Once again I find myself screaming at my ‘pooter :
“OI F**KWIT … MATHS IS DIFFERENT”.
I can almost hear you saying to yourself “oh no! She’s gone off on one again”. Well, yes, yes I have.
This morning I’ve been reading about remarks and the consultation from Ofqual which closed earlier this month. It appears that Ofqual have gone on the defensive to something Chris King said in this post .
Ok, what they say may be true in the case of other subjects but for most maths questions saying that there isn’t often a “right mark” is just wrong diddly wrong! For example with a question that says expand x(x – 3) which would be a “1 pointer” .. there is no subjectivity – it is either right or wrong! (I know not all questions are like this, but the vast majority of a maths exam is … FACT!!). The ability to request remarks is something that I feel very strongly about – if you aren’t or don’t do it that is your choice. Let me make it clear – we don’t limit requests to those on the C/D borderline and in the Summer we had one student move from a B to an A. In my view that is worth doing. Remember you have your opinion and I have mine! We live in a democracy the last time I looked.
Stating 86% of GCSE maths remarks do not result in a grade change means that 14% do (1 in 7). Let’s be honest, in reality most of these will be at the grade boundaries – that’s what they were put in for a remark in the first place. What worries me more is the fact that Ofqual counters by saying “ there is not often a single right mark” … sorry but in Maths … there is VERY OFTEN a single right mark you muppets!
Ofquals view is that “in future reviewers should only be permitted to change marks that could not reasonably have been given. In all other cases the original mark must stand”. I’m not sure what this means in reality but it doesn’t bode well for Maths or more importantly schools, in which every student counts towards reaching the floor standards! This is serious sh!t!!
The fact that the new head of Ofqual has very little knowledge of the exam system also worries me – she will be taking at face value everything she is told. I mark papers and have done for several years – we get pennies per question and mistakes happen. I was of the opinion that any Maths papers that were at the “borders” of grade boundaries were “checked” i.e. put through the marking process again for validation but I have been reliably informed that this doesn’t happen. Ofqual can insist this happens should they wish. Apparently in the past any student who was 1 or 2 below a boundary automatically had their script re-marked before results to pick up an anomalies. This meant that only scripts that were three or more marks out went to appeal, and they didn’t tend to change grade so much. This makes sense as in my previous school we tried once to get some scripts remarked and got zip changed but in the last sitting (the first time we’ve done it for a few years) we got a couple of changes which suggests that the process has changed and we no longer have “borderline marking”.
Ofqual – don’t lump Maths with other subjects – IT IS DIFFERENT! Bring back (or enforce? As you have the power to do so I believe!) borderline marking for maths papers! This will reduce the requests for remarks and teachers will have more confidence in the marking system.
