GCSE Marking?
Discussion for GCSE students, including those studying for IGCSEs and O Levels.
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GCSE Marking?Like everyone I am patiently waiting for the 23rd of August.. Was just wondering what are the chances of the papers being marked incorrectly (by mistake) by the markers of the exam board?
I know they have to go through tens of thousands but is there like a system to prevent this from happening?
Was just wondering if its likely or not likely that the marks you will get on results day will be accurate? for exam boards AQA, OCR, EDEXCEL, WJEC etc. Especially the English lit and lang marks as every marker has their own opinion? Are most markers linient towards papers or are they harsh? -
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Re: GCSE Marking?I got a B in GCSE RE, with 159/200. I got it remarked and it went up by 1 and so I got an A overall. Either one examiner agreed with one of my points more or bothered to make sense of my bad handwriting more(Original post by Basit2010)
Like everyone I am patiently waiting for the 23rd of August.. Was just wondering what are the chances of the papers being marked incorrectly (by mistake) by the markers of the exam board?
I know they have to go through tens of thousands but is there like a system to prevent this from happening?
Was just wondering if its likely or not likely that the marks you will get on results day will be accurate? for exam boards AQA, OCR, EDEXCEL, WJEC etc. Especially the English lit and lang marks as every marker has their own opinion? Are most markers linient towards papers or are they harsh?
All markers have their own opinions, but the mark schemes tell them all what to look for, what points should be mentioned etc. It's usually pretty accurate. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?I see, I was just wondering how many times do they check each paper to make sure that their are no mistakes in the markings..(Original post by Flyteryder)
I got a B in GCSE RE, with 159/200. I got it remarked and it went up by 1 and so I got an A overall. Either one examiner agreed with one of my points more or bothered to make sense of my bad handwriting more
All markers have their own opinions, but the mark schemes tell them all what to look for, what points should be mentioned etc. It's usually pretty accurate. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?Are you sure? Pretty hard to believe a paper is only looked at once by one marker.. Isn't there a system to make sure the first marker hasn't made any mistakes?(Original post by Pink Boy)
All papers get marked once by one examiner by the 23rd August. There is no re-mark until after that date whereby you request one. -
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Some of the script are checked for quality control so it more likely some scripts would be checked/marked twice...(Original post by Pink Boy)
All papers get marked once by one examiner by the 23rd August. There is no re-mark until after that date whereby you request one. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?These markers are qualified teachers in that specific subject. The first mark should be sufficient enough (or so the exam boards think). However, markers do still make mistakes. This is why, should a pupil suspect so, they can ask for a remark afterwards by a different marker.(Original post by Basit2010)
Are you sure? Pretty hard to believe a paper is only looked at once by one marker.. Isn't there a system to make sure the first marker hasn't made any mistakes?
A script does not get marked twice by two different markers before the 23rd August, unless in exceptional circumstances. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?Yes there is. Markers are in "teams" in which multiple examiners (usually three) check over each paper. I can also tell you that in confidence from the fact that my dad was once a GCSE examiner for AQA. But yeah. Apparently 80% of all GCSE papers have already been marked o.O. Our fates have almost already been established...(Original post by Basit2010)
Are you sure? Pretty hard to believe a paper is only looked at once by one marker.. Isn't there a system to make sure the first marker hasn't made any mistakes?Last edited by tenth_sense; 22-07-2012 at 00:48. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?I've never heard of this happening, especially at GCSE level. From what I've been told by teachers that are also exam markers, they send off a batch of papers (or they have papers randomly selected if they are marked digitally) and if that batch is poorly marked then their papers will be redistributed. The papers are checked over by their lead examiner.(Original post by tenth_sense)
Yes there is. Markers are in "teams" in which multiple examiners (usually three) check over each paper. I can also tell you that in confidence from the fact that my dad was once a GCSE examiner for AQA. But yeah. Apparently 80% of all GCSE papers have already been marked o.O. Our fates have almost already been established...
Simply for financial reasons it's not realistic for a paper to be marked by more than one marker. Teachers are unable to make a decent wage from marking one paper already, let alone having to mark papers from other markers. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?That's what happens in a remark, not the first mark. Remarks are always marked by head examiners, but they don't get involved with much of the first round marking. In the first round head examiners do as much marking as any other examiner, but they don't look at ones they don't mark unless a remark is requested.(Original post by Scatach)
I've never heard of this happening, especially at GCSE level. From what I've been told by teachers that are also exam markers, they send off a batch of papers (or they have papers randomly selected if they are marked digitally) and if that batch is poorly marked then their papers will be redistributed. The papers are checked over by their lead examiner. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?A sample is taken from all examiners which is marked by another examiner to ensure quality control. That was what I was referring to.(Original post by Flyteryder)
That's what happens in a remark, not the first mark. Remarks are always marked by head examiners, but they don't get involved with much of the first round marking. In the first round head examiners do as much marking as any other examiner, but they don't look at ones they don't mark unless a remark is requested. -
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Re: GCSE Marking?It is such a bad system, putting the futures of all of these kids in the hands of some tired underpaid markers. Its just a business, which board can make the most money, doesn't actually matter what the results are.So yeah mistakes happen all of the time. And you have to pay for a remark and you can never actually see the paper to see if they have marked it right
