GCSE and A levels 2021: How Ofqual will review appeals

Ofqual reveals how it will be investigating appeal complaints but says it cannot force boards to ‘look at appeals again’

6th August 2021, 10:27am

Catherine Lough

Ofqual has revealed new information about how it will police appeals of GCSE and A-level grades this year.

Under the regulator’s Exam Procedures Review Service (EPRS), students can appeal directly to Ofqual to investigate how an exam board dealt with their appeal.

The regulator says it will “consider whether the exam board followed their own procedures correctly and also, if they did, what is required by our rules” but that it will not look again at the evidence that formed the basis of a student’s grade.

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“The EPRS is an Ofqual process to look at the procedure an exam board followed,” the regulator says.

Addressing students, the new guidance states: “We will not review your work and cannot change your grade, but we can ask the exam board to look at your appeal again if we think the exam board made a mistake when it issued your grade, or when it considered your appeal,” it adds.

Ofqual says that students should apply as soon as possible if they think a mistake has been made with their appeal, but if they wait for over three weeks after the appeal decision they would need to explain the reason for the delay, and their application might not be accepted.

If students want to challenge their appeal through the service, they need to email with the qualification they would like investigated, the name and address of their school that decided their TAG grade, the name of the exam board and the date of the letter from the board with its final appeal decision.

If Ofqual decided it can investigate, students will need to explain why they think the appeal judgement was wrong through a form, detailing whether they think the exam board made a mistake when issuing their grade, or if the board made a mistake when it corrected their grade following a centre review or appeal.

Students can also challenge the appeal on the basis that they believe the board did not deal with their appeal in the way it stated it would on its website or in the JCQ Appeals Booklet.

“For example, the exam board did not ask a subject expert to look at the work your teachers used when it decided your ‘academic judgement’ appeal or it looked at the wrong procedure when it decided your ‘procedural error’ appeal,” Ofqual says.

Pupils can also challenge the appeal if “the exam board did something which our rules don’t allow, or did not do something which our rules say they must do”.

Ofqual says students must tell the regulator as much as possible about the case and send Ofqual a copy of the exam board letter explaining its final appeal decision. They can apply to the service directly and do not need the support of their school in order to do so.

If Ofqual thinks the exam board did nothing wrong, it will write to the student giving an explanation, who will be able to reply challenging the decision.

“If we think the exam board might have got something wrong, we will write to them and ask whether they agree with us. If they agree, we would usually expect them to look at your case again,” it says.

“If they don’t agree, we will consider whether any extra information they have given us changes our view about whether or not something went wrong.

“If we still think something went wrong, we will invite you and the exam board to a meeting with us, to talk about your case. We will make a final decision after the meeting. We will explain how the meeting will work when we set it up. You will be able to bring a parent, carer or a teacher to the meeting, which will be held remotely, for example using Teams or Zoom.”

Ofqual says if its final decision is that the exam board made a mistake, it will explain this in a letter sent to both the board and the pupil. Exam boards must give “due regard” to the letter.

“This means the exam board must read what we say, and think about any recommendations we make, and it must decide what to do next. This might mean looking at your appeal again,” the regulator adds.

But Ofqual will be unable to force an exam board to change a grade.

“Your grade will only change if the exam board decides your grade was wrong and needs to be corrected. It is important to remember that the new grade could be higher or lower,” it says.