DS and I would be very grateful for advice- DS has approved this post!

Background- DS's favourite subject has always been history. He is a bit of a history/ politics boffin and he had been allowed to join 6th form history societies for a number of years. He got a 9 in history mocks and had always been predicted 9.

He was devastated to get 6 in history on Thursday, especially as he felt the exam went well. He was happy with the rest of his results which were 7 to 9.

DS is very worried about the 6 as he is doing History A'Level and would ideally like to study a history based subject at a good Uni and fears they'll look at the 6 and write him off.

The exams officer has sent one of the papers off for a re- mark, as he was 2 points off the boundary. Apparently just getting one paper re- marked is the recommendation at school.

Any advice gratefully received.
MK1 and MK1 junior. X

MK, I can really empathise. It's gutting when they are so close. My own daughter is in a similar position (2/3 UMS points off the next grade boundary) in three subjects and two of these she is studying for A level too.

Some thoughts:
What does the history teacher/head of history say about it? If they are happy to let your son continue then that's a good start.
The grade achieved doesn't mean he's not good at history: he may have not answered a question particularly well, or misread something (even if he did think the papers were ok). The A level prediction will be the most important factor on the ucas form, and although these are initially predicted from gcse grades, teachers should always alter depending on evidence in testing over the course, yr 12 and mock exams etc etc.
Have you requested the teacher to view his script? This is a free service offered by most (if not all exam boards). The teacher can look at the script first, then give you a recommendation whether to re-mark or not.

My daughters English teacher told us on results day, that one language paper was v high, the other much lower - an expected result, as she started a piece of creative writing, and half way through the exam crumbled, and started again with another title ) But the teacher is going to look at this paper to see if there is any point in getting it re-marked.

So, I would ask if both papers scripts could be reviewed by a history teacher to see if both papers might have scope for an extra mark. It's a subjective based exam and unlike maths/science with definite right/wrong answers, there is more chance of different outcomes. As he is so close to the grade 7 boundary it is unlikely he will go down a grade.

If your son is passionate about History, I would still go for it. The most important thing at A level is to study subjects they enjoy, rather than ones parents/helpful friends think they should be studying! (We have a rather over bearing relative insisting my daughter take a science subject which she clearly fluked and has no interest in )

Good luck, I hope that some extra points are found.

Thanks Cup of tea.

We spoke to the Head of History and Deputy Head on Thursday and both advised him to take History as long as he is happy to, which he is. I had not really thought of getting the papers back, I just agreed to getting one re- marked, perhaps that is something we should do? I am just worried about running out of time.

I hope everything works out for your DC too.

If you can get a copy of his script and ask for the department to review it. When ds1 unexpectedly dropped a grade in his geog gcse the teacher did this and was able to tell us that he had messed up a question and a remark wouldn't help. He went on to do geog at A level and got a very respectable grade.

_________________
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !

Many thanks MK!

I think you have until near the end of September for a review of marking, so there should be enough time for the teacher to review the other paper and advise you if it is also worth submitting.
Good luck!

As I've posted elsewhere, Edexcel are offering free access to a copy of the script. If it's not this board then there is a cost.

Thanks all for the helpful advice.
My problem is that school is now closed until they re-open on 6th September and I am not sure there will be time to get the paper back, have it reviewed by the teacher then get it sent off for a re-mark?
We have sent 1 of the history papers off for re- mark at the school admins advice, might just send the other 1 off too.
It is AQA board.
Thanks

You've got until 27th September - most of the correspondence is by e-mail/online. The copy is sent to the schools as a PDF attachment.

Thanks G55

How many papers did he sit and how close was he to the grade boundary for the other papers?

You can't really know the best way forward without that information.

You will have enough time after schools reopens to make the decision.

Our school gives us until the 12th September to decide.

It is very very easy to misread a question. You need to keep looking back at it all the time you are answering it.

My dd actually did the wrong question in A level History but realised and managed to recover the situation.

I would absolutely get all the papers remarked in your position and get a copy of the scripts. It is really helpful to be able to compare your script with the mark scheme when it comes out and realise where you went wrong.

Hopefully this will be a learning experience for him but with no AS it will be a while before he is able to sit another History exam and benefit from what he has learnt.

My family has had a number of remarks over the years. Some have gone up, some have stayed the same but not one has ever gone down.

We had an English that went up a staggering 15 marks from a B to an A star.

The comment on the remark was " an inappropriate exercise of academic judgement."

Hopefully he is close to the higher grade boundaries for all the papers and will have plenty of time and advice to hone his exam technique while studying the A level.

DG