How to apply for an appeal? (GCSE and A-Level)
It is perfectly normal to be slightly worried about your exam results. But there is no need to worry too much as g2T is here to support you with appeals and anything else.
What are the results day dates?
In the 20/21 academic year, the results days have been pushed forward – therefore, results are being released earlier than the usual dates.
A-LEVEL RESULTS DAY IS ON 10TH AUGUST
GCSE RESULTS DAY IS ON 12TH AUGUST
How busy will the appeals process be?
The results day have been pushed forward due to the expectation of a vast number of appeals. In addition, due to high pressure arising from appeals, an earlier results day will give schools and universities more time and comfort to review grades and make the correct decision.
What do you need for the appeals process?
There are four crucial pieces of information required before you apply for the appeals process. We encourage all students to gather this information before they apply for an appeal.
School policy
1. Your school’s policy or method adopted by teachers on which they based their judgement of your grade.
Physical evidence
2. Collect evidence or hard copies of the material used by the teacher to give the judgement. For example, did teachers make use of mock exams, in-class tests or other forms of assessment? It is very important that you can physically locate this evidence as the exam board may request it.
The grade received for physical evidence
3. Create a list of the marks and grades you were awarded for the collection of evidence you have gathered.
Allowances available
4. Get information on whether any allowances were given to you by your school. The allowances referred to here is not the general consideration of schools being closed for all students. Instead, it is specific considerations given to your circumstances. For example, did the school consider the death of close family members due to COVID or were you yourself affected by COVID and fell seriously ill, resulting in you taking time off from school.
What will the appeals process involve?
The appeals process has been set up in a manner where you have to go through two stages for a successful case.
Stage I – appeal to your school
Stage one involves you directly applying to your school or college. Often this consists, of double-checking the school works to ensure there were no human (admin) errors made. For example, a typo when entering the marks into the system. Or whether the school policy has been applied correctly (i.e., your personal circumstances were not properly taken into consideration or the school was not aware of them).
In this stage, if the school deems that they did indeed make a mistake during the grades decision process, they themselves will submit the appeal for you and ensure your grade is rectified.
It is important to note that schools will only make this decision in very rare and exceptional circumstances.
Stage II – appeal to the exam board
If you are still not happy with your grades after going through stage one of the appeals, then your school will apply for an appeal to exam boards for you. Unfortunately, it is not possible for students to directly appeal to the exam boards themselves.
Since schools are ultimately responsible for submitting your appeal to the exam board, there is a possibility of the school rejecting your request to apply for an appeal. It would only be in cases where the school strongly believes you have a basis for an appeal.
Important dates for the appeals process
School appeals (Stage I) – until 16th August for priority cases
All other appeals – until 3rd September
Appeal to exam board (Stage II) - until 23rd August for priority cases
All other appeals – until 17th September
Frequently asked questions?
Do I need to pay for an appeal?
No, appeals this year are free.
When should I apply for an appeal?
Since the appeals process is free of charge, there will be a huge increase in the number of applications for appeals made to the schools. So, it would be best to apply for an appeal as early as you can.
Are my results guaranteed to go up?
No, your results are not guaranteed to go up. In fact, you can fall down a grade boundary. Therefore, we advise students to only apply for an appeal if they are confident in their ability.
Who applies for the appeal?
Your school is responsible for handling and submitting your appeals to the exam board. You are unable to speak to the exam board directly.
Is my appeal a priority case?
Your appeal will be deemed a priority case if you need specific grades to get into the university of your choice for A-level students or to get into college for GCSE students.
On what basis would the school apply for an appeal for me?
- If an admin error has occurred, i.e., a typo when entering information
- Where proper consideration to your personal circumstances was not given
- Where you believe the academic judgement of the teacher on your grade is unreasonable
How long will it take for me to get the result of the appeal?
Due to an extremely large number of cases, schools and exam boards will be under great amounts of pressure. Therefore, it is uncertain how long your appeal will take.
The appeal to the exam board will take longer than the school’s appeals process.
g2T advises all A-level students to consider very carefully which UCAS option they would like to select – as, by the time the appeal decision comes back, they may lose their place. Where students go ahead to appeal for their grades, they should contact their university as early as possible to inform them of this to ensure your place is not given away. Students need to be very quick with this as your place can be given away quickly due to the clearing hotlines process.
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