Increase in appeals against GCSE and A-level marks

Teachers and parents launched 13% more appeals against A-level and GCSE marks this year compared with last, the exams watchdog revealed today. Ofqual said there had been 504 appeals on re-marked papers, compared with 445 last year. However, just 48 resulted in a grade change, compared with 42 last year. The number of parents and teachers making inquiries – the first step of an appeal – over GCSE marks has risen. Parents and teachers made inquiries about 96,411 GCSE marks, 15,066 of which resulted in a change of mark. Last year, 87,142 inquiries were made, 15,911 of which resulted in a change. For A-levels the number of inquiries was slightly lower. Parents and teachers made inquiries about 68,463 A-level units, 7,667 of which resulted in a change. This compares with 69,788 inquiries made last year, 6,957 of which resulted in a change. Most inquiries resulted in a second examiner reviewing a student's paper to ensure that the marking scheme had been correctly applied. The figures reflect an increase in the number of appeals launched for other school tests. In November, the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency said there had been 3,000 more requests for re-marks of the national tests taken by 11-year-olds, formerly known as Sats, compared with the previous year. Requests for re-marks were made in relation to 50,257 Sats papers – about 3% of the total number marked. But 6,532 papers were awarded new grades after an appeal – fewer than 0.5% of those marked. Kathleen Tattersall, chair of Ofqual, said: "As regulator, it is our role to ensure that fair systems are in place and that these are followed correctly. We are continuing to regulate awarding organisations to check that they have good quality assurance systems in place to ensure that any incorrect marking is quickly identified."