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Remarking A Levels

droodzilla

droodzilla

pfm Member
I'm asking this on behalf of a friend. Her son scored 78 in Maths A level Core 1 so she's asked for it to be remarked in the hope that an additonal two points will move him from a B to an A grade.

She's wondering if she should also ask for a remark of his Statistics paper in which he scored 74. It's not as near to the A/B borderline so a challenge is less likely to be successful. And remarking has to be paid for.

Any thoughts?
 
I would say yes. Marking is generally an inexact science done in a rush. Remarking tends to be marked properly. I don't know if they can lower grades though.
 
There can be big swings when papers are re-marked. My wife is a teacher and has mentioned some really big swings in the past - including an instance when a paper went from a C to an A when re-marked.
 
Not A level but we got my daughters GCSE maths paper remarked and she moved 3 marks from a B to an A so I say yes.
 
Your friend and her son need to talk to the exams officer at the school/college.

I know the mechanism has changed, so now rather than a remark you get a review of the marking and if it is consistent with the guidelines then it stands. It may be possible to retrieve the marked script online and see if there are grounds for review.

But talk to the expert. And (IM s/h E) the teachers probably aren't as up to date on this as the EO.

Paul
 
Paul R said:
Your friend and her son need to talk to the exams officer at the school/college.

I know the mechanism has changed, so now rather than a remark you get a review of the marking and if it is consistent with the guidelines then it stands. It may be possible to retrieve the marked script online and see if there are grounds for review.

But talk to the expert. And (IM s/h E) the teachers probably aren't as up to date on this as the EO.

Paul
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Not entirely accurate I'm afraid.

The process is quite clearly defined here. If a remark is requested after reviewing the papers, it will be reviewed by a senior examiner. If there is still significant dispute, a further review can be carried out by a chief or assistant chief examiner. In order to maintain probity and a tracking record each layer of examining uses a different coloured pen!

A good overview with some of the differences board by board is here:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/school...-for-re-marks-and-appeal-a-level-results/amp/
 
Thanks for the feedback folks. I'll let my friend know and she can decide for herself whether she wants to go ahead.

I'm struck by the costs involved in asking for a remark (or an appeal). I know the exam boards have to discourage everyone from asking for a second opinion but isn't this yet another way in which children from poorer backgrounds are disadvantaged. It would be interesting to know what percentage of remarks/appeals result in the raising of the original grade - are there any official statistics?
 
droodzilla said:
Thanks for the feedback folks. I'll let my friend know and she can decide for herself whether she wants to go ahead.

I'm struck by the costs involved in asking for a remark (or an appeal). I know the exam boards have to discourage everyone from asking for a second opinion but isn't this yet another way in which children from poorer backgrounds are disadvantaged. It would be interesting to know what percentage of remarks/appeals result in the raising of the original grade - are there any official statistics?
Click to expand...

If there are not then raise a FOI request.
 
lordsummit said:
Not entirely accurate I'm afraid.

The process is quite clearly defined here. If a remark is requested after reviewing the papers, it will be reviewed by a senior examiner. If there is still significant dispute, a further review can be carried out by a chief or assistant chief examiner. In order to maintain probity and a tracking record each layer of examining uses a different coloured pen!

A good overview with some of the differences board by board is here:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/school...-for-re-marks-and-appeal-a-level-results/amp/
Click to expand...

Not strictly true I'm afraid, although in theory it should be. I'm an Assistant Principal Examiner and Team Leader on GCSE and GCE A-level for all three exam boards. If an EAR is requested it is marked by a senior examiner ie PE, APE or TL. Although it is a "review" it is also a remark in the respect that if it can be seen that the mark scheme has not been applied correctly then they will award a new mark, can be up or down. A different colour ink is no used as they are all done online. Comments may be attached explaining the change. It will only be seen by one extra marker.

To be honest I would still request both papers to be reviewed. If money is no object get both done at the same time. You can ask for one to be reviewed and if successful leave it at that. If not request the second paper to be reviewed. However, the deadline is rapidly approaching and this may not be possible so ask for both. Very few changes are occurring these days as the marking process is pretty robust with lots of checks in the system. With the inclusion of seeds, validity items and backreading responses poor markers are quickly weeded out.

As a Centre we have found that fewer grades are changed. It is only worth doing if they are one or two raw marks away from a grade boundary. If this is the case a mark may go down but the grade will remain.
 
droodzilla said:
Thanks for the feedback folks. I'll let my friend know and she can decide for herself whether she wants to go ahead.

I'm struck by the costs involved in asking for a remark (or an appeal). I know the exam boards have to discourage everyone from asking for a second opinion but isn't this yet another way in which children from poorer backgrounds are disadvantaged. It would be interesting to know what percentage of remarks/appeals result in the raising of the original grade - are there any official statistics?
Click to expand...

My wife has worked at private schools for most of her career and it's definitely they case that they'll be putting in a lot more requests for papers to get remarked, including the teachers advising the parents on when they think it's worthwhile.
 
