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A level English Language coursework affect on grade

I do English language A level and I received back my coursework mark which is 20% of my overall grade.

I got 47/100, which I’m very disappointed in as according to the 2023 grade boundaries, it’s a D.

How many marks would I need on both exam papers to secure a B? Would my grade be pulled down because of my coursework?

Reply 1

Freya.G

Original post by ra_7

I do English language A level and I received back my coursework mark which is 20% of my overall grade.
I got 47/100, which I’m very disappointed in as according to the 2023 grade boundaries, it’s a D.
How many marks would I need on both exam papers to secure a B? Would my grade be pulled down because of my coursework?

You have several options 1. You may still have time to appeal your teacher's mark if you believe you deserved higher 2. The grade may be changed by the exam board if/when someone else checks it

Either way try not to stress it too much because you don't know what the grade boundaries for the papers will be yet or even the boundaries for coursework this year !

Reply 2

username6282515

Original post by ra_7

I do English language A level and I received back my coursework mark which is 20% of my overall grade.
I got 47/100, which I’m very disappointed in as according to the 2023 grade boundaries, it’s a D.
How many marks would I need on both exam papers to secure a B? Would my grade be pulled down because of my coursework?

I'm sorry to hear that, you never know you could get a higher grade when its going to be moderated. And BTW you're allowed to find out your coursework grade??? My teachers are refusing to tell us, saying that it isn't allowed. I'm dying to find out because at least I would know how many points I got or my grade for my coursework going into the exams.

Reply 3

ra_7

Original post by Lunaz

They didn’t tell us the grade but I checked the AQA grade boundaries from last year. A “D” is 45/100, so I barely got that grade. I think a C is 58/100.

You can find out here though, I doubt the boundaries would be very different this year

https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_pdf/AQA-A-LEVEL-GDE-BDY-JUN-2023.PDF

Reply 4

username6282515

Original post by ra_7

They didn’t tell us the grade but I checked the AQA grade boundaries from last year. A “D” is 45/100, so I barely got that grade. I think a C is 58/100.
You can find out here though, I doubt the boundaries would be very different this year
https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_pdf/AQA-A-LEVEL-GDE-BDY-JUN-2023.PDF

I see, so you got your mark? Still please don't stress, the grade boundaries may change this year. It's just that I haven't even received my mark and I don't think I will, I guess I'll just find out in results day.

Reply 5

fieldofivy

Original post by ra_7

I do English language A level and I received back my coursework mark which is 20% of my overall grade.
I got 47/100, which I’m very disappointed in as according to the 2023 grade boundaries, it’s a D.
How many marks would I need on both exam papers to secure a B? Would my grade be pulled down because of my coursework?

assuming the grade boundaries are similar to last year (which they likely will be as they dont change by much) youd need at least 71 marks on both papers to get to a B from your position, which I think is doable.

Im surprised your teachers gave you your coursework grade back though considering it could change. My teachers refused and said we'd see on the day! I think they didnt want us to let it affect our exam performance too much, too.

I'd try not to stress too much; your coursework grade could be changed in moderation or the boundaries could be wildly different. It's technically possible to get an A* with less than 20/100 on coursework anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about it - just focus on doing your best on the papers!

How did you feel paper 1 went?

Reply 6

ra_7

Original post by fieldofivy

assuming the grade boundaries are similar to last year (which they likely will be as they dont change by much) youd need at least 71 marks on both papers to get to a B from your position, which I think is doable.
Im surprised your teachers gave you your coursework grade back though considering it could change. My teachers refused and said we'd see on the day! I think they didnt want us to let it affect our exam performance too much, too.
I'd try not to stress too much; your coursework grade could be changed in moderation or the boundaries could be wildly different. It's technically possible to get an A* with less than 20/100 on coursework anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about it - just focus on doing your best on the papers!
How did you feel paper 1 went?

Damn, 71 is definitely doable but I don’t think I would get 71 on the first paper because I was already tired from my history paper in the morning and the transcript threw me off.

I’m surprised nobody got their marks back, maybe it would be better if I didn’t get mine back..

How did you find paper 1? I wish i did better on the CLA and the transcript for Text A was just brutal..

