GCSE results day 2025: The best way to appeal your GCSE grade - and the deadlines students need to know

• GCSE results day is upon us

• If you are concerned about GCSE grades then rest assured that candidates have the right to ask for it to be reviewed

• Appeals can progress through three distinct stages, but pupils will likely need their school’s help

• Grades may go up or down as a result - or not change at all

• The process can prove costly to families

Sometimes, no matter how much work was put in, a student may not be happy with the GCSE grades that they have been awarded.

Today (Thursday, August 21) is GCSE results day, and thousands of this year’s exam-takers are flocking to their schools to find out how they did. 

For the first time ever some West Midlands GCSE students and some in Greater Manchester are receiving their results via an app.

It will hopefully be a time of celebration for many young people, with their hard work paying off and their results giving cause for happiness.

For some, however, the day may bring disappointment, and students will need extra support as they process and start planning their next steps. 

In some rare instances, their overall grades may seem drastically different from what they expected - and it might be worth getting them reviewed via an appeal.

But how exactly do you appeal a grade, what will actually happen if something has gone wrong, and when do you need to take action by? Here’s what pupils and their families need to know:

How to appeal your GCSE grade

In most cases, your school will need to do this on your behalf. If you have concerns about a grade, it’s important to set up a meeting with school staff to talk your options through as soon as possible. You may want to request a priority copy of your marked exam paper to look over first.

You’ll need to set out your exact concerns when you speak to staff, and may need to sign something saying the school has your permission to seek a review. If you decide to proceed with an appeal, there are then three main steps you can take.

In the first instance, your school will request a marking review from whichever exam board it uses – usually AQA, OCR, Eduqas or Pearson Edexcel for most schools in England. The board will check over your exam for any mistakes with how it was marked.

Once it has let you know the outcome of its review, you can ask your school to appeal it if you still have concerns. The exam board will then look at your work again, and make a final decision on whether your marks or grade need correcting.

If after these two reviews you believe your appeal wasn’t handled correctly, there is one final option available to you. This is getting your school to request a review from Ofqual – the Government’s qualifications regulator. Ofqual can’t take action until the exam board has completed its own review process, which is why this is typically the last resort. It won’t review your work, but will look into whether the exam board followed its own procedures correctly and complied with the official rules.

If Ofqual agrees that there has been a mistake, it can’t actually change your grade either. But it can ask the exam board to take one more look at your appeal.

When is the appeal deadline this year?

Exact dates for different services may vary a little by exam board, although they are usually very consistent. Here are AQA’s appeal deadlines for pupils getting their GCSE results this week:

Requesting a priority copy of a marked exam paper to decide next steps: Thursday, September 4.

Deadline for applying for a clerical recheck or a marking review: Thursday, September 25.

AQA says a marking review should take less than 20 days. If you’d like to appeal this initial review, you will need to get your school to submit this within two weeks of receiving the outcome.

If you believe the exam board hasn’t handled your appeal correctly and want Ofqual to review your case, you must get your request to them within 15 working days of receiving your final decision from the board.

What outcomes are possible?

Once the marking review of your exam has been completed, your grade may go up. But depending on what board staff find, it may also drop – or not change at all. Government statistics show that of the 1,065 GCSE appeals submitted in the last academic year (2023/24), only 475 resulted in a grade change, or about 45%.

If you request a review and no mistakes are found or changes made you may also have to pay a fee, and these can get quite pricey. AQA charges £43.50 for a GCSE marking review, rising to £129.30 for an appeal, and £221.55 for an appeal hearing.