GCSE re-mark requests show 49.9% rise inWales
RE-MARK requests for GCSEs in Wales rose by a massive 49.9% this summer after the introduction of new qualifications.
More than 1,000 grades went up after schools asked exam boards to review them, but most grades were unchanged. No grades dropped.
After the summer 2017 results, a total 12,930 reviews of GCSE grades were requested by schools compared to 8,625 last year.
The figures published yesterday by exam regulators Ofqual and Qualifications Wales, mark the first time Ofqual has broken down statistics for Wales, England and Northern Ireland separately.
After exam board reviews, 2,220 grades were changed – all of which went up, with 78% unchanged and none down.
For AS and A-levels in Wales, 3,385 marks were challenged this year compared to 3,785 last year – a decrease of 10.6%.
Of those, 440 were changed, 435 up and less than five down, the data shows.
Qualifications Wales said the increase in demand for GCSE reviews might be explained by the 12.3% rise in entries for GCSE qualifications this summer compared with 2016, while the decrease in requests for re-marking at AS and A-level could have been caused by the 6.2% fall in entries for those qualifications this summer.
The summer 2017 increase in GCSE entries was largely driven by the old single GCSE mathematics being replaced with two new GCSEs and an increase in the number of students in Year 10 taking their exams early.
New qualifications might also have sparked the increase in requests by schools for marking reviews, the regulator added.
A majority of the requests were to the WJEC exam board (used by all mainstream local education authorities in Wales), which accounted for 7,040 of total GCSE grades challenged in Wales. Of these 1,615 went up.
At AS and A-level, the WJEC was asked to review 1,950 grades resulting in 380 changes, most of which went up.
The most commonly challenged grades for GCSEs in Wales were grade D (59.1% of reviews) and grade B (15.1% of reviews).
For AS and A-level, the most commonly challenged grades in Wales were grade B (32.3% of reviews) and grade C (27.2% of reviews).
Overall, 53.3% reviews requested for GCSE, AS and A-level resulted in no change in marks.
At GCSE, of the reviews requested, 77.5% had no grade change.
At AS and A-level, 80.4% of the reviews had no grade change.
From now on the new Wales regulator Qualifications Wales – which was set up a year ago – will be responsible for producing the Wales statistics.
The regulator said the proportion of all GCSE, AS and A-level grades that were changed as a result of reviews is very similar to previous years.