C in English Literature- Remark or retake?

After working at an A* level in English Literature and Language, I was very shocked to find out that I failed both exams. Unfortunately this brought my overall grade down so overall I got a C in English Lit and a B in English Language.

This has really lowered my confidence and made me doubt myself now on whether I'm good enough to do it for A Level.

I want to be an Arts Journalist when I'm older and though I am extremely happy about getting an A* in Art, my English Lit really let me down. Is it worth getting it remarked or doing a retake?

Sorry about this long-winded message :redface:

Reply 1

CHILLI_mango

I would retake if you want A*, purely because I doubt that there be a brilliantly significant increase. Good Luck!

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Reply 2

cleveradam

9

No point in remarking because its unlike for your grade to jump from a C to an A. If you got C in both exams you probably just underestimated the difficulty.

Reply 3

CookieJo

OP

Thanks for your advice. I think I did take the exam too lightly and am certain not to make that mistake again for A Level.

Reply 4

lachachacha

16

Original post by CookieJo

After working at an A* level in English Literature and Language, I was very shocked to find out that I failed both exams. Unfortunately this brought my overall grade down so overall I got a C in English Lit and a B in English Language.

This has really lowered my confidence and made me doubt myself now on whether I'm good enough to do it for A Level.

I want to be an Arts Journalist when I'm older and though I am extremely happy about getting an A* in Art, my English Lit really let me down. Is it worth getting it remarked or doing a retake?

Sorry about this long-winded message :redface:

Wow, it's so good to see someone else is in the same situation as me! I was lucky and managed to still get an A in English language, but was predicted an A or an A* in literature and I too got a C! I was really disappointed as all my class essays were much better than that and I thought the exam went ok! I'm not going to retake as I am not doing if for A level, but I am going to get a remark. However, you can still take for a level I think with a C. Good luck :smile:

Maybe they marked them wrong this year? As I'm in the same situation!

Reply 5

CookieJo

OP

Well you're lucky I got a B in my English Language. I think the real concern is the fact that I'm doing Literature next year and most people pick their A Level subjects where they have above a C. I mean, what subjects are you doing next year and what grades did you get in them for GCSE.

Reply 6

lachachacha

16

Original post by CookieJo

Well you're lucky I got a B in my English Language. I think the real concern is the fact that I'm doing Literature next year and most people pick their A Level subjects where they have above a C. I mean, what subjects are you doing next year and what grades did you get in them for GCSE.

I'm doing French & Spanish (as well as psychology and politics but didn't do the, at GCSE) and got As for both, but the entry requirements at both the colleges I looked at said you needed at least Bs to continue these subjects to A Level, whereas for English lit the entry requirements were Cs in English Lit, because apparently the A level course is very different to the GCSE course. I wouldn't worry about it, it sounds as though you are capable and just had a blip in the exam. Also, I know other people who got Cs at GCSE and had no doubt over doing it for A-Level despite never getting higher than a C in class essays either.

Reply 7

CookieJo

OP

Thanks, that actually made me feel a bit more confident about doing English Lit for A Level. I know its going to be hard if I want B and above, but at the same time I suppose its good to carry on doing something u enjoy. Wow! A's in both languages though - that's impressive! :smile:

Reply 8

Tom102

13

In all seriousness I think some schools give the pupil a sense of false hope, my sister was "at A* level" the entire year in history, she got a C. She wanted to do it for A level and it's hard for me to tell her if she should go for it or not.

Reply 9

CookieJo

OP

I think seeing my results and the fact that I'm still determined to do it for A Level shows that I like the subject not just because I'm good at it. Thank you for being honest and I am obviously going to talk to my teacher before I do anything rash. My brother has been telling me to do it next year anyway because he knows how much I like to write. To your sister, I would let her figure out for herself how much she wants to do the subject and if she finds it too hard the first year, she can drop it.

Reply 10

flamegoblin0

Hi, I'm thinking of taking an extra AS level during my A2 levels so I need all the UMS in my current AS levels to make getting an A overall easier

In my chem unit 2 I got 120/140 which is just an A mark 69/100 but when I marked it myself very harshly at the end where I marked all the answers I wasn't certain about to be right wrong I predicted about 80ish/100.

