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EAR request - text version

If you feel your GCSE or A-Level exam results are incorrect, a number of options are available to you:

If your university place is at risk

If your place at university depends on the outcome of an A level re-mark your school or college should submit a Priority Service 2 enquiry by 22 August. The awarding bodies aim to complete the checks within 18 calendar days of receiving the request.

Depending on the outcome, you may decide to follow the appeals process below.

If your university place is not at risk

Even if a university place is not at risk, you may still challenge your exam results with the awarding body that set your examination. As only schools and colleges may submit an EAR request, you will need to speak to your exams officer about lodging a request on your behalf. There are three types of EAR service available to you:

1. A Service 1 EAR is a clerical check to ensure that each question has been marked and all of the marks totalled correctly. The awarding body will aim to complete the checks within 20 calendar days of receiving the request.

2. A Service 2 EAR (including priority service 2) is a review of the original marking by a senior examiner and includes a clerical check. The awarding body will aim to complete the checks within 30 calendar days of receiving the request.

3. A Service 3 EAR is a review of the original moderation of internal assessment (usually coursework) to ensure that any adjustments made by the moderator were fair and appropriate. The target for completion is within 40 calendar days of the moderator receiving the coursework sample from the centre.

The awarding body must receive the request for an EAR, along with your signed consent form, before the deadline of 20 September.

Appealing against an unsatisfactory outcome to an enquiry about results

If you and your centre are not satisfied with the outcome of the EAR, you may choose to appeal. Appeals must be submitted to the awarding body within 14 calendar days of your school or college receiving the outcome of the EAR.

The appeals process has two stages:

1. Stage one of the appeals process is a review of the case by a member of the awarding body staff who has had no previous involvement in the case.

2. Should a stage two appeal be necessary this will be heard by an appeal panel that will include at least one independent member. A stage two appeal must be submitted within 14 calendar days of notification to the school or college of the outcome of stage one.

If you are still dissatisfied after the awarding body appeals process has been completed it might be possible for the centre to present a case to the Examinations Appeals Board (EAB), an independent body and the final avenue of appeal. The EAB must receive any application to appeal within three weeks of the draft report detailing the outcome of the stage two appeal. Further information about the external appeals process is available on the EAB's website at www.theeab.org.uk