Pupils at Derbyshire school 'gutted ' after GCSE results downgraded

GCSE students at a Chesterfield school failed to get the grades they needed because they were unfairly downgraded by moderators , teachers have claimed.
Brookfield Community SchoolBrookfield Community School
Brookfield Community School

The head teacher of Brookfield Community School has written to AQA which moderates exam results after PE pupils did not get expected grades in practical assessments.

A parent who did not want to be identified contacted the Derbyshire Times to say his son was "gutted" when he was unable to take the A levels he wanted this Autumn.

He said: "My son wanted to study sports science .

Brookfield Community SchoolBrookfield Community School
Brookfield Community School
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"He wanted to go back to do A Level PE but because of his results he couldn't.

"Unfortunately the exam board adjusted the grades down and it has had a huge negative effect on overall grades.

"They did this at the last minute.All the results are going back to be marked again

"The pupils got good marks in the mocks but when this year's GCSE results came back most seemed to have failed. I feel my son and iohers have been treated unfairly. How many other students have had their hopes dashed by this?"

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a letter to parents from Daniel Thompson, Head of Physical Education (PE) he said the school PE department and the school's opinion is that students' grades were "unfairly affected" by an adjustment at moderation on GCSE PE.

The letter adds:"Unfortunately the exam board adjusted the practical activity and coursework grades by an unprecedented amount of marks which had a huge negative impact on students' overall grades."

The head teacher has sent a letter to AQA outline the issues he feels has impacted students' grades and has asked for adjustments to be made to the cohort's practical and coursework grades.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He has asked the exam board to undertake a full review of the moderation of students' grades.

Brookfield community School Head teacher Keith Hirst said: "The process is in practical subjects part of the coursework is assessed in school in technology art and PE.

"The moderator comes in from the exam board who take a sample of students to see if they agree.

"We have a very strong experienced PE department and a very talented team. When we got the results on results day they have performed well in the exams but the practical element was adjusted down by the board.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added: "That is not necessarily unusual in itself. We have contacted them and requested that the marks are reviewed. We are very disappointed for students and we have contacted the board AQA and requested a review at the start of term. We are still awaiting the results of that review."

He said if students had lost out on places at other colleges for A levels due to the marking down the provider would look at their case sympathetically if their grades were very close to the ones they needed.

Kelly White, AQA’s Marking Manager, said:

“Moderators do sometimes have to change the marks for parts of a qualification originally marked by schools if they think the marks aren’t right. If a school isn’t happy with any changes after they’ve received their feedback, they can apply for a review.”