Suspicious exam marking...

Hi,

I received grades for summer exams a couple of days ago. I thought the exams went well, but for the two that I thought went best, I only achieved 55 and 57. Now, until this point, I had gained firsts in every single assignment/exam this year.

Getting a bit suspicious at this point.

To make matters even more peculiar, a course mate of mine received feedback for their exam stating "excellent demonstration of...", despite the fact that this person didn't even have time to demonstrate what the lecturers had mentioned.

Does something seem odd to anyone?

Is there anything that can be done to appeal this?

Thank you

While that makes it more likely for you to gain a first in your exams, it doesn't automatically mean that you will. It's still possible that you could've got 55 & 57 in your exams, despite your previous high grades. There is literally nothing about this alone that is suspicious.

Your friend's situation isn't suspicious to me either. Whatever it is that they demonstrated may have been demonstrated in ways other than what your friend had time for. Unless you clarify that situation, then again, can't really comment on the suspicion of it.

In your scenario, my first instinct wouldn't be "oh damn I get firsts for everything, they've messed up the marking," it would be "****, where did I go wrong?" You should go to your course staff and request to see your marked exam script so you can see where you dropped the marks. Then, and only then, if it still seems unfair, can you think about appealing it. At the minute, it just sounds like you're bummed out about some marks and want a way out of it.

Thanks for your response

I appreciate the demonstration comment. However, because it was a practical exam, it's like stating "excellent demonstration of an injection", when the student didn't even perform an injection. So it's not like there could have ben aspects of demonstration. What do you think?

I'm sure I sound like a sore loser, but I can't get my head around it. I practiced for this exam with my course mate in exactly the same way as we took turns with each other being the examiner.

It was just the shock of thinking I couldn't have done anything more in the exam and then coming out with an awful grade like that.

Thanks for your response

I appreciate the demonstration comment. However, because it was a practical exam, it's like stating "excellent demonstration of an injection", when the student didn't even perform an injection. So it's not like there could have ben aspects of demonstration. What do you think?

I'm sure I sound like a sore loser, but I can't get my head around it. I practiced for this exam with my course mate in exactly the same way as we took turns with each other being the examiner.

It was just the shock of thinking I couldn't have done anything more in the exam and then coming out with an awful grade like that.

Thanks for your response

I appreciate the demonstration comment. However, because it was a practical exam, it's like stating "excellent demonstration of an injection", when the student didn't even perform an injection. So it's not like there could have ben aspects of demonstration. What do you think?

I'm sure I sound like a sore loser, but I can't get my head around it. I practiced for this exam with my course mate in exactly the same way as we took turns with each other being the examiner.

It was just the shock of thinking I couldn't have done anything more in the exam and then coming out with an awful grade like that.

Your friend received feedback, did you not? Go and ask for it and see what you did wrong, you might not have realised your own mistakes

Having read the feedback, I disagree with what they've said. They've said that I didn't state specific things or perform them in the correct manner - which I know for a fact I 100% did as that's the way it was practiced religiously for the better part of 2 weeks. Is there grounds for an appeal? Thanks

Only if you can prove that you stated the things they claim you didn't, and that you performed certain things correctly. If you can't prove it, you can't appeal it.

Having read the feedback, I disagree with what they've said. They've said that I didn't state specific things or perform them in the correct manner - which I know for a fact I 100% did as that's the way it was practiced religiously for the better part of 2 weeks. Is there grounds for an appeal? Thanks

Well do you have any proof that you've said things they said you never mentioned? If you have no proof you can't really argue and say "I did better than this" because they'll just say you cant be the examiner to yourself

The exam was filmed so there would be evidence of it.

Having read the feedback, I disagree with what they've said. They've said that I didn't state specific things or perform them in the correct manner - which I know for a fact I 100% did as that's the way it was practiced religiously for the better part of 2 weeks. Is there grounds for an appeal? Thanks