Summer 2021 GCE/GCSE Advice & Guidance

All of our Academies have determined results this year in accordance with JCQ guidance and submitted grades to the relevant exam board by the deadline, Friday 18 June. Alongside side this, all Academies wrote their own specific Centre Policy, a copy of this is available upon request directly from your childs school.

Ofqual have also produced a useful guide for students regarding this years results process which is available here.

Candidate statements of results (results slips) will be reported in the same way as in previous years, with certificates to follow in the Autumn.

Results will be issued on results day(s) in August as follows:

GCE (AS, A Levels) and other Level 3 qualifications Tuesday 10 August 2021

GCSE and other Level 1/2 qualifications Thursday 12 August 2021

Detailed arrangments about these results days, such as timings and where to go, will be sent out by individual Academies before the end of term.

When you receive your results, if you think that a grade is wrong, your first step should be to speak to your Head of Year or any member of senior team for advice. Following this students will be able to appeal to their school if they feel there has been an error made in their grade calculation.

The appeal process this year contains two stages, with a priority service available for students applying to higher education who did not attain their firm choice (i.e. the offer they accepted as their first choice) and wish to appeal an A level or other Level 3 qualification result.

Key aspects of the appeals process are details below (taken from the DfE), however for full details please visit the JCQ website.

Teachers will tell you what evidence is being used to determine your grades and you will have the chance to raise any issues before grades are submitted. Schools and colleges should also have taken account of reasonable adjustments and access arrangements.

If you think a grade is incorrect when you receive your results, speak to your school or college in the first instance and request a centre review (Stage 1 Appeal, please complete form below) – an internal review by your school or college - so they can check for any errors.

If you still think your grade is incorrect after your school or college has checked it, you can ask them to appeal to the exam board (Stage 2 Appeal, please complete form below). You should be aware that on appeal, grades could go up, down, or stay the same and the exam board’s decision will be final.

You should consider carefully if appealing is the right course of action for you. An appeal will only be successful if either an error is found or the grade awarded or the selection of evidence are found to be an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement.

The exam boards will not be able to consider appeals that are based solely on differences of opinion. If you want to improve your grade you might want to consider entering for the autumn exam series.

Email completed student request form to appeals@dret.co.uk - PDF / Microsoft Word

If you request a centre review or an exam board appeal, there are a range of possible outcomes:

• Your original grade is changed, so your final grade will be different than the original grade you received. Your grade can go up or down.

• Your original grade is confirmed, so there is no change to your grade.

Once a finding has been made you cannot withdraw your request for a centre review or appeal. If your grade has been lowered, you will not be able to revert back to the original grade you received on results day.

There are priority and non-priority appeal routes. Priority appeals are only for students applying to higher education who did not attain their firm choice (i.e. the offer they accepted as their first choice) and wish to appeal an A level or other Level 3 qualification result. All other appeals must follow the non -priority route.

You should submit a request for a centre review by 16 August 2021 for a priority appeal, or by 3 September 2021 for non-priority appeals.

Once you have received the outcome of your centre review, if you wish to request an awarding organisation appeal you should do so as soon as possible. Your school or college will submit this on your behalf.

Schools and colleges submitting requests for awarding organisation appeals on behalf of students should do so by 23 August for a priority appeal and 17 September for non-priority appeals.

Email completed student request form to appeals@dret.co.uk - PDF / Microsoft Word

As in previous years, students who do not obtain grade 4 or above in English language or literature and/or mathematics will also have to resit either in the autumn 2021 or summer 2022, or enter for a different qualification.

Yes, there will be opportunity for students to sit either A Level or GCSE examinations during the autumn. Entry deadlines and exam dates are below:

• AS / A LEVEL

  • The deadline for entries is 8 September 2021

  • From 4 to 22 October, students who have been entered for the autumn series will take their AS and A-level exams.

• GCSE

  • The deadline for entries is 4 October 2021

  • From 1 November to 3 December (English & Mathematics 1 to 9 November), students who have been entered for the autumn series will take their GCSE exams.

If you have any further queries relating to these exams or you would like to be entered, please contact your Academies examinations office.

The National Careers Service will be delivering the Exam Results Helpline during August 2020. Young people or their parents can contact the helpline on 0800 100 900 to speak to a professionally qualified careers adviser if they need advice on their next steps. The helpline will be open from 8 am to 10 pm from Thursday 13 August until Friday 28 August. After these dates, young people will be able to access ongoing support from the National Careers Service at any time by calling 0800 100 900, visiting nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/contact-us or searching for the National Careers Service on Facebook and Twitter. https://www.gov.uk/careers-helpline-for-teenagers

• Student request form for centre reviews and appeals to awarding organisations - PDF / Microsoft Word

• Where to send all appeals: appeals@dret.co.uk

• Ofqual student guide to awarding summer 2021

• DfE Blog on examination appeals

• JCQ guidance for students, parents and guardians

• JCQ guide to the summer 2021 appeals process