Following their results, students are able to appeal if they believe there has been an error in the grading process.

All students have the opportunity to appeal their grade if they meet the eligibility criteria (see below). It is important to note that an appeal may result in a grade being lowered, staying the same, or going up. So if a student puts in an appeal and their grade is lowered, they will receive the lower grade and this cannot be reverted. There is also the option to resit GCSEs in the autumn, which may be preferable for some students. The design, content and assessment of these papers will be the same as in a normal year.

Full details of the appeals process have been published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) here. The appeals process for exams in the Summer 2021 exam series has two stages:

Stage 1 – Centre Review

A Stage 1 - Centre Review for a TAG can be requested by a student if they suspect there was either:

1. An administrative error by the centre e.g. the wrong grade/mark was recorded against the evidence or the wrong grade was sent to the awarding body.

And/or

2. A procedural error by the centre e.g. a reasonable adjustment or access arrangement was not provided for an eligible student.

The deadline to submit a Stage 1 – Centre Review is Wednesday 1st September 

Stage 2 – Appeal to the Awarding Organisation

Students can only request an appeal to the awarding organisation following receipt of the outcome of their Stage 1 – Centre Review.

Following the outcome of their Stage 1 – Centre Review, a Stage 2 – Appeal to the Awarding Organisation can be made if the student suspects there was:

1. An administrative error by the centre e.g. the wrong grade/mark was recorded against the evidence or the wrong grade was sent to the awarding body.
2. A procedural error by the centre e.g. a reasonable adjustment or access arrangement was not provided for an eligible student.
3. Their grade reflects an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement e.g. the evidence selected to determine the grade was inappropriate or the evidence was incorrectly used to determine the grade.

The deadline to submit a Stage 2 – Appeal to the Awarding Organisation is Wednesday 8th September

How to submit an appeal

To submit an appeal, please read the school’s full appeals procedure in our Centre Policy here and download the JCQ's appeals form here.

Students must send the completed form to col-exams@cap.education (preferably from their school email address). Please provide a contact phone number in the email as we will call to check that the student has submitted the appeal before proceeding. WE WILL NOT PROCESS YOUR APPEAL UNTIL WE HAVE CONFIRMED YOU HAVE MADE THE APPEAL SO IT IS VITAL YOU INCLUDE YOUR PHONE NUMBER.