GCSE 2016 remark - for information

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silverysea
Posts: 1105
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:32 pm

GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by silverysea »

I think we may need this thread for GCSE.

We have a situation with 3 marks off an A* in AQA Physics, mostly due to Paper One. Would a remark include all the papers, or the written 3, or just the one with the low grade?

We had a bereavement which I reported to exam officer, in the middle of the exams, would this already have been taken into account?

Interested to hear how others approach this, for any subject/board/situation?l
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by Guest55 »

I did link to the information on ERA from Edexcel in the other thread.

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/s ... markedwork" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You have to ask for a specific paper to be re-marked. Any special consideration would already have been made before the result was issued.

3 UMS may be 1 or 2 raw marks - you can work it out from the grade boundaries. If you PM me the exam board and the ums I will work it out for you.
silverysea
Posts: 1105
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:32 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by silverysea »

What does UMS stand for, anyone?

I can't make head nor tail of the AQA site regarding GCSE remarks- it's all about A level. It says go to specific subject team for details then I just find reams of general info about the subject, and what a great exam board it is.

It sounds like remarks are practically not allowed to find in favour of the candidate. (and are great money-spinners for exam boards).

So not only were some of the exams more challenging, judging by the fall in results for 15-16 year olds, but 2016 kids don't get the same style of remark that previous years did to improve their grade.

And after this year, no one will have ABC grades for "matching" comparison.

Are 2016 kids branded low achievers? If I wasn't a parent, I wouldn't know a thing-I'd not hesitate to toss the lower grades candidates from my stack of CVs-I would know nothing about the differences in treatment between the years.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by hermanmunster »

silverysea wrote:What does UMS stand for, anyone?
Uniform mark scale
silverysea
Posts: 1105
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:32 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by silverysea »

Thank you hermanmunster!

I am pretty useless at this stuff. My parents did zilch for me when it came to
this stuff and it is an appealing approach.
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by KB »

GCSE grades will mostly only impact their entry to education/ training for the next couple of years and those selectors will be aware of any issues. By the time they are applying in competition with other cohorts ( mostly for employment ) other qualifications and experience will be more important than a small difference in GCSE grades.


I can't help thinking it would be helpful for schools to have a parents info evening so everyone is up to date with understanding exam results and what the options are if something 'goes wrong'.
silverysea
Posts: 1105
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:32 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by silverysea »

Even if our school had this, they would be disparaging (or more likely, not even consider) that someone with a very high A would ask for a remark. Also I don't feel convinced that they have really managed to get to grips with all the non-stop changes to the point where they could advise the rare student of theirs in this position, their careers advice completely ignored dd as a potential med/vet candidate. She has developed this idea over the past couple of years herself, worked hard in the end, and is now in a position to hope, though.
TIDDLYMUM
Posts: 881
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by TIDDLYMUM »

We had a remark on AQA Geography last year, it went up 12 marks taking a B to an A
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by KB »

Good for all who got increased marks from a re-mark but statistically the vast majority come back unchanged and this extent of difference is very unusual.
That's not to say you shouldn't ever try but it's important to be realistic. Reports of major upgrades are interesting just because they are unusual ( as well as throwing doubt on the on the legitimacy of the process).
cestlavie
Posts: 76
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:56 pm

Re: GCSE 2016 remark - for information

Post by cestlavie »

DS was 2 raw marks off an A* in one subject in aggregate over 2 papers - but I hadn't really thought it was worth appealing since I think his scores correctly reflect where he was (on that borderline) and were very similar in the 2 papers. Another paper in a different subject I think probably does seem very low given his ability (100% UMS in component 1, 50% UMS in component 2!). Though in his case, neither are in subjects he is doing at A level and he is perfectly happy with his results so there doesn't seem much point going through this process, better to just accept that markers are human too, that he might well have mis-interpreted the questions, etc. and move on.
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