Two things that I wish I’d known about exam results day when I started teaching
A couple of things that I wish I’d known about exam results day when I started teaching
My increasingly expensive moisturiser and fondness for evenings on a (but preferably my) sofa is testament to the number of times I’ve ‘done’ results day.
I love a good ‘students jumping’ pic and look forward to the ‘I got nothing in my exams; look at my yachts’ messages that get bandied about every year. And, of course, we teachers look forward to the inevitable headlines of ‘exams are too easy” and the handwringing that occurs around the performance of different groups.
(Actually, as a sociology teacher, I really do look forward to understanding national trends in exams, I know fellow #SOCED teachers will agree. We can’t help it.)
For my part, I’d like to offer up some things I’ve learned as a Head of Faculty that might help if you’re new to leading a subject, or you just want some reassurance on what happens in another school.
If you’re short of time, it’s this:
1. Be confident- you know your students best- and no amount of reading ‘We got 100% A*s’ from other teachers is going to help them or you. It’s your context, your school, your students.
2. Use that knowledge to best utilise the exam review service.
I’m also going to repeat the following several times:
- The grades belong to the students.
- Reviewed papers can go down as well as up.
So much is written about exam results day. Rightly so, it’s a massive deal. The event long circled on the calendar has a huge impact on lives. One teacher or pupil waiting for results in a household has an enormous ripple effect of stress and joy on everyone else around them.
You only have to look at what students are sharing on social media to know that, beneath the humour, they are terrified.
(You really do have to look; the creativity and wit of the students is jaw- achingly funny. My personal favourite, #aqasociology, has a gif game that is truly on-form).
I considered writing a cathartic piece on the emotional turmoil of early experiences of results; however, Tom Rogers (@RogersHistory) has covered the pressure placed on teachers much better than I could. https://www.tes.com/news/one-teacher-pressure-gcse-results-day-say-i-was-devastated-would-be-understatement-i-was Equally, if you are looking for a straightforward instructional piece, the TES has published a very informative article on the process of marking reviews here https://www.tes.com/news/gcses-how-do-i-request-re-mark
I’m going to focus on the days around the results and what to do if things don’t look quite right. I’ve written about strategies that have worked for me, in essay-based subjects that won’t necessarily be right for everyone. In the often and accurate advice given on EduTwitter- ‘You do you’.
1. Have confidence that you know your students and your classes
For the vast majority of students, they earn the grade they receive on results day. If they worked like a trooper, did plenty of practice papers, sought AND applied your advice, chances are that they are going to do well. Same for those at the opposite end of the spectrum- the students that you’ve spent two years PLEADING for them to do some homework or picking up a pen are not going to pluck an A* out of the system having watched a few You Tube videos in the days before their exam. The grades belong to the students; successes and otherwise- but you’ll have a good idea whether they have gained the grade they deserve.
However, it’s not always clear cut. The fantastic, conscientious student that suffered a personal loss the day before the exam? The student who worked so hard that anxiety and stress took over? We’ve all got the horror stories and, as teachers, our hearts break for students who take exams in anything less than the best possible circumstances.
Exam results day is easier if you have a record of how each of your students did on the day of the exams. I know this isn’t very helpful for this year- make a note of this for next time. Knowing if students feel it went well; finished the papers; if it was a sauna inside the hall and their hay fever caused temporary blindness, etc helps when analysing grades. For my A Level classes, this means asking each student for an email after each exam with a confidence rating on every question. A couple of students sent me 6 emojis, but more typically, their responses look something like this:
1: Wasn’t too sure, added an extra example in just in case.
2: Loved it
3: Think I did OK- I did what you said for the structure, not as confident about the content.
4: YES
5: Liked the method, think it went alright.
6: Ok question but I was running out of time, so only did 1.
At GCSE level, there are far more questions and we enter our entire cohort, so 250 emails are less helpful. But, if you can, jot a note in your planner on the day of the exam with something along the lines of ‘X looked a bit teary’, ‘Y was confident’- it could be useful to you when looking at results. Of course, all of this needs to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt- humans are notoriously bad at analysing their own performance and social characteristics have a huge role to play.
The day before the exam, I tend to let my students know when I’ll be available to answer any queries and any other support in school they can access. Far fewer key stage 5 students come into school than in the past, so last year, I was happily checking my results on a balcony in beautiful Turkey. My students knew the times I’d be checking my emails and got in touch accordingly. An email to a student that you are concerned about that hasn’t been in touch after a few days is worthwhile. They may be upset, too embarrassed to ask for help, or not wanting to come into school to be around their peers at this time.
Someone should be there to answer student questions. It may not be you, your holiday time is more than well deserved, but there should be a clear system/ person that students and their families can access.
2 - Use the examination review services
How do I decide whether to put a paper in for a review?
