Schools in Scunthorpe and Brigg join the call for GCSEs to be re-marked

Two schools have joined North Lincolnshire Council in calling for this summer's GCSE English exams to be re-marked.

Many schools nationally are seeking an independent inquiry into the marking of this summer's English GCSEs after grade boundaries were changed following the January mock exams.

This led to claims that large numbers of students had suddenly dropped from C to D grades.

North Lincolnshire Council has called for some papers to be re-marked.

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And these feelings have been echoed by teachers in the region, including St Bede's deputy head teacher Gerard Cadwallader.

Mr Cadwallader said: "It is not fair in the first instance that the grade boundaries were changed halfway through the academic year.

"Our second concern is the discrepancies and inconsistency in grading between different units.

"We have evidence of some pupils achieving A* grades in one unit of English language, but getting F, G and unclassified grades in another unit.

"We are insisting that the exam board tells us why there is such an alarming difference. It is not fair on the students because it creates an element of uncertainty in their mind.

"For those that have missed out on a grade narrowly, it will create doubt in their mind as to whether they are one of the victims of this mess.

"Young people respond positively to what is fair and I think many will feel hard done by.

"We will be joining the call for some papers to be re-marked, especially where we feel there is alarming inconsistency in a student's results."

A head teacher looking for exams to be re-marked is Gail Young from the Vale Academy in Brigg – despite the school seeing an abundance of good results.

She said: "We were absolutely delighted with our English results – 77 per cent of students achieved A* to C grades, with 17 per cent achieving A* or A grades.

"However, we were disappointed with the results of five students whom we expected to achieve Cs who got Ds.

"We have asked for re-marks for these students as naturally we are very concerned about their future prospects."

Rob Waltham, North Lincolnshire Council cabinet member for people, said: "Clearly we want to support schools when they feel that grades are not what students deserved.

"I think that when there have been inconsistencies, it is not helpful for students or teachers.

"I do support changes to the exam system, but these changes have to be made before students start a qualification.

"Not every exam needs to be re-marked, but we need to look at cases where there have been anomalies in results."