I know I could have made a mistake or been lenient but whenever I self mark at the end of a paper in mock exams I usually mark say 40/60 and end up with. Few marks higher I.e 45/60 when the teachers done marking so Im thinking maybe if I remark it, I could get it boosted upto 130/140 ums?

Or will it just be too risky? I need opinons :frown:

Reply 11

CookieJo

OP

Original post by flamegoblin0

Hi, I'm thinking of taking an extra AS level during my A2 levels so I need all the UMS in my current AS levels to make getting an A overall easier

In my chem unit 2 I got 120/140 which is just an A mark 69/100 but when I marked it myself very harshly at the end where I marked all the answers I wasn't certain about to be right wrong I predicted about 80ish/100.

I know I could have made a mistake or been lenient but whenever I self mark at the end of a paper in mock exams I usually mark say 40/60 and end up with. Few marks higher I.e 45/60 when the teachers done marking so Im thinking maybe if I remark it, I could get it boosted upto 130/140 ums?

Or will it just be too risky? I need opinons :frown:

Sometimes you need to take risks in life and go with your gut feeling (I know that's really cliche). I don't know how you work and I've got no idea yet what A Level is like, so I can't give any other advice. Maybe you can ask to see a script?

Reply 12

flamegoblin0

Original post by CookieJo

Sometimes you need to take risks in life and go with your gut feeling (I know that's really cliche). I don't know how you work and I've got no idea yet what A Level is like, so I can't give any other advice. Maybe you can ask to see a script?

Is a script basically the paper you did with marks on it? Ill ask for a photocopy but the price is rediculous haha

Reply 13

CookieJo

OP

Original post by flamegoblin0

Is a script basically the paper you did with marks on it? Ill ask for a photocopy but the price is rediculous haha

They are pretty expensive, but I think they can be better than remarks, because you can see where you went wrong. I spoke to my teacher and they are going to recall the exam board, to have a look at my papers. I think it's quite a long process though.

Reply 14

Dylan9

If it makes you feel any better my sister got a C in both language and literature for GCSE, but got a B in AS English Literature. I'm sure you'll be fine if you work hard, just try and forget about this set back. :smile:

Reply 15

Sanjeeda97

I am in a similar situation as you, i was initially aiming for an A for English lit and my coursework was good, i got an A* for one of my coursework and a high C or low B for the other. It was roughly about that much but because it was in bands I'm not too sure. The exams were ok too and I'm baffled as to the fact I got a C and I don't know what to do either.

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Reply 16

Sanjeeda97

But the entry requirements for AS English Lit is now B in both GCSE English Lang and Lit.

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Reply 17

flamegoblin0

Original post by CookieJo

They are pretty expensive, but I think they can be better than remarks, because you can see where you went wrong. I spoke to my teacher and they are going to recall the exam board, to have a look at my papers. I think it's quite a long process though.

I think they're 15£ but ill probably get one anyway :/ I'm 70% sure I deserve more marks!

I don't want to take the script to my teacher and show her and ask for her opinon on which ones were marked wrongly, if the 120 UMS was correct ill look like a dick aha but its definitely the safe option.

Ill get/ask for the script as soon as I go back, or can I just ring the exam board?

Reply 18

abbymonty

2

I got a B in my English lit GCSE and was predicted a D at A level, I took it purely because I enjoyed as was the case with all my subjects, anyhow before starting college I wanted Bs all round but on seeing my predicteds was uneasy and in my January exam got a D :frown:

I was very disappointed as I wamt to take lit at uni and began to work a lot harder.. And came out with an A in my AS :smile:

A level is so different to GCSE literature, and for me I feel it was better once I settled in and came up with a routine! (enjoying it is pretty useful too :wink:

)

Reply 19

OppositeWorld

In English, mistakes in remarking are really easy, so remark would be a good option, especially because the examination markers are really strict now.. But if the results don't come out as you planned, try to re take it, and the best thing to do it keep revising and don't think about failing or passing, just keep working 😊

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C in English Literature- Remark or retake?

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