Appealing against bad grades

If you feel you've been dealt an injustice with your exam or coursework results then your school or college can take it up with the awarding body. TheSite.org investigates what action can be taken.

Every year thousands of GCSE and A-level students are awarded the wrong results for their work, so it's no wonder that more people are lodging enquiries and appeals. In 2007 nearly 22,000 students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had their GCSE and A-level grades changed after they queried their results.

Who to speak to

George Turnbull from Ofqual, the Government body responsible for exams says: "The first thing you've got to do is speak to one of your teachers at your school or college. This is because students can't make enquiries directly with the examining board; everything has got to go through the school unless you are an external candidate."

Your school or college should support an enquiry on your behalf, so it's important that you speak to a teacher or lecturer at the earliest opportunity because there are deadlines to meet.

What are the deadlines?

This year's A-level results are published on August 14 and GCSE's on August 21.  If you need an A-level paper to be re-marked quickly because your university place depends on your result, then you can have a priority re-mark. The deadlines for enquiries are:

• August 29 for an A-level priority remark;
• September 20 for standard A-level enquiries;
• September 20 for GCSE enquiries.

How long will it take?

The time it takes to deal with an enquiry can vary depending on the examining body that is marking your paper, but they have to meet deadlines. The maximum time it will take for an A-level priority re-mark is 18 days. If it's a standard A-level or GCSE enquiry the deadline is 30 days.

Does it cost me anything?

It's up to your school or college who pays for a re-mark: "Students may not have to pay for it themselves" says George. "Normally the school or college that is supporting the enquiry will foot the bill".

A clerical re-check will cost around £10. This is where exam papers are checked to ensure that every question has been marked and the total awarded for each paper has been correctly calculated. A full re-mark of examinations scripts will cost about £30 to £40. This is when all parts of the examination are re-marked.

Overview for GCSE, AS-level and A-level examinations

Once you've spoken to your teacher or form tutor, this is what should happen next:

• Your school or college will lodge an enquiry with the examining body. This will normally result in a re-mark or re-moderation by the awarding body;
• If you or your school or college are unhappy with the outcome of the first enquiry they can lodge a secondary appeal with the awarding body within two weeks of receiving the first outcome. The awarding body will send a report of the first enquiry to you and then take it to the awarding body's appeals committee;
• If you're school or college is still not satisfied with the result they can lodge an appeal with the Examinations Appeal Board (EAB). This must be done three weeks after receiving the draft report on the outcome of your appeal from the awarding body. You will be told within two weeks if your application has been accepted or not. If it's accepted, an appeals hearing will be arranged before an EAB panel.

What about coursework

If you're unhappy about a coursework grade then speak to a teacher at your school or college. Coursework remarks are a bit more complicated than examination re-marks. Carolyn Adams from AQA, one of the UK's biggest awarding bodies, says: "If you want to get your coursework unit re-marked then the examining body will have to re-moderate the whole of the school or colleges coursework. This means that the student's school or college needs to be sure that they want to take it forward."

For undergraduates

Every university has their own policy on appealing against exam and coursework results, so you'll need to check with your student advice centre to find out more about your university's procedures.

Written by Chris Denholm