In terms of importance, this is number 1. For years, I was really nervous about putting papers in for review, but the system is there for a reason. Examiners are teachers and 99.9% of them care deeply about getting marking ‘right’. They have their own classes and family members going through the stress of exams and genuinely worry about doing a good job. However, they are also human, with a large workload and mistakes happen. Hitting ‘14’ instead of ‘24’ doesn’t happen frequently, but it is possible. New and experienced examiners alike will have spent ages on an answer, comparing it to a mark scheme and standardised material grappling with ‘is it limited, or basic’?
So, I refer you back to point one. You know your students- does the grade look ‘right’? All the exam boards provide a wealth of information on their specified grade sites- use them. But, do be prepared for a lot of sitting around waiting to log on, the traffic to the sites on results day is epic and they struggle to cope.
When you eventually get online, first check the grade boundary for the final overall grade, not individual papers. There is limited value in putting a paper in for review and the mark changing, but not enough for the whole grade to go up. If the grade changes, there is no fee for the service from the exam board.
1 or 2 marks under the expected grade for a student? Now start looking carefully at the detail on each paper. Is there an essay grade on one paper that doesn’t fit the student you know? If X has gained 15 for every essay with you and suddenly gets 4, something may be amiss. Did the student tell you they’d answered every question on the paper, but one response has NR (no response)? It may be that one paper has something glaringly obvious and that is the one you send to the board for review, more frequently however, the paper results are fairly even. This is where, again, your knowledge of the students comes into play. By the time results day comes along, the exam will feel like an eternity ago- any notes you made will assist your decisions. Pick just one paper per student to put in for review at a time. You can put further papers in after the first paper is reviewed but be aware that results can go DOWN as well as up- if you put multiple papers in at any one time, there is a chance that one could go up, but that change is cancelled out by another paper going down. Of course, that could be fine, as it would be a more accurate result for the candidate, but let’s face it- we all want the best result possible for our students.
Once you have decided that a paper needs to be reviewed, you need written consent from the student/parents. Again, the result could go up, or down- they need to understand that the outcome of the review is not a given.
You also need to be prepared for a less than enthusiastic response- if the student had an unconditional offer, or already know they are onto the course they wanted, they may not be fussed about their grade. Again, your knowledge of the student is vital. Will they regret not checking the mark in 6 months or years? If so- this is difficult and delicate. If you push for a review and nothing changes, or worse- the mark goes down, it will be a very bitter pill to swallow. However, if the mark is only 1 or 2 marks off the next grade boundary and 10 marks away from the grade below, it becomes a far more reasonable step. Talk to the student and possibly their parents- lay it all on the table. If they do/ don’t choose to review- the results belong to the students, it’s their decision.
Can you afford a review?
In a perfect world, if a teacher is confident that a paper needs to be looked at, the school should have the money to pay. Check with the exams officer what the procedure is, they may have a budget. It is possible (but not always desirable, or ethical) to ask parents to pay. Tragically, with the budget slashing of the last few years, schools don’t necessarily have funds available and I’m hearing from colleagues that papers that should be checked aren’t being sent in because of a lack of funds. That’s not OK; we cannot have a system that is yet another barrier against equality of opportunity. We cannot allow a student, who has worked incredibly hard, to potentially lose a grade they have earned because a school has been forced into a ‘no reviews’ policy on the grounds that it COULD cost money. As already mentioned, if a paper grade or a whole grade is changed- there is no charge for the service.
The next section is very procedural - this info is available on the exam board’s websites:
How does the process work?
You have two initial options for a priority service, both return results pretty quickly. The first is to request a ‘priority copy of a marked paper’. This will allow you to see the annotated scripts and decide whether you want to move forward with a review. However, if a university place is on the line, it is unlikely that you will have the time to do this. There is also the issue that the script will be sent to the student/ school- you are on holiday and clearly you shouldn’t be popping in and out of school to look at papers. Therefore, either you need to have system in place for seeing the papers, or only use the non-priority version of this service for the less urgent marks when you return to work.
The second option is to have a priority or regular review. This is done without you seeing the paper first. In this instance, put the students with the grade closest to the next boundary in for a review first, it will give you a better insight into the judgements being made. Consider putting the paper they felt the most confident about/ is furthest away from your knowledge of their usual exam performance, rather than the one with the lowest mark.
Do remember that the system has changed- the senior examiner is reviewing the paper, not remarking it from their point of view. Ofqual has gone to great efforts to ensure that schools/ students that use post-results services are not given favourable treatment over those who don’t.
Finally, if you’d like some clarification, or I’ve missed out a huge chunk of important information- it’s been a long time since my early days and even last summer seems like eons ago, drop me a line.
Twitter @MissBeaven and @SociologySup
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Liz Beaven has been in teaching for 15 years at a comprehensive school in the South West of England.
