The Student Room Group

URGENT! Appeal!! PLZ help

Hello, I recently received my A level grades earning an A* B C, the C in Biology has meant my university place at my dream uni and course I love so much that is completely irrelevant to Biology has been lost due to my entry requirement being ABB (even though I recieved A* for the courses subject) I received the grades used in Biology to determine my overall grade and they were
E D C C
The E and D were both under extremely mitigating circumstances after being forced off from school for just over half (9 weeks) of the autumn term due to isolation from peers with COVID. During the test in which I received an E (1 mark off of a D) I had just returned that day to school from two weeks of isolation and having to work from PowerPoints to prepare instead of in class teaching. Furthermore, that day I had another subject spring onto me an exam that all the other students had a dedicated, personalised lesson to the information needed in the test which I had not received, despite emailing the teacher saying I hadn't had proper teaching thus meaning I wasn't prepared I was still made to sit it, under the immense pressure that this test as well as the biology test where I got an E would be detrimental to my predicted grades when applying to Uni and exam uncertainty was still underway. I tried to sit the exam however I ended up having my first major anxiety attack in three years since I was bullied and had a second anxiety attack in front of the head of my sixth form who is also one of two of my biology teachers. I had an hour after being in a complete state for the first time ever walking off from being sat down at a desk to do the test and was in distress struggling to get my words out. I was extremely distracted and had a huge mind blank sitting the biology paper because of what had just happened, especially in the way I had asked my other subjects teacher that morning if I could sit that test Thursday and have her teach me the resources I needed and that she denied it but after all of that it was moved to Thursday anyway, unnecessarily jeopardising that assessment that has been used as 1 out of 5 to determine my grade. After having issues to do with that other subject and now triggered anxiety and stress my circumstances worsened come the 2nd assessment used to determine my grade, for the 1st time I had come into contact with my absent father who has a threatening and aggressive nature, without going into too much detail the situation left me very upset, to then follow our vet had told us my dog was going to be put down - this is all while being in and out of school from being forced to isolate by the school. 2 days prior to the assessment I had to be taken out of school due to immense anxiety and a breakdown after my other subject rewarded 2 out of the 5 of my classmates their first ever A, despite them being aware that they had cheated. I felt so emotionally drained and had to make an official complain to the school. I ended up feeling burnt out because my effort was being undermined by those who were cheating, I had that same subject mock the same day as my Biology to which I received a D but was told I had got solidly halfway through a C in one of the two papers. Meanwhile, I was resitting topic test papers in the event that exams were cancelled to which during these situations the two I sat were Cs that were BOTH 1 marks off of Bs. We then sadly went into lockdown till March, preventing me from desperately wanting to retake more exams, however, I didn't stop and as soon as we got back I was retaking the topic tests to where I received As, Bs and Cs throughout but due to isolation again I was limited to the amount of retakes I could do because I had Coursework for both my other subjects that would go to my final grade. I was attending revision after school but that was also held back due to isolation. the 3rd evidence used out of the 5 was an 'average' of the topic tests' meaning sadly my previous scores from year 12 and topic tests where I sat coming back from isolation and restricted learning meant my Ds, some Us from times of stress or prioritising another subject in terms of the year prior, has dragged down my drastic improvement and overlooked my improvement by averaging it all out. I was doing these resits alongside finishing my final coursework for the course I want to study at uni, my other subject coursework and revision/class tests, and preparation for the mini assessment for biology as well as current topic tests all the way up to the week prior for leaving for study leave. In the mini assessment I received a C (44%) but needed a 57% to get a B. Our teacher made the mini assessment hard saying that shed put really hard questions in to challenge the A students to see if they can get an A* but for people like me who was trying extremely hard it has resulted in costing me my C and not B. I truly believe had given the opportunity to sit the exams and had personal circumstances not have happened I would've achieved a B in which was my end target and through the resits I had shown a huge improvement and effort/ determination to receive this. I had 100% online learning attendance, always got my homework and assessments in on time despite having a single parent who was a key worker through the whole pandemic so I took on the responsibility of cooking, cleaning the house and managing my dogs whilst studying and trying to prove my determination. I have been so utterly devastated by being unsuccessful with my place and we have already had the centre review back which was partially upheld but no change to my grade. Do you think I have a fighting chance to get this B by appealing to exam board, my uni place depends on it ! thank you.
Reply 1
Original post by Student2303
Hello, I recently received my A level grades earning an A* B C, the C in Biology has meant my university place at my dream uni and course I love so much that is completely irrelevant to Biology has been lost due to my entry requirement being ABB (even though I recieved A* for the courses subject) I received the grades used in Biology to determine my overall grade and they were
E D C C
