I got my AS-level results recently. The odd blip was Music, which is divided into three parts
Written Exam - B - no suprises, quite happy
Composition (creation of own music) - E
Performance (playing a piece of music) - E
those last two...somethings wrong with them. My teachers agreed and set off a query.
Today the response came. There's something fishy about Composition, and it's being remarked. Nothing wrong there, though a bit annoying.
Performance, though, is both infuriating and unfair
Basically, the marked piece goes to a moderator. THIS time, however, the moderated results were passed onto the Principle Moderator, who is basically the EXAM GOD. He marks us down incredibly harshly with no reason other than "generally across the nation, Music results have been overly generous"
The problem I have is that in the time it took to find this out, the deadline for requesting remarks and copies of the examiner's comments (so I could find out what I apparantly did wrong in my Performance) passed, so now I'm stuck at an E, with no explanation and no hope of a remark, because even if the school organised one, it would go to the EXAM GOD, and he'd just stick by his former decision. To add insult to injury, the EXAM GOD is so sure of his marks that I have been used as an official "example" as to what an E-Grade looks like.
Now, this is the tricky part of my argument, because I risk looking petulant. Here it is: I AM CERTAIN THAT I DID MORE THAN AN E-GRADE WORTH PERFORMANCE. It's hard to say that without sounding like a bruised ego that's been taken down a peg, but here's the thing:
E is the lowest pass mark. It implies that I barely made it through my piece and that I made mistakes and stuff
I played a Grade 6 piece (which is a year's worth of skill and experience more than the highest level of the AS-Level requires) flawlessly. Whether or not I played it "with feeling" is up to discussion (I think I did, but that's not important). I, at the most BASIC requirements of this exam, played a piece AS IT WAS WRITTEN, with no mistakes, at the right speed, with all the right volumes, pitches and instructions obeyed. That in itself is worth at the very least a D, and I definately did more than the most basic requirements of this exam.
So now I find myself having been given an E by the Final Word of Examiners for a piece which, at the most basic level, was flawless and worthy of a D or more, with no explanation, no hope of appeal and nothing.
In short, I'm absaloutely infuriated at the stupidity of this system, and I shall be taking this further. I have plans to review my teacher's involvement in the marking process, I will check the examining criteria, I will contact my local MP if nothing is resolved. I will not let this die, I am that appalled at this general unfairness
Discussion Value: What has, recently or in the past, caused such outrage within you that you couldn't let the problem lie, that you HAD to do something, even if it was just screaming and punching the wall?
Written Exam - B - no suprises, quite happy
Composition (creation of own music) - E
Performance (playing a piece of music) - E
those last two...somethings wrong with them. My teachers agreed and set off a query.
Today the response came. There's something fishy about Composition, and it's being remarked. Nothing wrong there, though a bit annoying.
Performance, though, is both infuriating and unfair
Basically, the marked piece goes to a moderator. THIS time, however, the moderated results were passed onto the Principle Moderator, who is basically the EXAM GOD. He marks us down incredibly harshly with no reason other than "generally across the nation, Music results have been overly generous"
The problem I have is that in the time it took to find this out, the deadline for requesting remarks and copies of the examiner's comments (so I could find out what I apparantly did wrong in my Performance) passed, so now I'm stuck at an E, with no explanation and no hope of a remark, because even if the school organised one, it would go to the EXAM GOD, and he'd just stick by his former decision. To add insult to injury, the EXAM GOD is so sure of his marks that I have been used as an official "example" as to what an E-Grade looks like.
Now, this is the tricky part of my argument, because I risk looking petulant. Here it is: I AM CERTAIN THAT I DID MORE THAN AN E-GRADE WORTH PERFORMANCE. It's hard to say that without sounding like a bruised ego that's been taken down a peg, but here's the thing:
E is the lowest pass mark. It implies that I barely made it through my piece and that I made mistakes and stuff
I played a Grade 6 piece (which is a year's worth of skill and experience more than the highest level of the AS-Level requires) flawlessly. Whether or not I played it "with feeling" is up to discussion (I think I did, but that's not important). I, at the most BASIC requirements of this exam, played a piece AS IT WAS WRITTEN, with no mistakes, at the right speed, with all the right volumes, pitches and instructions obeyed. That in itself is worth at the very least a D, and I definately did more than the most basic requirements of this exam.
So now I find myself having been given an E by the Final Word of Examiners for a piece which, at the most basic level, was flawless and worthy of a D or more, with no explanation, no hope of appeal and nothing.
In short, I'm absaloutely infuriated at the stupidity of this system, and I shall be taking this further. I have plans to review my teacher's involvement in the marking process, I will check the examining criteria, I will contact my local MP if nothing is resolved. I will not let this die, I am that appalled at this general unfairness
Discussion Value: What has, recently or in the past, caused such outrage within you that you couldn't let the problem lie, that you HAD to do something, even if it was just screaming and punching the wall?
