The Student Room Group

New rules make it harder to challenge exam results

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Original post by richpanda
This is why you do STEM. For lots of questions, you're either right or wrong.


I found that when I did the E part of STEM at GCSE I was always wrong. :frown:

Original post by missytwinpeaks
To anyone with sense. Yes

Are you implying that our gods AQA, Edexcel and OCR have no sense??? how dare u?????
Reply 21
Apparently most exam boards are having senior examiners mark the papers this year (for those resitting exams from AS/A2 on the old specifications and those sitting AS/A2 on old specifications. Not sure about the new specifications).
Original post by shooks
More 'toughening up' of exams, it seems...



Full story here


This so stupid for subjects that are subjective, such as english
Original post by Beat
Apparently most exam boards are having senior examiners mark the papers this year (for those resitting exams from AS/A2 on the old specifications and those sitting AS/A2 on old specifications. Not sure about the new specifications).


Where did you hear this from?
Reply 24
Original post by ScarletXxXRose
Where did you hear this from?


My English teacher said AQA are using senior examiners
Original post by shooks
More 'toughening up' of exams, it seems...



Full story here


Sorta sucks but y'know

you could do better and revise harder to get a better result so yer don't have to go for a remark
Reply 26
Guys we can stop this...we all need to come together and stage a mass uprise against this....social media..protests...everything....it only goes ahead if no one does anything to stop the change


c'mon people, lets stop this!!!!!!!!!!
Original post by ASDFGXCVBNM1111
oh god- ITS ALWAYS OUR YEAR THAT GET THESE CHANGES D:


I'm told we're known as the guinea pig year :argh::argh::argh:
Original post by Namita Gurung
I'm told we're known as the guinea pig year :argh::argh::argh:


To be honest i don't know what all the fuss is about. At my university there is a strict rule, that a student is not allowed to, simply not allowed to, challenge the academic grade on a paper. Welcome to the real world!
Reply 29
SQA did something similar in Scotland last year. Before the changes, people would screw over their exams, but because they were predicted a better grade they could appeal and even send in their prelim (you guys call them mocks I think) and get their predicted grade if you're school was proactive enough, but it was the sheer number of appeals that lead to no change in grade that made them change the system as it was a lot more work on their part for little advantage to candidates. The candidate/school pays for the appeal and get their money back if they're grade changes.

From what I've read on the news this is to help bridge the attainment gap, particularly between private schools (or academies with lots of spare cash to spend on appeals) and state schools, which is something I always welcome. Sure it's a tad annoying that you can't try and wrangle your predicted grade if you don't get it on results day, but then is it not more incentive to do better on the day of your exam?
Reply 30
I don't really see what is so bad about this really. The majority of remarks that do get changed usually only go up or down by a few marks which are in subjective essays so both of examiners would essentially be 'correct'. If the examiner accidentally skimmed over a certain comment in an essay then that would qualify a marking error and they would be changed. And on papers where there is a specific mark scheme then there will be only right or wrong answers and if a right answer got marked wrong then that too will be changed.

Too many people rely on the "I must have had a bad examiner" excuse if they do badly in an exam or if they don't get the grades they want. Whilst it is true that an examiner who is marking paper after paper may make the occasional error, it is seldom going to be a really large error and really won't have impacted the grade as much as your performance did. And if the examiner did make a large error, then this remark system will let that be rectified. The changes also require exam boards to release the scripts to the colleges so the teachers can see them and work out whether a remark is needed.

In no way is this new system making the remarking process very unfair, it just will make us learn to trust that the examiners know how to do their job and if we didn't get the grades we need then 9/10 times it was because of our own performance. If anything, the old remark system was grossly unfair as it was abused to a ridiculous extent by private schools and colleges who had the funds to pay for remarks for all their students so they could all go up a few marks. State schools don't have nearly enough money and, if they did, their students would probably have the same benefits. So this system puts schools on a more level playing field too.