The E and D were both under extremely mitigating circumstances after being forced off from school for just over half (9 weeks) of the autumn term due to isolation from peers with COVID. During the test in which I received an E (1 mark off of a D) I had just returned that day to school from two weeks of isolation and having to work from PowerPoints to prepare instead of in class teaching. Furthermore, that day I had another subject spring onto me an exam that all the other students had a dedicated, personalised lesson to the information needed in the test which I had not received, despite emailing the teacher saying I hadn't had proper teaching thus meaning I wasn't prepared I was still made to sit it, under the immense pressure that this test as well as the biology test where I got an E would be detrimental to my predicted grades when applying to Uni and exam uncertainty was still underway. I tried to sit the exam however I ended up having my first major anxiety attack in three years since I was bullied and had a second anxiety attack in front of the head of my sixth form who is also one of two of my biology teachers. I had an hour after being in a complete state for the first time ever walking off from being sat down at a desk to do the test and was in distress struggling to get my words out. I was extremely distracted and had a huge mind blank sitting the biology paper because of what had just happened, especially in the way I had asked my other subjects teacher that morning if I could sit that test Thursday and have her teach me the resources I needed and that she denied it but after all of that it was moved to Thursday anyway, unnecessarily jeopardising that assessment that has been used as 1 out of 5 to determine my grade. After having issues to do with that other subject and now triggered anxiety and stress my circumstances worsened come the 2nd assessment used to determine my grade, for the 1st time I had come into contact with my absent father who, without going into too much detail the situation left me very upset, to then follow our vet had told us my dog was going to be put down - this is all while being in and out of school from being forced to isolate by the school. 2 days prior to the assessment I had to be taken out of school due to immense anxiety and a breakdown after my other subject rewarded 2 out of the 5 of my classmates their first ever A, despite them being aware that they had cheated. I felt so emotionally drained and had to make an official complain to the school. I ended up feeling burnt out because my effort was being undermined by those who were cheating, I had that same subject mock the same day as my Biology to which I received a D but was told I had got solidly halfway through a C in one of the two papers. Meanwhile, I was resitting topic test papers in the event that exams were cancelled to which during these situations the two I sat were Cs that were BOTH 1 marks off of Bs. We then sadly went into lockdown till March, preventing me from desperately wanting to retake more exams, however, I didn't stop and as soon as we got back I was retaking the topic tests to where I received As, Bs and Cs throughout but due to isolation again I was limited to the amount of retakes I could do because I had Coursework for both my other subjects that would go to my final grade. I was attending revision after school but that was also held back due to isolation. the 3rd evidence used out of the 5 was an 'average' of the topic tests' meaning sadly my previous scores from year 12 and topic tests where I sat coming back from isolation and restricted learning meant my Ds, some Us from times of stress or prioritising another subject in terms of the year prior, has dragged down my drastic improvement and overlooked my improvement by averaging it all out. I was doing these resits alongside finishing my final coursework for the course I want to study at uni, my other subject coursework and revision/class tests, and preparation for the mini assessment for biology as well as current topic tests all the way up to the week prior for leaving for study leave. In the mini assessment I received a C (44%) but needed a 57% to get a B. Our teacher made the mini assessment hard saying that shed put really hard questions in to challenge the A students to see if they can get an A* but for people like me who was trying extremely hard it has resulted in costing me my C and not B. I truly believe had given the opportunity to sit the exams and had personal circumstances not have happened I would've achieved a B in which was my end target and through the resits I had shown a huge improvement and effort/ determination to receive this. I had 100% online learning attendance, always got my homework and assessments in on time despite having a single parent who was a key worker through the whole pandemic so I took on the responsibility of cooking, cleaning the house and managing my dogs whilst studying and trying to prove my determination. I have been so utterly devastated by being unsuccessful with my place and we have already had the centre review back which was partially upheld but no change to my grade. Do you think I have a fighting chance to get this B by appealing to exam board, my uni place depends on it ! thank you.

Hey! Based on my parents’ experience and what they’ve said, it’s definitely worth appealing... after all, you have nothing to lose! Would a resit be an option for you, seeing as you seem capable but it has just been terrible circumstances this year?
I hope it all works out well for you :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by deskio
Hey! Based on my parents’ experience and what they’ve said, it’s definitely worth appealing... after all, you have nothing to lose! Would a resit be an option for you, seeing as you seem capable but it has just been terrible circumstances this year?
I hope it all works out well for you :smile:

Thank you so much! Sadly, resits for my university are looking very risky in their opinions on them but I've been in conversation with the admissions officer for my course so we shall see. Fingers crossed the appeal is successful enough to get the B ! :smile:
I'm afraid there's no way to know for sure whether your appeal will be successful. If you are going to appeal, you need to tell your firm uni ASAP so they can hold your place. Alternatively, would you consider resitting next year in the autumn?

Quick Reply

Latest