If a GCSE or A-level grade comes back lower than expected this August, you can challenge it. Every appeal in England goes through the school or exam centre, not the exam board directly, and the process has three steps: a clerical re-check, a review of marking, then a formal appeal. Here is how it works in 2026, what it costs, and when each route is actually worth it.
What are the key dates for 2026?
A-level results arrive on Thursday 13 August 2026 and GCSE results on Thursday 20 August 2026. Post-results services open as soon as results are published. Requests for a clerical re-check or a review of marking must reach the exam board by 24 September 2026, and if you want to go further, a formal appeal must be lodged within 30 calendar days of receiving the review outcome. Full rules are on the JCQ appeals pages.
Parents
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Who do I contact first?
Always the school or college where the exams were sat. Parents and students cannot submit post-results requests to AQA, Edexcel or OCR themselves; the exams officer does it on the student's behalf. If your child sat as a private candidate, the centre that hosted them handles it. Speak to the school on results day itself if you can, because the earliest deadlines are the ones that matter most.
What is the difference between a re-check, a review and an appeal?
A clerical re-check confirms every page was marked and the marks were added up correctly. A review of marking goes further: a senior examiner checks the paper for marking errors against the mark scheme. A formal appeal is the last stage, used when you believe the review itself went wrong, and it is considered first by the awarding body and then, at stage two, by a panel that includes an independent member. Most successful grade changes happen at the review stage, not at appeal.
My child needs the grade for a university place. Is there a faster route?
Yes. A-level students holding a university offer can ask their school for a priority review of marking, which exam boards turn around in roughly 20 days rather than the six weeks a standard review can take. Ask for this on results day and tell the university the grade is under review; universities routinely hold places while a priority review is in progress, but they will not wait forever, so speed matters. UCAS Clearing remains open in parallel, and our guide to how Clearing works in 2026 covers that route.
How much does it cost?
Fees vary by exam board and service, and schools sometimes pass them on to families. As a guide, a review of marking is typically somewhere between about £40 and £80 per paper. The fee is refunded if the grade changes. Some schools cover the cost where a teacher believes a marking error is likely, so ask before paying.
Can a grade go down as well as up?
Yes. Since marking reviews correct errors in either direction, the mark can rise, fall or stay the same, and the new grade stands. This is the single most important thing to weigh before requesting a review. If the mark is one or two marks below a boundary, the risk is usually worth taking; if the paper sits in the middle of a grade, it rarely is. The school can tell you exactly how far the result is from the next boundary.
What if the appeal is not the right route?
If the grade is genuinely a fair reflection of the exam, the practical options are a resit or moving forward with the grades achieved. GCSE maths and English can be resat in November 2026; other subjects wait for summer 2027. Our GCSE resits guide covers entries and dates, and our GCSE results day guide walks through the decision itself. A focused term of one-to-one help is usually what turns a near-miss into a comfortable pass: browse maths tutors or English tutors to see who covers your area, or request a tutor free and be matched instead.
A sensible results-week plan
- Before results day: agree with your child what you will do if a key grade is missed, so nobody decides in a panic.
- Results morning: if a grade is unexpectedly low, ask the school for the marks and how close each paper was to the boundary.
- Same day: request a priority review for any A-level grade tied to a university offer.
- Within the first week: decide on standard reviews for near-miss papers, weighing the risk that marks can go down.
- By late September: reviews requested; if the outcome still seems wrong, you have 30 days to appeal.