Really my opinion is to stop whinging about remarks and how bad examiners are, and use that time to revise and perfect your exam technique.
Reply 31
Original post by Loyale
Guys we can stop this...we all need to come together and stage a mass uprise against this....social media..protests...everything....it only goes ahead if no one does anything to stop the change


c'mon people, lets stop this!!!!!!!!!!


No
Original post by Loyale
OH DAMNNNNNNNNN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXAMINERSARE HUMANS, THEY MAKE MISTAKES TOO....HOW ARE WE MEANT TO KNOW IF THEY DIDNT MARK IT RIGHT WITHOUT A REMARK?

IN SUBJECTIVE EXAMS..........EXAMINERS CAN GIVE DIFFERENT MARKS....I KNOW SOMEONe WHO WENT FROM A D TO AN A!!!

WHYYY USSSSSS??????????
GUYS LETS PETITION AGAINST THIS...ITS NOT FAIR....


:angry::angry:


hey do you mean me...I was D in math But got an A at boards!!
This is just ridiculous. So many grades are changed. I know someone whose grade went up from a C to a 90%+ A (it was an AS) just because of bad marking.
Reply 34
Original post by Edminzodo
This is just ridiculous. So many grades are changed. I know someone whose grade went up from a C to a 90%+ A (it was an AS) just because of bad marking.


In those situations then the grade will still be changed? They're not abolishing the ability to get a remark, they're just making it tighter so you only get the change if there has been "bad marking" rather than by a few marks if there is a natural disagreement over an essay in subjective subjects like English.

It is hoped also that this will bridge the inequality between private and state schools.

People seem to think they are completely scrapping remarks and they are not.
Original post by Retired_Messiah
If the mark goes up does that not imply that the first mark wasn't appropriate?

I am confused


I think it depends on what your marking. In a maths exam it's easy to spot a mistake. In an English exam one examiner can have a different perspective towards the essay compared to another.
Original post by champ_mc99
I think it depends on what your marking. In a maths exam it's easy to spot a mistake. In an English exam one examiner can have a different perspective towards the essay compared to another.


But if a new marker decides to disagree with the original marker, be it going up or down it would seem to imply that the first mark given was somehow wrong as the new marker hasn't gone "yeah that mark was fair enough we can keep it at that". Instead they've gone "nah that mark is not correct" and changed it, invalidating the first mark perspective be damned.

This change is pointless.
Reply 37
Original post by Retired_Messiah
But if a new marker decides to disagree with the original marker, be it going up or down it would seem to imply that the first mark given was somehow wrong as the new marker hasn't gone "yeah that mark was fair enough we can keep it at that". Instead they've gone "nah that mark is not correct" and changed it, invalidating the first mark perspective be damned.

This change is pointless.


For subjective essays though, would you not agree that, with that logic, it could equally be argued that a remark may be wrong and the original mark correct?

The change is not pointless because if there is a real error in the marking then it will be changed, but if there is not a real error but just a difference of interpretation two equally capable examiners then the mark will not be.

This will stop students relying on the excuse that the examiners are rubbish, will stop students relying on remarks, and make students rely on their ability.
Original post by eddso
For subjective essays though, would you not agree that, with that logic, it could equally be argued that a remark may be wrong and the original mark correct?

Nah if the original mark was "appropriate" the new marker wouldn't see fit to change the original I wouldn't have thought. For difference of interpretation, if the new marker can see where the old marker was coming from and so not think that a change is needed.

This will stop students relying on the excuse that the examiners are rubbish, will stop students relying on remarks, and make students rely on their ability.
Remarks count for very few marks in the vast majority of cases, saying students rely on crappy marking as an excuse for doing bad isn't really true at all. They already rely on their ability, that's where the vast majority of the marks come from.
Original post by Namita Gurung
I'm told we're known as the guinea pig year :argh::argh::argh:


Yes, I've heard the same thing. 1st and last in all types of changes.

But seriously, wouldn't it be easier with just 1 exam board?

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