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Can I appeal my A-level results? Advice for students who are unhappy with their grades

Can I appeal my A-level results? Advice for students who are unhappy with their grades
Can I appeal my A-level results? Advice for students who are unhappy with their grades

2020 is the year that nobody could have foretold, so it seems somewhat ironic that one of the impacts of Covid-19 will be grades for A-level and GCSE students that come from predictions, rather than those generated by exams – a huge change that could lead to chaos and uncertainty for thousands.

How will you ever know your real grades if you have been denied the chance to sit for them?

If you thrive under the pressure of formal tests, or had been counting on an 11th hour push on revision, you will probably question whether your marks will truly reflect your ability. Come results day, if you’re not happy with your assessed grades, there will be some big decisions to make: Should you appeal? Should you take your exams in autumn – and in that case, spend the rest of the year waiting around at home? Or should you get on with things at your second-choice university?

These are all very real dilemmas. “The thought of a brand new system with no real guarantee of accurately predicting our grades is very daunting,” says A-level student Esme Harding, whose place to study biomedical sciences at Cardiff is dependent on her results. “I understand that the situation we have experienced is unlike any other, but students still feel an incredible amount of stress and uncertainty towards results day.” Students like Esme will be graded by their schools partly using evidence including book work and mock exam results.

Ofqual, which regulates exams and qualifications in England, is keen to stress that the grades given will reflect “the results students would most likely have achieved had exams gone ahead”. Despite this, some pupils are still concerned.

“When it came to mock exams we had no idea those would be the last exams we’d do,” says A-level student Oliver Brown, who has an AAA offer from Exeter College, Oxford. “I really didn’t work very hard for mine but if I’d known how important they’d turn out to be, necessity would have caused me to work harder.”

Within each grade, schools are also being asked to rank their students in order of performance, which means ordering every student predicted to get a particular grade from most certain to least.

These grades, plus data from the school’s historical performance, will be sent to the exam board, which will run them through a standardisation model designed by Ofqual to produce the final grades.

But Oliver is concerned that in solving one problem, it may create another. “It’s a difficult situation – but I worry that the solution could disadvantage students from backgrounds like mine – outliers at a school that averages Cs,” he says. His concern is that, because of his school’s traditional performance, its marks may be more likely to be moved down – and for the brightest students, there’s only one direction for their grades to go.

There are also challenges for groups of pupils – specifically BAME and students from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and disabilities, who may be subject to unconscious bias when their performance is ranked. In July, the Commons Education Committee confirmed there was abundant academic evidence of bias. Michelle Meadows, Ofqual’s deputy chief regulator, told the committee: “For the most able students [with an ethnic minority background], there tends to be under- prediction of the grades that students go on to get.

“At lower levels of ability, you get the reverse effect where there is some over-prediction.”

So if you are unhappy with your grades, what can you do? This week Ofqual announced that schools will be able to appeal against A-level and GCSE results if they feel data used to standardise grades was not a “reliable basis” for predicting this year's results. Pupils won't be able to appeal themselves, but they will be able to ask their schools whether they have made an administrative error. If schools agree, they can submit an appeal to the exam board on pupils’ behalf.

Even if your school agrees to an appeal, there are no clear answers about how long the process might take – because Ofqual and the exam boards cannot yet estimate how many such appeals there might be.

The good news is that if you are dissatisfied with your marks, you will be able to sit exams in October. Those who do will not have to worry about getting lower than their predicted marks as the highest grade of the two will be their final result. According to Universities UK, if you decide to take your exams, in most cases it will be too late to start a university course in 2020/21 (unless your course starts in January).

Universities themselves also might offer hope for students who feel they’ve lost out with their given grades. Oliver’s mum, Paula, is clear that, if things don’t go their way, they still have some faith in the university system to untangle the situation: “We are hoping that because Oxford test their own candidates, there will be some flexibility if Oliver doesn’t get the grades he needs. To be honest, I would rather my son got no grades rather than made up ones!” Paula is right that it’s worth speaking to any institution from whom you have an offer – to see if your given grades might be acceptable or if your place can be deferred to allow you to sit exams.

“We have been talking to university representatives and to Ucas,” says Ofqual. “We are reassured to hear that they believe that institutions will be flexible, but we recognise this might only be possible in a minority of cases.” It’s a position explicitly echoed by the Department for Education. It says: “Given the exceptional circumstances, the Government encourages all providers to offer as much flexibility as possible for all students.”

Of course these many ifs and buts will leave lots of students still feeling rather anxious about the situation. Unfortunately, it seems as if, until results day, nobody can know for sure how well this year’s system has really worked.

Your questions answered

What if you miss your firm offer and your chosen university won’t accept you with lower grades?

Talk to your teachers and family about your options. These could any of the following:

  • Accepting your insurance offer

  • Appealing your grades

  • Re-taking your A-levels in October

  • Opting for neither  your firm or insurance offer, and going through the

  • Clearing process to try for a different university

What if you get different grades to what your chosen university has stipulated, but it equates to the same UCAS tariff points?

It depends on the university and is very much decided on a case-by-case basis. UCAS points are used by some universities (around a third) when making offers, so instead of asking for a BBC, a university may ask for 112 points. However, not all universities use tariff points. The more traditional the university, the more likely they are to make an offer stipulating grades and not points.

What if you just miss the grades needed for your firm offer? 

Don’t give up hope completely, because there’s a chance that your chosen university might still accept you especially under the current climate. ‘Universities always look at more than just results when making decisions about applicants,” say UCAS. “We encourage them to be as flexible as possible when making decisions this year, given the circumstances.’

Check UCAS Track and if it says your place is “unconditional”, which means you have been formally accepted on the course, all good. If Track shows that you’ve been unsuccessful, it’s time to rethink. You might decide to go into Clearing, lodge an appeal or to take your exams in the Autumn. If so, let your uni or college know as they may delay a decision until an outcome is available.

What if you get your grades but change your mind?

If you no longer want to go to your firm choice, you can use the ‘decline your place’ button in Track. There’s no going back, so make sure you’re really certain. If you want to remain at the same uni but swap your course, speak to your university or college first. Using the button in Track will mean any arrangements you have made for accommodation or scholarships may also be cancelled. After declining, you'll be entered into Clearing.

What if you get better grades than you anticipated?

If you met and exceeded the conditions of your firm offer you might be interested in looking for an alternative course and you can do this through UCAS’s Adjustment service. Adjustment is available for up to five days between A level results day (13 August 2020) to 31 August 2020.

Read more: A-level results day Q&A: all your 'what if' questions answered