2021 Appeals
Although everyone is working hard to make sure you are issued with the correct grades on results day, there will also be an appeals system as a safety net to fix any genuine errors that were not identified earlier on. If you believe an error has been made in determining your grade, you will have a right to appeal. Full details are available in the JCQ Guidance for Students and Parents linked below. The appeals form is also provided below (fillable PDF format).
JCQ appeals guidance Appeals form Appeals FAQ
Please see the Appeals Process Stages information below for details of the Centre Policy and sources of evidence.
To ensure appeals enquiries are dealt with swiftly and properly they must be sent to our dedicated email address hoeexams@thehoward.thpt.org.uk.
Advisory note
If you appeal your grade can go down, up or stay the same at any stage of the process.
Priority appeals for Year 13
If you are in Year 13, have applied to university but have not met the grades required for your conditional UCAS offer, we will process your appeal as a priority as your place at university may be dependent on the outcome. You should also tell the university you are hoping to go to so they can decide how to handle your offer.
To be considered for priority processing you must submit your appeal to us by end of Monday 16 August so that we have enough time to process it. You will need to select the priority option and must include your UCAS id number - we cannot process a priority appeal without it.
Key dates
Priority appeals (for Year 13 students progressing to university and who have not met their conditional offer only)
Tuesday 10 August - results published
Monday 16 August - school deadline for priority appeals
Monday 23 August - deadline for centres to submit priority appeals to exam boards
Non-priority appeals (for students not progressing to university)
Tuesday 10 / Thursday 12 August - results published
Friday 3 September - school deadline for non-priority appeals
Friday 17 September - deadline for centres to submit non-priority appeals to exam boards
Appeals process stages
There are two stages to the appeals process:
Stage 1: Centre review
If you don’t think you have been issued with the correct grade, you can appeal to your school or college, who will review whether they:
• made an administrative error, e.g. they submitted an incorrect grade; they used an incorrect assessment mark when determining your grade.
• did not apply a procedure correctly, e.g. they did not follow their Centre Policy, did not undertake internal quality assurance, did not take account of access arrangements or mitigating circumstances, such as illness.
To help you decide whether to appeal, you should refer to
• our Centre Policy
• the sources of evidence used to determine your grade along with any grades/marks associated with them
• details of any special circumstances that have been taken into account in determining your grade, e.g. access arrangements, mitigating circumstances such as illness (Heads of Subject will have responded to requests for 'Variation of Evidence' - the requestor should have an email from them).
Stage 2: Appeal to the exam board
If you still don’t think you have the correct grade after the centre review is complete, you can ask your school or college to appeal to the exam board. The exam board will review whether
• the school or college made an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement* in the choice of evidence from which they determined your grade and/or in the determination of your grade from that evidence.
*A reasonable judgement is one that is supported by evidence. An exercise of judgement will not be unreasonable simply because a student considers that an alternative grade should have been awarded, even if the student puts forward supporting evidence. There may be a difference of opinion without there being an unreasonable exercise of judgement. The reviewer will not remark individual assessments to make fine judgements but will take a holistic approach based on the overall evidence.
• the school or college did not apply a procedure correctly, e.g. they did not follow their Centre Policy, did not undertake internal quality assurance, did not take account of access arrangements or mitigating circumstances, such as illness.
• the exam board made an administrative error, e.g. they changed your grade during the processing of grades.
At both stages of the process you will need to submit your appeal to your school or college and give them your written consent to conduct the appeal or submit it to the exam board on your behalf. It’s important to remember that your grade can go down, up or stay the same through either stage of the process.