The Student Room Group

SQA Appeals 2023

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Original post by GTTan345
I’m literally appealing for 4 subjects that were 1 mark off and haven’t heard anything yet

good luck! My daughter in primary classroom til 3 today so who knows when she'll find out!
Original post by thirdtimebuyer
Good Luck - people have been called into the office today to get their appeal results. It’s been a bit mixed for people.

yes they have approached it in a very very unfair way, asking for markers to meet margins for changing grades :frown:
Original post by *JayDee*
yes they have approached it in a very very unfair way, asking for markers to meet margins for changing grades :frown:

So harsh ! Fingers crossed your daughter gets good news.
Original post by thirdtimebuyer
So harsh ! Fingers crossed your daughter gets good news.

thank you - 2 marks off next grade in 2 subjects - will make all the difference to how likely she will be to get a conditional from the more competitive Unis in Glasgow (hope she gets one of the appeals at least - but hey ho - we'll see!)
Original post by *JayDee*
thank you - 2 marks off next grade in 2 subjects - will make all the difference to how likely she will be to get a conditional from the more competitive Unis in Glasgow (hope she gets one of the appeals at least - but hey ho - we'll see!)

No luck here. 3 marks off no change to grade.
Original post by Coopkia
No luck here. 3 marks off no change to grade.

I am sorry to hear - what was the subject?
Original post by *JayDee*
I am sorry to hear - what was the subject?

Mandarin
Original post by TDCTV
Appealed Higher Chemistry(C) Maths (B) and modern studies (B)
no change in any of them :frown:
A little gutted because I was only 1 mark off an A in modern studies and Maths

Really sorry to hear :frown:
Original post by TDCTV
Appealed Higher Chemistry(C) Maths (B) and modern studies (B)
no change in any of them :frown:
A little gutted because I was only 1 mark off an A in modern studies and Maths

Sorry ! That sucks.
Reply 29
One mark off in three subjects, all three appeals unsuccessful. No one in school got their appeals. SQA are an absolute joke! So much for John Swinney saying no child will be adversely affected by Covid. This years pupils have been affected; numerous subjects removed the assessment part and mark based upon one exam. 😡
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by CDrumm
One mark off in three subjects, all three appeals unsuccessful. No one in school got their appeals. SQA are an absolute joke! So much for John Swinney saying no child will be adversely affected by Covid. This years pupils have been affected; numerous subjects removed the assessment part and mark based upon one exam. 😡

completely agree - they are a joke - and on top of certificate year kids I now I have an S4 who has gone from As in S3 assessments to D/no award in subjects in S4 October tests. Teachers are having to cram in content for continuous assessment that hasn't been in for 3 years......attainment dropped across subjects and year group for this S4 cohort in our school.
S6 DD now doing course work on eg AH Music on stuff that she never covered before eg Composition. Why on earth did current S6 not get to leave school without coursework coming back in....they were the cohort that missed the critical parts during lockdowns (S2 chunk, S3 chunk). (I hear what you are saying about coursework taking away the focus on one final exam.....but to just drop it back in in their final year feels wrongly timed, given this cohort had poor higher grades generally across Scotland).
Re: appeals - they have had margins at play - if I were you I'd ask what margins were at play in the subjects you appealed
Original post by *JayDee*
completely agree - they are a joke - and on top of certificate year kids I now I have an S4 who has gone from As in S3 assessments to D/no award in subjects in S4 October tests. Teachers are having to cram in content for continuous assessment that hasn't been in for 3 years......attainment dropped across subjects and year group for this S4 cohort in our school.
S6 DD now doing course work on eg AH Music on stuff that she never covered before eg Composition. Why on earth did current S6 not get to leave school without coursework coming back in....they were the cohort that missed the critical parts during lockdowns (S2 chunk, S3 chunk). (I hear what you are saying about coursework taking away the focus on one final exam.....but to just drop it back in in their final year feels wrongly timed, given this cohort had poor higher grades generally across Scotland).
Re: appeals - they have had margins at play - if I were you I'd ask what margins were at play in the subjects you appealed


I'm confused about what you mean about margins? Is it something about keeping results to a curve?
ps John Swinney was out of touch - during a lockdown I joined a nation wide parent council meeting. He came on and said 'oh I'm hearing great things about online live classes etc'. Didn't have a clue. The majority of us had sporadic crap added to google classrooms, with no live teachers, no access to teachers, some subjects no material provided at all. We're in South Lanarkshire - no Ipads handed out to each student here! He didn't have a clue. The approach across local authorities, never mind across schools within LAs or even across classes within a school during lockdowns varied wildly, and hence was all extremely inequitable
Original post by Noah1268
I'm confused about what you mean about margins? Is it something about keeping results to a curve?

our school told us that sqa markers of appeals were told not to change grades for certain subjects unless a certain minimum number of marks were found. I don't want to say too much in case that is wrong, given it is hearsay (and if it isn't true it isn't helpful to pass wrong info). They referred to this as margins and mentioned it being used in English at least
Original post by *JayDee*
our school told us that sqa markers of appeals were told not to change grades for certain subjects unless a certain minimum number of marks were found. I don't want to say too much in case that is wrong, given it is hearsay (and if it isn't true it isn't helpful to pass wrong info). They referred to this as margins and mentioned it being used in English at least


I'd imagine the idea behind that would be to minimise the amount of students getting a higher grade based on 1-2 debatable marks. They would want it to be that your work was marked with a significant discrepancy in order for there to be grounds for appeal. (Not saying I agree just speculating.)
Reply 35
Original post by *JayDee*
completely agree - they are a joke - and on top of certificate year kids I now I have an S4 who has gone from As in S3 assessments to D/no award in subjects in S4 October tests. Teachers are having to cram in content for continuous assessment that hasn't been in for 3 years......attainment dropped across subjects and year group for this S4 cohort in our school.
S6 DD now doing course work on eg AH Music on stuff that she never covered before eg Composition. Why on earth did current S6 not get to leave school without coursework coming back in....they were the cohort that missed the critical parts during lockdowns (S2 chunk, S3 chunk). (I hear what you are saying about coursework taking away the focus on one final exam.....but to just drop it back in in their final year feels wrongly timed, given this cohort had poor higher grades generally across Scotland).
Re: appeals - they have had margins at play - if I were you I'd ask what margins were at play in the subjects you appealed

The problem is that the papers this year weren’t getting remarked only recounted. So not sure what margins were needed but since we can’t appeal the appeals we just have to move on. It’s grossly unfair, in addition Scottish Colleges and Uni’s seem to have short term memory loss - what Covid pandemic!!!
DD had English upgraded to an A (French didn't move)
Fantastic my son got his maths upgraded to an A too which he really needed to apply to Edinburgh University
Original post by Karenmooney12
Fantastic my son got his maths upgraded to an A too which he really needed to apply to Edinburgh University

Amazing! A massive well done
Original post by *JayDee*
DD had English upgraded to an A (French didn't move)

Congratulations! Sorry about the French.

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