You should first speak to your school or college. It’s important that you understand on what basis you can and can’t appeal your results when deciding your next steps. Only your school or college can submit an appeal on your behalf
1. I think there might have been a mistake when my school or college submitted my centre assessment grade
You can ask your school or college to check whether it made an error when submitting your centre assessment grade or your position in the rank order. If your school or college does think it made a mistake, it can submit an appeal to the exam board, but it must be supported by clear evidence that an error had been made.
2. I think the exam board might have made a mistake when calculating my grade
Your school or college can appeal to an exam board on your behalf if it believes the exam board used the wrong data when calculating grades or incorrectly communicated the grades calculated. You should discuss this with your school or college.
3. I don’t agree with the centre assessment grade that I was given by my teacher
Your school or college submitted the grades it believes you were most likely to achieve if exams had gone ahead. The Government knows that many students wanted to be able to challenge their centre assessment grades if they were unhappy with them, but it judged this could not be done consistently and fairly. Any appeal would have to be done by someone better placed than your teachers to judge your likely grade if exams had taken place – as exams were cancelled, the Government doesn't think that there is such a person. And because of the role of the rank order in grading this year, an appeal would affect other students: if one student successfully appealed against their position in the rank order, it could mean that other students’ grades were lowered.
You can’t appeal your grade because you don’t agree with the centre assessment grade or rank order position submitted by your school or college.
If you’d like an opportunity to improve your grade, you can choose to sit exams in the autumn series instead. If you have concerns about bias, discrimination or something else that suggests that your school or college did not behave with care or integrity when determining your centre assessment grade or rank order information, see ‘The appeals process’.
4. I don’t agree with the statistical standardisation model, and now I think my result is wrong
Standardisation is important to make sure grades across different schools and colleges are of a consistent standard and so your school or college can’t appeal your grade on your behalf because it does not agree with the standardisation model. Your school or college can appeal to the exam board on your behalf if it believes the exam board used the wrong data when it calculated the centre’s grades. If you’d like an opportunity to improve your grade, you can choose to sit exams in the autumn exam series instead.
5. What if my school or college won’t submit an appeal on my behalf?
If your school or college won’t submit an appeal to the exam board on your behalf, it must have a process in place for you to ask for a review of that decision.
You should first raise this with your school or college. If you wish to complain, you should speak to the exam board for further guidance.
6. I think I could have done better if I had sat my exams
You can’t appeal your grade because you think you would have done better in your exams. If you would prefer to take exams you can do so in the autumn exam series.
7. I’m entitled to reasonable adjustments due to my disability, and I don’t think this was taken into account when determining my centre assessment grade
If you have concerns that any reasonable adjustments weren’t taken into account when determining your centre assessment grade or rank order information, you should raise these concerns directly with your school or college. If you have evidence of serious malpractice on the part of your school or college, it may be appropriate to bring those concerns directly to the exam board instead. See ‘The appeals process’ for more information.
8. I think my result, or someone else’s, has been affected by wrongdoing such as discrimination or bias
If you have concerns about bias, discrimination or any other factor that suggests that your school or college did not behave with care or integrity when determining your centre assessment grade or rank order information you should first raise these concerns with your school or college. Your school or college must have a procedure in place to deal with such complaints. If you have evidence of serious malpractice on the part of your school or college, it may be appropriate to bring those concerns directly to the exam board initially instead. Where there is evidence, the Government requires exam boards to investigate allegations as potential malpractice or maladministration.
