GCSEs and A levels: How to appeal an exam grade

Once GCSE and A-level results have been released, students, schools and colleges have the opportunity to appeal grades. We explain the process
17th January 2024, 12:00pm

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GCSEs and A levels: How to appeal an exam grade

https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/secondary/gcse-a-level-appeal-exam-grade
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Once students receive the results of their GCSE or A-level exams, the student, or the school or college, may wish to appeal their grade.

How to appeal an A-level or GCSE exam grade 

After results are released, students have a short window within which they can appeal a grade. The key dates for appeals are as follows: 

A level

  • Thursday 15 August 2024: A-level results released to students 
  • Thursday 22 August 2024: Deadline for requests for priority review of marking   
  • Thursday 26 September 2024: Deadline for review of marking 


GCSE

  • Thursday 24 August 2024: GCSE results released to students
  • Thursday 26 September 2024: Deadline for review of marking

Reasons to ask for a re-mark or ‘admin check’

Appeals sometimes occur because students or teachers believe a mistake has been made with the marking of the exam paper, or an error has occurred in the exam administration.

In these scenarios, students will need to have their papers checked or re-marked.

Specific exam grades are often prerequisites for further study, and students who have not obtained those grades may be prevented from continuing their studies at their chosen education provider.

In these situations, the student should always keep in contact with the school or college where they wish to study to keep them informed of the progress of their appeal. It may be the case that their place can be taken up while they await the results of their appeal or review of marking.

Requesting the exam paper

The first step in appealing a grade is to request the exam paper. This will enable the student and/or teacher to read the paper to check if an error or mistake has occurred in the calculation of the grade.

To request the exam paper, the school or college’s exams officer will need to contact the exam board. Some papers are immediately available online, whereas others require a request to be submitted.

However, if the student is waiting to confirm a college, further education or university course place that depends on the results of the exam, it is recommended that instead of requesting the paper, a submission is made for a “review of marking”.

Review of marking 

A review of marking is when the exam paper is checked by another examiner. Only the school or college exams officer can request a review of marking. However, the student must give their consent for the review to take place.

When a paper is reviewed, another examiner re-marks the paper or checks the original marking. The mark can go up, down or stay the same. Exam boards may charge a fee for this service.

A priority review of marking can take around 10 days, whereas a normal review can take around 15 days.

Each exam board uses a different pricing structure for their re-marking services:

Resits

If the grade has not improved after the review of marking has been conducted, students may decide they wish to resit the examination. For students taking GCSEs, only maths and English language can be taken in the autumn. For A levels and all other GCSE subjects, resits will have to be taken in the next summer exam series.

Appealing exam grades

Alternatively, there is an option to appeal the GCSE or A-level grade.

There are three different grounds for appeals: 

  1. Appeals against the outcomes of post-results services (including clerical re-checks, reviews of marking and reviews of moderation). This covers students who have requested a review of marking and believe a mistake has been made.
  2. Appeals against decisions made in cases of malpractice. This refers to students who have been sanctioned for exam malpractice and wish to appeal.
  3. Appeals relating to access arrangements, reasonable adjustments and special consideration. This refers to students who have access arrangements in place and believe the exam board has not followed them correctly.


All exam boards will follow the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) guidance on appeals.

For appeals that occur following a review of marking, there is a 30-day window to appeal from the point the school receives the reviewed grade.

There are two reasons why a school or college can appeal against the outcome of a review of marking: if the school or college believes an error occurred in the review of marking; or if the school or college believes the exam board did not apply its procedures consistently, properly or fairly.

Once an appeal has been submitted, the school or college will receive a preliminary outcome letter within 42 days.

After the preliminary stage, the school or college will be told if the case will either be: not upheld; upheld in whole; or upheld in part.

At this point, the school or college has 14 days to request an appeal hearing.

To do this, a letter must be sent to the relevant exam board using the JCQ form JCQ/APP1 (see page 18).

More support

If a student, school or college requires more details on how to appeal an exam grade, they should speak to their exams officer and consult the appeals page on the relevant exam board website.

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