GCSE results day: reviews of marking and resits

Results day can bring relief, celebration or disappointment, and sometimes all three. Knowing what your options are before you open the envelope makes it much easier to act calmly if a grade is not what you hoped. This guide explains what happens on results day, how reviews of marking work, and when you can resit.

On the day

GCSE results are released in late August, on a date published in advance by the exam boards. Schools and colleges hand out results in person, and many also make them available online or by email. If you cannot collect them yourself, ask your school in advance how else you can receive them; some allow another person to collect them with your written permission.

Before results day, it helps to:

• Know the grades your sixth form, college or apprenticeship provider needs, and their phone number.
• Check who to contact at school if you want to query a result.
• Have a plan B in mind, such as a different course or provider.

If you missed a grade you needed

Do not panic. Contact your sixth form or college as soon as possible. Providers often have some flexibility, especially if you narrowly missed a grade, and they may still offer you a place or suggest an alternative course. Speak to your school too; teachers can help you look at your marks and options.

Reviews of marking

If you think a paper may have been marked incorrectly, you can ask for it to be reviewed. These post results services are set out by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and offered by all the major boards. The main options are:

Things to know before you ask

• Requests go through your school or college. You cannot apply directly to the exam board. Speak to the exams officer.
• You will need to give consent. Your centre will ask you to confirm that you understand the outcome.
• Marks can go down as well as up, or stay the same. Think carefully, especially if you are only a mark or two above a grade boundary.
• There are fees and deadlines. Fees vary by board and service, and many boards refund the fee if your grade changes. The deadline for reviews is usually in late September, and schools often set an earlier internal deadline.
• Priority reviews may be available if a place on a course depends on the outcome. Ask your exams officer.

Looking at how your answers compare with the mark scheme can help you decide. Our guide to mark schemes and examiner reports explains how marking works.

Resits

English language and maths in November

GCSE English language and maths can be resat in a November exam series, as well as the following summer. To enter the November series, you normally need to be at least 16 on 31 August of that year. Entries are made through a school, college or approved exam centre, and the entry deadline is usually in early October. Results for the November series come out in January.

Other subjects

Other GCSE subjects can normally only be resat in the following summer series.

Continuing English and maths after 16

In England, students in post 16 education who have not achieved at least a grade 4 in English or maths normally have to continue studying that subject. Your college will decide the best route for you, which may or may not mean sitting the November exam.

Planning a successful resit

1. Find out where you lost marksAsk for your marks by paper, and consider requesting access to your scripts.
2. Focus on the gapsConcentrate on the topics and question types that cost you most, rather than revising everything equally.
3. Practise with past papersUse your board's papers in timed conditions and mark them strictly. Our guide to using past papers to revise sets out a full routine.
4. Plan your timeA November resit leaves only a couple of months, so start straight away. Our guide to making a revision timetable can help.

Find papers for resits on our maths and English pages.

Frequently asked questions