Results Appeals

If you are concerned that the grade you have received is wrong, there is an appeals process. All students have the opportunity to appeal their grade if they meet the eligibility criteria for making an appeal (see below).

Things to consider before making an appeal

It is important to note that an appeal may result in a grade being lowered, staying the same, or going up, so you should consider carefully whether you have a strong case for an appeal.  If you appeal and your grade is lowered, you will receive the lower mark.

You should also note that some errors won’t lead to a grade change; so even if the exam board accepts there was an error, they may decide not to change your grade in certain circumstances. You cannot withdraw your request for a centre review or appeal once the school has made a decision.

There is also the option to re-sit GCSEs and AS/A 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. If you would like to re-sit exams in the autumn you should email your request to exams@hovepark.org.uk

Further information about appeals can be found in this student guide published by the exam boards: https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JCQ-Student-Appeals-Guide-2021.pdf

The appeal process

There are two stages to the appeals process.

Stage 1: centre review

All appeals, on any of the grounds set out later on in this document, must first go through a centre review. At this stage, we will check for any administrative errors, and check that our policies and procedures were followed correctly. 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 organisation appeal

Following the outcome of a centre review, students may still choose to pursue an awarding organisation appeal. They must fill in a form, which we will then send on their behalf to the exam boards. 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.

Deadlines for appeal requests

The following form must be completed in order to request an appeal: https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/JCQ_Appeals-Guidance_Summer-2021_Appendix-B.pdf

Once completed, it should be sent to examappeals@hovepark.org.uk by the dates listed below:

Please note, only the centre review (stage 1) section should be completed in the first instance.

Stage 2 appeals only proceed once stage 1 has been completed and the outcome has been communicated to the student who is appealing.

Criteria for making an appeal

You can only appeal if you think:

1. The school made an administrative error when submitting your proposed grade (an example of this would be putting the wrong information into a spreadsheet);
2.  The school did not follow its procedures properly when working out your proposed grade (an example of a procedural error would be where you’ve been told you should have received extra time for assessments, but this wasn’t given in a certain subject). You can see our Centre Policy for details of the procedures that were in place in the school for working our teacher assessed grades here: https://www.hovepark.org.uk/exams;
3. The school did not make a reasonable judgement when deciding which evidence to use to determine your teacher assessed grade;
4. The school did not make a reasonable judgement about the grade based on the evidence gathered;
5. The exam board made an administrative error.

What to do if you want to make an appeal

1. Read the exam board guidance on appeals:

It is recommended that you start by reading the JCQ Student Appeals Guide 2021: https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/JCQ-Student-Appeals-Guide-2021.pdf . This document provides full details about the appeals process and how to complete the form for requesting an appeal.

2. Contact us for advice:

Once you have read the student guide you may also want to contact us for advice. We can answer any questions you might have about making an appeal. You can contact us at: examappeals@hovepark.org.uk

3. Request a centre review (stage 1):

To make a request for a centre review you must fill in the first section of the JCQ form: https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/JCQ_Appeals-Guidance_Summer-2021_Appendix-B.pdf

There is guidance in the JCQ Student Guide to Appeals document about how to fill this form in.

Once you have completed the form you should send it to us at this email address: examappeals@hovepark.org.uk

The deadlines for submitting the centre review request form is 3rd September 2021, although requests after this date may still be considered.

4. Request an awarding organisation appeal (stage 2):

Following the outcome of a centre review, students may still choose to pursue an awarding organisation appeal.

You should only progress to stage 2 if you remain concerned with your grade after the completion of stage 1. At stage 2 you can ask the exam board to check whether the decision your school or college made about your grade was unreasonable, or whether the selection of work they used to decide your grade was unreasonable. You can also ask the exam board to check whether the school or college made a procedural error, or whether the exam board itself made an administrative error.

You must fill in the relevant part of the JCQ form for requesting an awarding organisation appeal (stage 2):

https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/JCQ_Appeals-Guidance_Summer-2021_Appendix-B.pdf

Once you have completed the form you should send it to us at examappeals@hovepark.org.uk and we will forward it to the exam boards. 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

.

The deadline for submitting a request for an awarding organisation appeal to us is 10th September 2021, although requests after this date may still be considered.

Information about priority appeals for 6th form students

Priority appeals are only open to A level students starting university this autumn, who have missed out on the conditions of their firm or insurance offer. 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, unfortunately. 

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.

Priority appeals will be handled more quickly than other appeals, where possible before UCAS’s advisory deadline of 8th September.

The suggested deadline for requesting a priority appeal is 16th August. We will attempt to complete the centre review by 20th August*. If students wish to progress this to an awarding organisation appeal, they must send the completed form to us by 23rd August for priority appeals.

 *At both stages of the appeals process, there may be the need for specialist, expert knowledge (e.g. subject teachers, SEND knowledge). This may not be possible in August. In such cases, we may have to wait until the start of term, but priority appeals will still be treated as a priority.