SQA Results Service 2014 FAQ - A Replacement for Appeals

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Reply 20

Asklepios

Original post by ChrissyH

Apparently I was 1 mark off a B in AH English, should I ask for a marking review :tongue:

Do it brosef. You may have an unconditional, but dat CV

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Reply 21

username165626

Original post by Motherofanumpty

Hello, question for Sam please...

My child got a surprise C grade for a subject but was predicted a B. The school say they will not request remarks unless the predicted grade is 2 away from the actual result. I have told there is a opportunity to appeal against this decision but I have to contact the SQA to do this. I can't find anything on the SQA about this and I'm aware time is short to get remark requests in. I am also prepared to pay for the remark service if the school are unwilling to. What to do please?

Sorry for being so slow to get back. I'm going to check with this with a higher authority, but my understanding is that the decision to apply for a remark is entirely at the school's discretion, nor have I heard anything about an appeal. So I wouldn't hold out much home - but as I say I will double check.

SAM

Reply 22

Motherofanumpty

Original post by AspiringMedic8

The easiest thing to do is to approach the school yourself. Be quick, though. The deadline is approaching

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I did approach the school about it, but I received a phone message from the Guidance Teacher to tell me that I could appeal the school's decision with the SQA!

Reply 23

AspiringMedic8

Original post by Motherofanumpty

I did approach the school about it, but I received a phone message from the Guidance Teacher to tell me that I could appeal the school's decision with the SQA!

I don't think this is true. You need to be more insistent. Turn up at the school and demand a remark. Say you'll pay. They'll need to have a pretty good reason if they don't allow this for your son.

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Reply 24

username165626

Original post by Motherofanumpty

Hi, sorry that took a while. Anyway, here is the official answer to your question:

If a school or college is concerned by a candidate’s result, they can request a clerical check and/or a marking review of the exam paper. A request can only be made by the presenting centre, under no circumstances will a request be accepted by a candidate or candidate representative.

Further info:
Please note, the Post-results Service will only consider changes to grade. The clerical check and marking review will not consider changes to bands. For example, a candidate who is awarded a grade A, band 2 cannot be considered for a band 1.

Clerical check
This service will entail SQA staff checking to ensure that all parts of the exam paper have been marked, that the marks given for each answer have been added correctly, and that the correct total mark or result was entered into SQA’s computer system.

Marking review
This will include a clerical check being conducted, as above, along with a Senior Examiner reviewing the marks awarded in the candidate’s exam paper for each component/question/item. This is to ensure that the original marking was in line with the national standard.
If a school/college requests a clerical check/review of the marking of a candidate’s script, this can result in the candidate's result going up or down. When a result is changed (either up or down), this will be amended on our system and a new certificate will be issued to the candidate to reflect any change.

Schools and colleges will be charged a fee for using the Post-results Service where there is no change to the original grade following the clerical check or marking review.

The charges are as follows:
Clerical Check £10
Marking Review £29.75
Priority Marking Review £39.75

Reply 25

Motherofanumpty

Thank you for that response Sam.

Reply 26

Motherofanumpty

Original post by Motherofanumpty

I emailed the school on Tuesday and told them that I was willing to pay for a remark for my child's Nat 5 paper and had no response until a letter this morning from the Headmistress which informed that the request was refused. I am very angry and disappointed. I've had a read at the policies of several Scottish schools and there seems to be a variety of criteria being used to determine whether a pupil can have a remark. My daughter was 2 marks from a B, she was predicted a strong B and she felt the paper had gone very well. There were tears in the middle of the night when she found that she only had a C grade. I guess we will never know whether an error had been made on her paper which might have resulted in a higher mark. I am also well aware that the grade may have stayed the same, or even gone down, but the whole affair has left us feeling that the system in her school, quite frankly, sucks.

It seems very unfair that schools can make up their own criteria for remarking requests and the result is that some Scottish kids will get their remarks and higher grades, and some won't despite having the same probability for a successful remark. Wouldn't it be nice if the SQA could set some consistency? or is that too much to hope for...

Reply 27

Adolf Archimedes

I completely sympathise with your daughter's situation.
My son similarly was on course for an A in a different subject but received a C. The school would not submit a marking review as his ‘cohort group’ had received similarly lower grades. As this is personal information, I was not able to check this out.
However, the blame should be more with the SQA then the schools.
The secret society which is the SQA will not return examination scripts (they are exempt under Data Protection). In order to lower the number of successful appeals (over 40% of appeals were successful last year), they changed the system by forcing schools to pay through the nose for a marking review and gave them tough, nebulous criteria which allowed them to refuse marking reviews very easily.
The bottom line is that schools cannot afford to pay these costs, and they cannot accept money from parents as that would disadvantage those parents who could not afford to pay. I know for a fact in another school, one school Depute said “there will be no reviews – the school can’t afford it”.
Some A level examination boards in England allow the examination script to be returned to the school, so teachers and pupils can see whether it would be worthwhile having a marking review carried out. Wouldn’t it be great if the SQA would do that. I wouldn’t hold my breath – they do not want to be accountable.

Reply 28

Stephged11

Hi I was 1% off of an A in higher chemistry (A pass mark 73) and I have put in an "appeal" unfortunately I went through a rough time over prelims and was predicted a B, what's the odds of getting it remarked? Everyone at school seems to be saying different things. Thanks

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Reply 29

Biff74

Teacher predicted a high B for my daughters PE nat 5 she got a C is it worth appealing ??

Reply 30

username1399980

Original post by Biff74

Teacher predicted a high B for my daughters PE nat 5 she got a C is it worth appealing ??

there are no appeals- just remarks. You would need to talk to the school if she is close to the boundary it may well be worth it but remember that with a remark the result can go down as well as up ]