Guidance for teachers supporting students with appeals in 2021

Neil Ogden and Matt Dilley, Subject Advisors

On results day, some of your students may feel that their grade is incorrect. In this blog, we summarise the summer 2021 appeals processes to help you best support students. It’s important that you’re aware of the process, to make sure any mistakes can be corrected and all students receive the appropriate grades.

Overview of the 2021 appeals process

Stage 1 of an appeal is a centre review. Any student (including a private candidate) can ask their school or college to check for administrative or procedural errors. Examples of an administrative or procedural error might be that the wrong grade was recorded for a piece of evidence, or that mitigating circumstances (such as the student being ill when a piece of evidence was created) weren’t considered.

Following this, an appeal can be moved to Stage 2 if the student wishes. Here, the exam board can:

• investigate whether any administrative errors were made by the board itself
• further check for any procedural errors made by the centre
• determine whether an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement has been made. This could relate to the determination of the grade itself or to the selection of evidence.

Students should submit requests for priority appeals to their centre by Monday 16 August 2021 (priority appeals are available for AS/A Level/other Level 3 qualifications only and are for students applying to higher education who did not attain their firm choice). 

Students should submit requests for non-priority appeals to their centre by Friday 3 September 2021.

Useful information

If an error has resulted in incorrect grades being issued to students, JCQ has issued guidance on correcting grades. 

Keep our quick guide to summer 2021 appeals to hand and refer to our dedicated appeals 2021 webpage. Full information is also available from JCQ, including a set of FAQs. 

Make sure that students are aware that:

• an appeal may result in a grade not changing or moving down, as well as moving up
• once a Stage 1 or Stage 2 decision has been made, a student cannot withdraw their application for the centre review or appeal to the exam board.

Each student will need to fill in and sign a student request form before a review can take place. JCQ has produced a template form you can use, or you can create your own

Tips for talking to students

Use the questions below to support your conversations with students and understand why they feel a grade is incorrect. Grades are awarded based on evidence and to agreed processes, so students should be aware that any appeal needs to be realistic and based on a genuine error, not simply because they wish to receive a higher grade.

Do you know which pieces of evidence were used to calculate your grade this year?

• If a student isn’t sure which evidence has been used, discuss with them why they feel their result is wrong. The evidence used should be shared with the student. If they feel their grade is incorrect based on their review of the evidence, a Stage 1 (centre review) request should be submitted.
• If the student is familiar with the evidence used and this work evidences a grade different to the one awarded, this may indicate an administrative or procedural error. A Stage 1 (centre review) request should be submitted. 
• If a student appeals because they believe their school or college made an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement in selecting the evidence used, alternative evidence may need to be submitted to the exam board. A Stage 1 (centre review) request should be submitted. If no administrative or procedural error is identified by the school or college, the student may wish for this to be moved to Stage 2 (appeal to OCR).

Do you know how evidence was used to determine your grade this year?

• If a student isn’t sure how grades were determined this year, discuss with them why they feel their result is wrong along with how grades were determined. The centre policy used should be shared with the student, along with details of any special circumstances considered when determining the student’s grade. If they feel their grade is incorrect based on this information, a Stage 1 (centre review) request should be submitted.
• If the student is familiar with how grades were determined this year and believes an error has been made in this process, this may indicate an administrative or procedural error. A Stage 1 (centre review) request should be submitted.

Do you disagree with the grade that has been awarded based on this evidence?

• If a student has reviewed their evidence and feels they should be awarded a higher grade, a Stage 1 (centre review) request should be submitted. Following centre reviews for administrative or procedural errors, a Stage 2 (appeal to OCR) is possible if the student feels the judgement about their evidence is unreasonable, if the centre has made a procedural error (for example not taking into account mitigating circumstances) or if there has been an administrative error by the exam board. 
• Be aware that it is not permitted for a school or college to revisit their academic judgment during the Stage 1 (centre review) process, including reviewing or remarking evidence. Centre reviews must be made on administrative or procedural grounds. Any student concerns about an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement can be raised in Stage 2 (appeal to OCR) following the centre review.

Make sure you discuss the student’s expectations with them. Managing hopes and supporting students is key here. The appeals process will identify errors made, but this may not always lead to a change in grade. Always make sure that students are aware an appeal might lead to a grade not being changed, or being lowered.

About the authors

Neil Ogden, Maths Subject Advisor

Neil has worked in a variety of qualification lead roles at OCR for a number of years, having joined the Maths team in 2012. Neil led the development of the current GCSE (9-1) Maths qualification (J560) and following its accreditation, most of his time is spent supporting teachers delivering the qualification. Neil also supports a range of OCR’s maths qualifications, as well as regularly publishing to the @OCR_Maths Twitter account. Neil enjoys music and art outside of work, as well as supporting the mighty Sheffield Wednesday.

Matt Dilley, Business Subject Advisor

Matt joined OCR in April 2020 as part of the business and economics advisory team. He has a degree in accountancy with a focus on financial accounting. His work experience includes commercial banking and 12 years as a teacher of business studies and economics where he was a faculty lead. Outside work Matt is a keen cyclist and supports the mighty Aston Villa.