Reply 7

fieldofivy

Original post by ra_7

Damn, 71 is definitely doable but I don’t think I would get 71 on the first paper because I was already tired from my history paper in the morning and the transcript threw me off.
I’m surprised nobody got their marks back, maybe it would be better if I didn’t get mine back..
How did you find paper 1? I wish i did better on the CLA and the transcript for Text A was just brutal..

Try not to doubt yourself too much! It's hard but you probably did better than you think!

I also had history in the morning and was super frazzled cause that one started late giving me less than an hour to switch between... super long papers too.

I thought paper 1 was alright, the CLA transcript was so dry and I misread the question but I think my essay was still applicable (double checking with my teacher though because she marks paper 1), the syntax of me actually answering the question is just a bit off...

Text A being a transcript too was BRUTAL though!!!! I thought there was enough to analyse, it was just tricky to make grammatical points without being able to see the punctuation, felt like we were just kind of guessing if you know what i mean?

Hopefully we will have done well though!

I think not knowing my coursework grade is helpful to be honest - it kinda just lets me focus on the papers more and making sure I perform to the best standard. Praying AQA will be nice to us for paper 2 after the curveball in the first...

Reply 8

ra_7

Original post by fieldofivy

Try not to doubt yourself too much! It's hard but you probably did better than you think!
I also had history in the morning and was super frazzled cause that one started late giving me less than an hour to switch between... super long papers too.
I thought paper 1 was alright, the CLA transcript was so dry and I misread the question but I think my essay was still applicable (double checking with my teacher though because she marks paper 1), the syntax of me actually answering the question is just a bit off...
Text A being a transcript too was BRUTAL though!!!! I thought there was enough to analyse, it was just tricky to make grammatical points without being able to see the punctuation, felt like we were just kind of guessing if you know what i mean?
Hopefully we will have done well though!
I think not knowing my coursework grade is helpful to be honest - it kinda just lets me focus on the papers more and making sure I perform to the best standard. Praying AQA will be nice to us for paper 2 after the curveball in the first...

I hope so, I’ve had 3 teachers over the 2 years so my learning has been inconsistent and disruptive. I had to do most of the learning myself using the little resources available online.

What exam board do you do for history? Doing 2 essay based tests in one day is brutal. My hand was numb by the end of history. I also hate how paper 2 will be on the same day as the second history exam.

I’m so glad i’m not the only one who thought the CLA was weird. Everyone in my class said it was the best they’ve ever done and for me it was the worst. I didnt know what to talk about.

I agree with Text A, I mentioned declarative sentences but I don’t even know if it applies since there were not any proper sentences.. It wasn’t as simple to apply the AO1 features.

I do hope paper 2 will be better and hopefully the grade boundaries are lower due to people not expecting a transcript for text A. Good luck!

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 9

fieldofivy

Original post by ra_7

I hope so, I’ve had 3 teachers over the 2 years so my learning has been inconsistent and disruptive. I had to do most of the learning myself using the little resources available online.
What exam board do you do for history? Doing 2 essay based tests in one day is brutal. My hand was numb by the end of history. I also hate how paper 2 will be on the same day as the second history exam.
I’m so glad i’m not the only one who thought the CLA was weird. Everyone in my class said it was the best they’ve ever done and for me it was the worst. I didnt know what to talk about.
I agree with Text A, I mentioned declarative sentences but I don’t even know if it applies since there were not any proper sentences.. It wasn’t as simple to apply the AO1 features.
I do hope paper 2 will be better and hopefully the grade boundaries are lower due to people not expecting a transcript for text A. Good luck!

I do OCR for history so luckily our second paper isn't as long since there's 3! It's definitely a struggle though, not sure who made the timetable because it's certainly interesting...

Feel you on the disrupted learning too! My paper 1 teacher disappeared for a few months in year 12 and my paper 2 teacher couldn't teach her content because she doesn't know it and is just generally useless... I ended up teaching myself how to answer paper 2 questions on my own and actually ended up better off than most of my class! It's so irritating how few resources there are, though.

I was so annoyed by the transcript for the exact reason that grammar is the most important framework for AO1 and the lack of punctuation made it exponentially harder to use it...
Good luck to you too!! We've got this.

Reply 10

Aisha***

Original post by ra_7

I do English language A level and I received back my coursework mark which is 20% of my overall grade.
I got 47/100, which I’m very disappointed in as according to the 2023 grade boundaries, it’s a D.
How many marks would I need on both exam papers to secure a B? Would my grade be pulled down because of my coursework?