GCSE results explained

Understanding your GCSE results

See the Annotated Candidate Statement of Provisional Results (CSPR)

How are GCSEs marked and graded?

With the exception of linear mathematics, all of our current GCSEs are modular.

For modular GCSEs

Modular GCSEs are broken down into units which are tested individually throughout your course. If you don't do as well as you hoped in a particular unit, you can re-sit and your best mark will usually go forward when we calculate your overall grade.

You are awarded a raw mark for the work you have done in each unit. This may be from coursework or from an exam. This mark is just the number of marks you have obtained from the total available. During the awarding process, we decide where the grade boundaries lie and you are awarded a grade based on where your mark lies within these boundaries.

Raw marks are converted to a uniform mark using the Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) to take account of variations in difficulty between papers. Question papers may vary slightly in difficulty from year to year. For example, a mark of 53 in one paper in a January exam session might represent the same level of achievement as a mark of 49 in a different version of the same paper in the following summer exam session. The Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) ensures that these two marks receive the same value when contributing to the final grade and it is the UMS mark that is printed on your results slip.

At the end of your course, the UMS marks for all of the individual components for each GCSE are added up to give you an overall mark. This overall mark is then converted to an overall grade based on the percentage of UMS marks you have achieved:

Grade	% of UMS marks
A*	90
A	80
B	70
C	60
D	50
E	40
F	30
G	20

For linear mathematics
You are awarded a raw mark for the work you have done. During the awarding process, we decide where the grade boundaries lie and you are awarded a grade based on where your mark lies within these boundaries.

What is cashing in?

In order to get an overall grade, your modular GCSE must be cashed in.

Each unit and cash-in has a unique code. You have to take all the individual units and then your school or college has to tell us you want to cash in, so that we know to give you an overall GCSE grade. For example, the Edexcel Art and Design: Three-Dimensional Design GCSE is made up as follows:

Subject title	Cash-in code	Unit codes
Three-Dimensional Design (short course)	3TD01	Unit 1: 5TD03 Unit 2: 5TD04
Three-Dimensional Design	2TD01	Unit 1: 5TD01 Unit 2: 5TD02

If you don’t take all of these units, you can still cash in, as long as you were put forward for them all. For example, you may have taken a unit but were absent on the day of the exam. As such, you wouldn’t get a mark for that unit. On your results slip, this would show with a # sign, to indicate that it’s incomplete (for example, 'E#').

What is the uniform mark scale?

Almost all of our current GCSEs are modular qualifications, and you can take exams for individual units at different times. Question papers may vary slightly in difficulty from year to year. For example, a ‘raw’ mark of 53 in one paper in a January exam session might represent the same level of achievement as a ‘raw’ mark of 49 in the following summer exam session. The Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) ensures that these two ‘raw’ marks receive the same value when contributing to the final grade.

The Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) also ensures that results for different GCSE subjects can be compared to one another in a consistent way.

GCSE ‘raw’ marks are converted into UMS marks, and a grade is awarded according to these charts:

GCSE marked out of 400

Grade

A*

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

U

UMS marks

360

320

280

240

200

160

120

80

0

GCSE marked out of 300

Grade

A*

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

U

UMS marks

270

240

210

180

150

120

90

60

0

GCSE marked out of 200

Grade	A*	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	U
UMS marks	180	160	140	120	100	80	60	40	0

What if I’m missing a grade?


	There are two common reasons why you might not have an overall GCSE grade as you expected: your school or college didn’t cash in your units for an overall GCSE grade you haven’t completed all of the units for a complete GCSE. If you don’t have a grade that you expected, the best thing to do is speak to the exams officer at your school or college and ask them to get in touch with us.

Where can I find the grade boundaries?


	You can find grade boundaries for all UK and international exams taken from January 2009 onwards in our "I want to..." area.

When will I receive my certificates?


	Certificates are sent to your centre (school/college/training provider). If you finished your exams in November the latest your centre will receive your certificates is 28 Feburary. If you finished your exams in January the latest your centre will receive your certificates is 31 May. If you finished your exams in June the latest your centre will receive your certificates is 31 October.