At a Centre near me 30% of GCSE and 20% A-level grades went up. These were nearly all the ones a mark away from a grade boundary. Some of these needed all papers for a qualification to be reviewed. I would still advise a review if within one or two marks. However, it's not cheap at about £45 per paper. This price does vary with exam board. I have heard of some Centres adding money on for their "administration"!
Deadline is Thursday.
 
Worth a try. If the grade is improved, you don't pay for the remarking.
My youngest was 2 marks short of an 8 (new GCSE) and just received the good news on the remarking today.
In the scheme of things, £45 a paper is nothing compared with what could be a huge difference in life if it swings a different university acceptance for A levels etc.
 
robs said:
Worth a try. If the grade is improved, you don't pay for the remarking.
My youngest was 2 marks short of an 8 (new GCSE) and just received the good news on the remarking today.
In the scheme of things, £45 a paper is nothing compared with what could be a huge difference in life if it swings a different university acceptance for A levels etc.
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Yes, that's pretty much my logic. Relatively low cost & low risk but with a significant benefit, if successful - sounds like a no brainer.

Is it still the case that schools have to request the remark? Can a school refuse to, even if the parent is willing to pay for it?
 
droodzilla said:
Yes, that's pretty much my logic. Relatively low cost & low risk but with a significant benefit, if successful - sounds like a no brainer.

Is it still the case that schools have to request the remark? Can a school refuse to, even if the parent is willing to pay for it?
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I doubt a school would. They will probably need to see the Exam Officer ASAP as there will be a form to complete and a payment to make. Make sure that it is returned by Thursday. This deadline is pretty strict. The EO can then submit online. Most reviews are taking 48 hours.
 
Spike said:
I doubt a school would. They will probably need to see the Exam Officer ASAP as there will be a form to complete and a payment to make. Make sure that it is returned by Thursday. This deadline is pretty strict. The EO can then submit online. Most reviews are taking 48 hours.
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Nothing much to add to the general advise that it's a good idea except get a move on. My appeals had to be with my exams officer last week, so I'm guessing deadline to get them to exam board is looming.
 
From my time as a Director of Music, my advice is as follows:

If the grade boundary is 3% above, go for it. If another boundary is 3% below, don't. These things can go down.

That said, I've had an A2 paper go from D to A but in this case the marker was demonstrably a cretin.

Also I had a written paper re-marked which took the overall A-level from B to A*, again, the paper in question went up massively.

I also had one infamous AS composition example which got 21/40. Appeal: 21/40. I showed it to the Chief Examiner who said it was a travesty and recommended the poor girl work on the piece for another year and re-submit. She did exactly that with close supervision from me: 21/40. Yet another appeal: 32/40. Go figure.

Many more examples from my 10 years in the classroom. I won't name the board, but in my subject I suspect you would get a more consistent marking regime from a team of trained monkeys.

I used to hate the summer holidays and the inexorable countdown to results day as sponsored by Camelot's Lottery arm.
 
Nic Robinson said:
From my time as a Director of Music, my advice is as follows:

If the grade boundary is 3% above, go for it. If another boundary is 3% below, don't. These things can go down.

That said, I've had an A2 paper go from D to A but in this case the marker was demonstrably a cretin.

Also I had a written paper re-marked which took the overall A-level from B to A*, again, the paper in question went up massively.

I also had one infamous AS composition example which got 21/40. Appeal: 21/40. I showed it to the Chief Examiner who said it was a travesty and recommended the poor girl work on the piece for another year and re-submit. She did exactly that with close supervision from me: 21/40. Yet another appeal: 32/40. Go figure.

Many more examples from my 10 years in the classroom. I won't name the board, but in my subject I suspect you would get a more consistent marking regime from a team of trained monkeys.

I used to hate the summer holidays and the inexorable countdown to results day as sponsored by Camelot's Lottery arm.
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Take my word this has tightened up considerably. It is no longer a lottery. There are so many checks in the system that these are becoming less and less. Any poor marker is removed pretty darn quickly and the responses they marked will be remarked. The quality of marking is frequently reviewed and all markers receive feedback throughout the process. It is so much more reliable than old system with paper scripts to mark and marks submitted on optical readers. Transcription errors were one of the main errors. Indeed, I had a student who was awarded an E, looking at his results it was apparent to me that a transcription error had occurred on one of his papers. This was rectified. A awarded and off to do Medicine. That could not happen today.
 
droodzilla said:
I'm asking this on behalf of a friend. Her son scored 78 in Maths A level Core 1 so she's asked for it to be remarked in the hope that an additonal two points will move him from a B to an A grade.

She's wondering if she should also ask for a remark of his Statistics paper in which he scored 74. It's not as near to the A/B borderline so a challenge is less likely to be successful. And remarking has to be paid for.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

If the subject wasn't mathematics it would probably be worth a try. The problem with maths is that it's either right or wrong, not a lot of subjectivity in it.

Rich
 
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