I did worse in English Lit than I was expecting?

English Lit is by far my favourite subject and I really want to study it at Oxford. I thought the exam was really fun and I thought it went really well but it didn't go as well as I wanted it to because I got an A instead of the A* which I was expected to get :/ Anyone experience anything similar?

Reply 1

Rocco123

I'm not studying it further, but I was predicted an A* but got an A in English lit too. I knew the second exam didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but I had really thought I'd scraped the A* :frown:

. I was only 2 UMS points away from the A*, so I'm getting a paper remarked - is that an option for you?

Reply 2

katieGCSE

Original post by Rocco123

I'm not studying it further, but I was predicted an A* but got an A in English lit too. I knew the second exam didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but I had really thought I'd scraped the A* :frown:

. I was only 2 UMS points away from the A*, so I'm getting a paper remarked - is that an option for you?

Unfortunately not :frown:

I hope the remark goes well for you! My friends who all are amazing at English lit got A's aswell and it's making me think if there was something wrong with the teaching of marking at my school?

Reply 3

Rocco123

Original post by katieGCSE

Unfortunately not :frown:

I hope the remark goes well for you! My friends who all are amazing at English lit got A's aswell and it's making me think if there was something wrong with the teaching of marking at my school?

That's a shame. It is possible that the questions just didn't fit with what you had been taught, but I don't think there's anything you can do about marking. I think you could still study it at Oxford with an A though - they take much more interest in AS levels, and an A is by no means a bad grade!

Reply 4

katieGCSE

Original post by Rocco123

Thanks for the advice! :smile:

Reply 5

Starlight2000

I'd always hoped for an a* in English lit whereas an a in English language would've been fine but came out with the other way around but I'm alright with that as it doesn't stop me from doing at a level
Don't let that A bring u down because an A is amazing as well!!! Well done
Keep working hard and there is no reason u won't be studying English at Oxford!!!

Reply 6

katieGCSE

Original post by Starlight2000

Thanks!

Reply 7

crminshaw

This happened with me as well. I was certain I was going to get an A* but got an A. I got nearly full marks with all of the coursework and I felt that the exams went well, so I was feeling confident before, during and after the exam. In my opinion English literature is one of the easiest subjects at GCSE, so I was expecting to get an A* to show that. Ironically, I got an A* in English Language, which I think is wayyyy harder than literature. I'm still really happy with my A though.

Reply 8

katieGCSE

Original post by crminshaw

I know, it was weird! Well done with your English Language though! That's great!

Reply 9

crminshaw

Original post by katieGCSE

I know, it was weird! Well done with your English Language though! That's great!

Thanks!!!

Reply 10

Anmol_.

English literature is a harshly marked subjective due to the fact it's extremely subjective. Similar happened in my school last year when I took English literature. Majority of the students who had been getting As throughout the year ended up with C grades

Reply 11

Windies

Same happened to me
I scored A*'s all year and that too full mark worthy.
Did the exam - thought I smashed it and even improved on my years performance.
Results day - overall A2 grade = A, only scored a B in the exam????

Reply 12

katieGCSE

Original post by Windies

I felt exactly the same! Still, well done on A at A2 that's still amazing!

Reply 13

katieGCSE

Original post by Anmol_.

That's true actually, ah well, I'm still pleased!

Reply 14

Undec

I was predicted a B in English Lit, and 3 weeks before the exams when I got a tutor said I would probably end up with a C.
I got nearly full marks in English Lit hence A*. Also my friend got this. I am guessing that the examiner was probably very nice.