What is special consideration?


	Special consideration is when we issue you a calculated result or extra marks because you’ve had an illness, injury or other personal circumstances that have affected your performance. If you think you may be entitled to special consideration, you should speak to your exams officer. They will make a request on your behalf and we make decisons on a case-by-case basis. Special consideration isn’t shown on the statement of results you’re given by your school or college. However, it is on the subject mark reports that are sent to schools and colleges. If you’d like to know whether special consideration was requested on your behalf, please check with your exams officer.

Some of my personal details are incorrect on my results slip. What can I do?


	We can make changes such as misspelled names very quickly. We suggest you ask your exams officer to contact us to request any changes. These requests must come from someone at your centre as we have no way of identifying students who call or email us. If we can’t identify you, we can’t make changes to confidential information.

How do my grades compare with those of everybody else who took this exam?


	You can compare your results with those of others in the UK who have completed the same exam by looking at our statistics: Statistics for GCSE This image may help you to understand the layout of the statistics documents.

Didn't get the GCSE grades you wanted?

If your exam mark is lower than you were expecting, please speak to your teacher. After all the teaching that you’ve had, plus the tests and internal exams, they’re in the best position to advise you.

Can I get a copy of my marked exam paper?

You can ask your centre to request that we return the original version of your marked question papers. We can't provide photocopies of marked GCSE scripts.

Depending on how your paper was marked, you may receive your script as an electronic pdf file.

We can't provide you with marked multiple-choice answer sheets.

How do I get my exam paper back?

Please speak to your exams officer. They will make an ‘Access to Scripts’ request on your behalf.

As with other UK exam boards, we are not allowed to send out a copy of your paper until after the re-mark deadline has passed. This means that if you are considering getting your paper re-marked you should request this service instead. Your exams officer can ask us to send a copy of your re-marked paper.

If you miss the deadline to apply for a copy of your exam paper, we will be unable to process your request.

The deadlines are:

Exam Session	Deadline
November exams	28 February
January exams	28 April
March exams	31 May
Summer exams	4 October

Can I get my coursework back?


	Yes. You can ask your centre to return any project, coursework or controlled assessment. How do I get my coursework back? Edexcel (or your school) will keep your coursework until after results day, in case your school wants to ask questions about your result. If you want your coursework back after results day, please speak to your teacher or exams officer. If we have your work, your teacher or exams officer will be able to request that we return it.

Can I get my exam paper re-marked?

Yes, if your school requests a re-mark.

Is a re-mark the best option for me?

During a re-mark your grade may go up, down or stay the same. If your grade goes down, you cannot reject the re-mark and go back to the original grade - the only way to improve your grade would be to resit the exam.

The majority of re-mark requests do not result in a change to a grade - simply because the re-mark has shown that the original grade was accurate.

What does a re-mark involve?

A senior examiner will re-mark your paper, checking your answers against the mark scheme. This senior examiner won’t have marked your paper before.

Once your paper has been re-marked we do a clerical check to make sure that:

everything you have written has been marked
all of the marks have been added up to give the correct total mark
we’ve entered your total mark correctly on our systems
special consideration has been taken into account (if it was applied for before the exam).

You can request that we only perform the clerical check. If you do, this will cost less than having a full re-mark.

How long will it take to get my paper re-marked and what will it cost?

We aim to have the result of your re-mark back to you within 30 days, but if you miss the deadline you will not be able to have your paper re-marked.

The deadlines for are:

Exam Session	Deadline
November exams	9 February
January exams	17 April
March exams	17 May
Summer exams	20 September

Your exams officer will be able to tell you how much these services cost.

What happens if I am still not happy with my grade after a re-mark?

If you are still not satisfied after a re-mark, you can ask your centre to appeal on your behalf. Appeals do not normally involve re-marking your work a second time, but work will be re-marked if there is evidence that the correct re-marking procedure wasn’t followed during the original re-mark.

