GCSE ART Unfair Grade given

Original post by lavishmuslimah06

Hey people, I was hoping someone here could help me,if they’ve ever gone through smtg similar or have any idea what I should do in this situation.
I recently got my GCSE results and was pretty happy with my grades except from my Art& Design grade, which I got a 4(a just-about pass)in!
I was so disappointed despite having worked so hard and always getting nothing less than a grade 7 in all my mocks I ended up getting a 4 in my official GCSE result.
This was so shocking as I never got rid of any work, met deadlines and any art teacher at my school would say my art pieces were exceptionally beautiful. Art is a course-based subject and our own teachers mark our work, my art teacher has always graded me for a 7 and even stated I would be aiming for a 9 if I kept up the exceptional work. That’s why when I got a 4 I was so disappointed and on the verge of tears.
I don’t know what went wrong and it’s not fair as I have worked so hard for 2 years on my art course work. May I also add that another pupil in my class has gone through the EXACT SAME thing, which has led us to blame our teacher and made us think she probably didn’t submit all our pieces to the final examiner, she wasn’t a very organised person and had other priorities. We have both requested a remark, and I am praying our outcome will be better, we worked really hard towards our art work and I hope it didn’t go to waste, it is also affecting my application.
Has anyone ever gone through the same thing and what did they do about it? Any advice and assurance will be appreciated. Thank you!

You say, "We have both requested a remark". It may not be the marking that is the issue. It may be the moderation.

You don't mention your exam board, so I can't check, but the way Art & Design GCSE normally works is that the mark is assigned by the school, and moderated by the exam board. That means that the exam board will view a sample of the work done by pupils at your school and decide if your school have under- or over-marked it. If they conclude that your school have been marking too generously, then they lower everyone's mark at that school or the reverse: increase everyone's mark).

Has your school mentioned a "Review of Moderation" at all?

Reply 2

lavishmuslimah06

OP

8

Original post by DataVenia

You say, "We have both requested a remark". It may not be the marking that is the issue. It may be the moderation.

You don't mention your exam board, so I can't check, but the way Art & Design GCSE normally works is that the mark is assigned by the school, and moderated by the exam board. That means that the exam board will view a sample of the work done by pupils at your school and decide if your school have under- or over-marked it. If they conclude that your school have been marking too generously, then they lower everyone's mark at that school or the reverse: increase everyone's mark).

Has your school mentioned a "Review of Moderation" at all?

We do AQA Art & Design. Our art teacher always claimed she was an art exam moderator herself before, and we have been in partnership with another school within our trust who would come and review our work for mocks and still I was always on a 7. It’s not really fair the way they’ve marked it tbh. If I request a remark will it be moderated again?

Reply 3

lavishmuslimah06

OP

8

Original post by lavishmuslimah06

We do AQA Art & Design. Our art teacher always claimed she was an art exam moderator herself before, and we have been in partnership with another school within our trust who would come and review our work for mocks and still I was always on a 7. It’s not really fair the way they’ve marked it tbh. If I request a remark will it be moderated again?

Also I’ve heard that in the case of an over-mark the exam board only take off a few marks and don’t usually or rarely decrease it by a grade. All my art work has always been a grade 6+, as agreed by numerous experienced art teachers. It’s unfair how despite always being on a grade 7 in all mocks I ended up with a 4?! It’s a drastic difference and clearly unfair.

Reply 4

human2023

3

Original post by lavishmuslimah06

We do AQA Art & Design. Our art teacher always claimed she was an art exam moderator herself before, and we have been in partnership with another school within our trust who would come and review our work for mocks and still I was always on a 7. It’s not really fair the way they’ve marked it tbh. If I request a remark will it be moderated again?

I think what would happen is the whole cohort of art students at your school would be re-moderated, which could lead to other students' grades changing as a result if the moderator felt as though you were marked harshly/generously. If you and several other students felt as though your art grades were unfair, definitely bring this up with the art teacher or exams officer at your school and see if they could potentially get it re-moderated. However, this would probably depend on how many students felt as though their grades were unfair. But still, considering your grade is very different to your mock grades, definitely bring it up with the school and see if other students feel the same way about their grade for art.

Reply 5

Original post by lavishmuslimah06

We do AQA Art & Design. Our art teacher always claimed she was an art exam moderator herself before, and we have been in partnership with another school within our trust who would come and review our work for mocks and still I was always on a 7. It’s not really fair the way they’ve marked it tbh. If I request a remark will it be moderated again?

Original post by lavishmuslimah06

Also I’ve heard that in the case of an over-mark the exam board only take off a few marks and don’t usually or rarely decrease it by a grade. All my art work has always been a grade 6+, as agreed by numerous experienced art teachers. It’s unfair how despite always being on a grade 7 in all mocks I ended up with a 4?! It’s a drastic difference and clearly unfair.

For AQA Art and Design. the exam board don't mark anything. All the marking is done by your school. Your teachers therefore know what mark they assigned, and know how that mark was adjusted (if at all) via moderation. I would recommend you talk to you teachers to establish where you grade is the result of the mark your teachers gave you, or the result of the moderation process.

If it's the result of moderation (which seems most likely, given that your teachers seem to be happy with the quality of your work) then there's no point requesting a Review of Marking (which will be handled by the school, not the exam board, anyway) and you would be better to request a Review of Moderation.

As for the impact of a Review of Moderation, your grade will never go down. That sounds bizarre, I know, but it's because moderation impacts every student. It would therefore be unfair for one or two students to lobby for a Review of Moderation, and for the grades of other students to drop as a result. So this can never lower your grade. This is not the case for a Review of Marking, for which your grade could go down as well as up.

Summary: Ask you teacher what mark they assigned prior to moderation. If that's lower then you would have expected (based upon the published grade boundaries), then ask why. It may get adjusted via a Review of Marking (which will be handled within the school). If their mark is fine, but was lowered by moderation, then ask for a Review of Moderation to be performed.

Reply 6

animaljam27273

1

Original post by DataVenia

You say, "We have both requested a remark". It may not be the marking that is the issue. It may be the moderation.
You don't mention your exam board, so I can't check, but the way Art & Design GCSE normally works is that the mark is assigned by the school, and moderated by the exam board. That means that the exam board will view a sample of the work done by pupils at your school and decide if your school have under- or over-marked it. If they conclude that your school have been marking too generously, then they lower everyone's mark at that school or the reverse: increase everyone's mark).
Has your school mentioned a "Review of Moderation" at all?

Wait so the examminer doesnt come up with the final mark its basically up to the art teacher? no way

Reply 7

Original post by animaljam27273

Wait so the examminer doesnt come up with the final mark its basically up to the art teacher? no way

Well, what I said above (with added bold for emphasis) is: "You don't mention your exam board, so I can't check, but the way Art & Design GCSE normally works is that the mark is assigned by the school, and moderated by the exam board."

What exam board are you with?

Reply 8

animaljam27273

1

Original post by DataVenia

Well, what I said above (with added bold for emphasis) is: "You don't mention your exam board, so I can't check, but the way Art & Design GCSE normally works is that the mark is assigned by the school, and moderated by the exam board."
What exam board are you with?

im doing fine art GCSE aqa!!

Reply 9