if it was the wrong CA. There is a form to fill in for this which the school should be offering to you now as there is a strict time limit on doing this. It is really staggering that this type of error could have been made. Can you contact any senior management? Do you have any email addresses for Head of Year or Form tutor? DG
bucks234
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Aug 24, 2013 9:39 am

Re: Contolled assessment problem for GCSE physics

Post by bucks234 »

Thanks for your reply. I've written the sequence of events in emails to the exams officer, but I'm also going to write directly to the head teacher.

Yes, my son saw his second controlled assessment, and was told that the score was 48/50, but also saw that this second score hadn't been entered into the spreadsheet at the time (due to a second teacher also marking it). Even if a few marks were dropped, we can't understand why his controlled assessment component is a B.

Despite emailing and phoning several times yesterday, we did not hear anything back from the exams officer. Of course, now with the long weekend, we are left to stew.

Do you think under these circumstances something may be done to recitfy the grade? This B has meant that instead of an A* (as obtained in all three exam modules), the final grade is an A. I know that is still good, but given that my son is aiming to do engineering at Oxford, this A may impact on his application when the time comes.

Thank you again for your help.
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Contolled assessment problem for GCSE physics

Post by Daogroupie »

Given the circumstances I would have thought they would have no choice but to recognise the CA that was supposed to be entered. But you will need the school to acknowledge the error and send the correct CA. I would hope the school would move very quickly on this as it is clearly their error. I hope your family can enjoy the bank holiday weekend and your dc's success and trust that the school will rectify the mistake. if your ds was actually given back the CA and saw this mark 48 out of 50 then there should be no issue. Make sure he writes down exactly when that was. DG
Belinda
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Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: Contolled assessment problem for GCSE physics

Post by Belinda »

You need to arrange a meeting with the school, and in the meantime, if possible, explore the (school / exam board) policy about 'challenging marks'.

Unfortunately it may not be as simple as the school changing the mark submitted, although if the school do admit they made a mistake it may be as simple as that!

I have heard that for a Centre (the school) to change a CA mark after it has been submitted / graded ALL CA's for that subject would need to be sent to the exam board; i.e. the whole cohort's physics' CA's. The school are unlikely to be wanting to do this - and may NOT have to do this despite your protestations. There are very clear rules about this sort of thing and it is not always very easy to get something like this changed.

Good luck, and I sincerely hope it does turn out to be the school admitting an error and it's changed without fuss.
:D
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