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The model also highlights that adding other unreliability sources and motivational effects could further affect outcomes, while multiple retakes add cost with limited further false-negative reduction.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/re-taking-and-grading-accuracy/620965/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/re-taking-and-grading-accuracy/620965.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Taylor Morgan","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-28","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"How does re-taking affect the difference between true grade and achieved grade?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The tables and discussion indicate that re-taking reduces false negative outcomes, particularly for grades below the A range. Grade A candidates are described as virtually unaffected by re-sitting.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What educational harm or benefit is considered when candidates retake?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"The analysis weighs a potential accuracy fall against the relative importance of false negatives and false positives. It concludes that allowing a single re-take substantially reduces false negatives for non-A candidates while having little perceptible effect for grade A.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"Why does the report argue that allowing multiple re-takes adds limited value?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It states that more than one re-take adds little further reduction in false negatives, increases assessment cost and burden, and has less obvious educational value.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},620965,1793070498,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":30,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":111},1099523885336,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","|  | Difference from true grade |  |  |  |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Attempt | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |\n| 1 | 0% | 2% | 13% | 65% | 17% | 3% | 0% |\n| 2 | 0% | 0% | 5% | 59% | 30% | 5% | 0% |\n| 3 | 0% | 0% | 2% | 52% | 39% | 7% | 0% |\n| 4 | 0% | 0% | 1% | 44% | 46% | 8% | 0% |\n\nTable 1: The difference between true grade and achieved grade following one to four attempts at the test  \nA fall in accuracy may seem to suggest that re-sitting reduces the quality of the decision making; however, the relative importance placed on false negative results and false positive results should also be considered. Is it educationally more harmful that 15 per cent of candidates worthy of a grade did not receive that grade when they first sat the examination? Or is it worse that an additional 15 per cent of candidates overachieve following a re-take? It is also worth considering the impact on different grades.  \nFigure 1 shows the impact of re-taking on grading accuracy by true grade. Grade A candidates are virtually unaffected by re-sitting. The real impact is on the lower grades as false negative results disappear after subsequent re-takes.  \nThis model considers only one source of unreliability inherent in the tests, the sampling of the curriculum. If other sources of unreliability are added, such as marking reliability or variations induced by factors such as examination stress then the impact would be even more pronounced. Of course this simulation only considers one aspect relevant to re-taking. There are other concerns such as the impact of re-takes on motivation that are beyond the scope of this simulation. The model also assumes that candidates know their true grade and will only re-take if they fail to achieve this grade.  \nOverall it would seem safe to conclude, however, that allowing a single re-take has a substantial impact in reducing the false negative error rate for candidates outside the grade A range while having little perceptible impact on candidates in the grade A range. Removal of re-takes would seem to perversely deny less able candidates of the right to achieve their true grade. That said, allowing more than one re-take opportunity adds little in terms of reducing the rate of false negatives, increases the cost and burden of assessment and is of less obvious educational value.  \nChristopher Wheadon  \n22 September 2010  \nFigure 1: Difference from true grade by re-take attempt and true grade  \ncount  \n300  \n250  \n200  \n150  \n100  \n50  \n0  \n300  \n250  \n200  \n150  \n100  \n50  \n0  \n250  \n200  \n150  \n100  \n50  \n0  \n200  \n150  \n100  \n50  \n0  \nDifference from true grade","cbCaijYdelz4OXjW","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijYdelz4OXjW","pdf",717039,"English","# Difference between true grade and achieved grade\n## Impact by re-take attempt\n## Educational implications and limitations","[{\"question\":\"How does re-taking affect the difference between true grade and achieved grade?\",\"answer\":\"The tables and discussion indicate that re-taking reduces false negative outcomes, particularly for grades below the A range. Grade A candidates are described as virtually unaffected by re-sitting.\"},{\"question\":\"What educational harm or benefit is considered when candidates retake?\",\"answer\":\"The analysis weighs a potential accuracy fall against the relative importance of false negatives and false positives. It concludes that allowing a single re-take substantially reduces false negatives for non-A candidates while having little perceptible effect for grade A.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the report argue that allowing multiple re-takes adds limited value?\",\"answer\":\"It states that more than one re-take adds little further reduction in false negatives, increases assessment cost and burden, and has less obvious educational value.\"}]","Re-taking and grading accuracy | PDF",1792464804]