Guidance for Parents and Students
Post Results Service 2021
All students wishing to appeal a grade must read the guidance. If you believe you have grounds for appeal, please complete the relevant form and return it to exams2021@chauncy.org.uk
If you are in Year 13 and have not achieved the grades needed for your university place and you wish to appeal a grade, you should submit your appeal this week by Friday 13th August (priority appeal). All other appeals should be submitted between 16th August and 3rd September (non-priority appeal).
Determination of GCSE, AS and A Level Grades 2021
Grades this summer were based on Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs). We submitted TAGs to the exam boards as a holistic assessment of students’ performance in a subject, following a rigorous process of assessment, moderation and quality assurance.
These grades were then reviewed by the relevant exam board, following external quality assurance checks.
This year no grades have been changed as a result of an algorithm.
Appealing Teacher Assessed Grades
All students have the opportunity to appeal their grade if they meet the eligibility criteria. 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.
There is also the option to resit GCSEs, A levels and some AS levels in the autumn, which may be preferable to some students. The design, content and assessment of these papers will be the same as in a normal year.
Grounds for Appeal
The grounds for appeal, as dictated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), are:
- You think we have made an administrative error: an example of this would be putting the wrong information into a spreadsheet.
- You think we have made a procedural error: this means we haven’t properly followed our own process as detailed in the Centre Policy for Determining GCSE, AS and A Level Grades, as approved by the exam board.
- You think the academic judgement on the selection of evidence was unreasonable.
- You think the academic judgement on the grade you were given was unreasonable.
‘Unreasonable’ is a technical term in this context and means that no educational professional acting reasonably could have selected the same evidence or come up with the same grade.
It also means that the independent reviewers will not remark or grade students’ evidence. Instead, they will look to see whether any teacher acting reasonably could have arrived at the same grade.
When placing an appeal the student will have to sign a declaration saying that they accept the fact their grade may go down and they may get a lower grade than their original TAG.
Before requesting an appeal, students must read the JCQ Student and Parent guide, which can be found here.
The 2-Stage Appeal Process
Stage 1 – Centre Review
At this stage, the school will check for any administrative errors, and check that our policies and procedures were followed correctly. Our policy has already been approved by the exam boards, so we are only ensuring that we followed this properly.
The outcome of the centre review will be communicated to students when made.
At the centre review stage, if we find that a grade should go up or down, we will ask the exam board to change it. They will then consider this request.
Stage 2 – Awarding Body Review
Following the outcome of a centre review, students may still choose to pursue an awarding organisation appeal. Students and parents cannot send appeals directly to the exam board themselves – it must come from us.
The outcome of the awarding organisation appeal will be communicated to students when made.
Students wishing to submit an appeal should complete the first section of the JCQ form below.
JCQ interactive appeals request form
Completed forms should then be sent to exams2021@chauncy.org.uk
Priority Appeals
Priory appeals are only open to A level students starting university this autumn, who have missed out on the conditions of their firm offer and will be handled more quickly than other appeals.
If you decided not to confirm a firm conditional offer and to go through clearing instead, JCQ cannot offer you a priority appeal.
JCQ cannot offer priority appeals for GCSE students.
When making a priority appeal, students will have to include their UCAS number so it can be confirmed that it is a genuine priority appeal.
Dates and Deadlines
Priority Appeals
| 10th August until 13th August | Window for students to request centre review |
| 10th August until 20th August | Centres conduct centre review |
| 10th August until 20th August | Centres submit appeals to awarding organisations |
Non-priority Appeals
| 16th August until 3rd September | Window for students to request centre review |
| 16th August until 10th September | Centres conduct centre review |
| 16th August until 17th September | Centres submit appeals to awarding organisations |