Your centre has 14 days after receiving the outcome of your re-mark to appeal. We are not able to process appeal requests after this deadline.

Can I get my coursework re-marked?


	Your teacher marks all project work, coursework and controlled assessment. It is then moderated, meaning that Edexcel requests a sample of your teacher’s marked work and we check that we agree with their assessment. Moderation is necessary to make sure that all students have their coursework assessed according to the same standards. Most of the time, your teacher’s marks will be approved and accepted unchanged. However, sometimes marks are reduced or raised, if the original teacher’s marking was judged to have been too lenient or too harsh. If you think that the mark on your results slip is not the mark your teacher gave you, please check with your teacher to see what happened to marks after moderation. If Edexcel did not adjust your mark, talk to your teacher or exams officer and they’ll get in touch with us. If we did adjust your mark, it may be possible to have the work re-moderated. Can I get my coursework re-marked? Every school or college that enters students for external exams must have an appeals procedure in place. If you think Edexcel has the wrong mark, you must first follow this appeals process. Your school or college will involve Edexcel if it can’t settle the matter internally. Can I get my coursework re-moderated? Coursework can be re-moderated if we changed the marks given by your teacher, but it is up to your school to decide on whether they request this. When Edexcel receives a request for coursework re-moderation, the coursework of all students originally entered at your school or college goes through the moderation process again. Your teacher or exams officer will be able to give you more information on this process.

Can I resit my exam?


	Resitting is often a possibility if you want to improve the result of a particular module. Current specification GCSEs (unit code is a number, two letters and another number) Linear Mathematics (1MA0) For linear mathematics, you will need to resit both the calculator and non-calculator paper if you want to improve your grade. All other current specification GCSEs With the exception of linear mathematics, all of our current specification GCSEs are modular. You can resit each module once before you receive your final grade. You can only sit each module a total of two times so, if there is more than one tier, taking both the higher and foundation papers will use up your resit opportunity for this module. Final grades for new specification GCSEs can only be given if you have completed 40% of the course in your final exam session. This is called the terminal rule. It means that, if you want to resit a module after you have received your final grade, you may need to resit other modules as well. If you have already used up your resits for other modules, you will not be able to receive a new grade by resitting. Legacy specification GCSEs (unit codes consist of 4 numbers) Mathematics - final resits in March 2012 If you are taking the legacy modular maths specification, you can resit each module once at each tier before you receive your final grade. If you have received your final grade and would like to resit a module, you will have to resit the final calculator and non-calculator papers (the terminal papers) as well. You can also resit the terminal papers without resitting a module. If you are taking the legacy linear Maths GCSE, you can resit if you take both the calculator and non-calculator paper. Science - final resits in March 2013 You can resit each module once. If you are taking three separate sciences and want to resit a module, you will need to resit the extension paper as well. Other legacy specifications You can no longer resit any of our other legacy specifications but there may be other qualifications available that cover similar content. Speak to your exams officer if you want more information or contact us via Twitter or Facebook.

What happens if I get a lower mark in a resit?


	We want you to achieve the highest grade you can and so, usually, not doing as well in a resit will not affect your overall grade, as your best mark goes forward. The only exception to this is when a resit is in your final exam session. If a module forms part of the 40% needed to obey the terminal rule, whatever mark you receive for this module goes towards your final grade – even if it is lower than your original mark.

Is resitting a module the best way to improve my overall grade?


	Before deciding to resit, discuss your results with your teachers. You may find that a resit is not your best option. Sometimes, students don't do as well on the next units because their mind is focusing on improving the grade of an earlier unit instead. Remember, it is much more important to get a good mark on a unit that has a higher weighting.

When will I be able to take my exam again?


	Many exams are offered two or three times a year but some are only avaialble once. You can check when your unit is next available by looking at our exam timetables or by speaking to your exams officer. There is a charge for entering each exam and you will need to check with your exams officer to see if your school will pay for you to resit. If you have to pay the entry fee yourself, you can find what we charge your centre on the fees page of our website. However, please be aware that many schools and colleges will charge an administration cost on top of our fee.