Is this normal for a private exam test centre?

[kmo0416]

I sat some A-Level exams with a private test centre and they just sent me an email that if I wanted to have access to my exam scripts i.e. copies of exam papers, then I have to pay £44 per paper and that if I want access to the grade boundaries for each subject that I have done then I have to pay them £50 per paper.

I can understand the other things that they have sent like if I want a priority remark then I have to pay £150 per paper (though it doesn't say that if the remark results in a grade moving up then I would be refunded).

But, this is confusing as most people I have talked told me that when at school - so not at a private test centre - exam scripts are provided for free and that if your grade goes up following a remark, then you get refunded the cost of what you paid for them to be remarked.

So, is this normal?

They aren’t free. Schools have to pay as well.

Nope, definitely not free. Schoos have to pay.

These are aqa fees. Remark fees right at the end. cdn.sanity.io/files/p28bar15/green/db8efb2a8d2cf086f95a646a9fc00afb1cb21588.pdf

I had to pay for my DD’s, state school. They are definitely not free

Ah actually, if you just want to look at your marked script, that is indeed free-I think you could get it direct from Aqa.

But if you want the marking checked etc there is a cost.

schools also can instruct teachers to review the marking for free, they don't get paid for it. It is a massive extra workload at the start of the school year, but it is a service teachers provide for free to the school, and a private centre wont have that

Post exam charges can vary by board. Some papers can be viewed online free by staff, other boards will charge for copies. Iirc a review of marking was about £50 per paper, but you might also have admin charges from the centre for the process and teaching staff time. If you previously were at a state school they may not have charged you.

Why do you think you will need a remark? why don't you finally accept the grades you are given. Private exam centres are businesses and will obviously charge you for the extra work involved.

www.gov.uk/appeal-qualification-result/request-review

It might help you to read this. You can ask for a check for any marking mistakes, but you are running the risk of your grades dropping, not just staying the same or going up.

What do you need to get for your Cambridge Foundation offer? Hopefully you've dropped the silly idea of commuting to London from Manchester now.

They are making a hefty profit on you there.

Papers are free after results. I am an EO and we don't charge for them at the private school I work in. However some schools charge an admin cost to deter peoole requesting them. (each paper takes several minutes to access and download and save, some of my pupils request every paper for every subject!)

Grade boundaries are free. They are taking the mickey charging for those. Your teacher or tutor would have access to them so try that route instead.

Reviews of marking are expensive though, can't remember the prices this year but over £100 for priority marking sounds about right.

You don't need to pay for grade boundaries @kmo0416. They ate released on results day by the exam boards and on the website at 8am. They'll be on a pdf broken down for the whole subject and also for papers of each subject. Every exam board releases them for free on results day, so you don't need to ask them for it at all

Also they shouldn't be charging you to get your paper as AQA don't charge centres and to the best of my knowledge neither to the other exam boards. That is only if you just want your paper to look through it or to see the marking - not if you want teachers to look through to see if they think you can pick up extra marks if you get a remark or asking for a remark either (that you pay for). But if you just want your papers sent over, that should be free, it doesn't take to long and the centre just has to request them (it's not that much admin), plus you aren't asking that anyone look though and read through your answers.

So, why did they offer a service for grade boundaries at £50 then?

Why don't you ask them? Nobody here knows the exact wording of what they have told you each fee is for, so ask them.

You are worrying about the wrong things. Perhaps you will get the grades you need this time. Perhaps you will be accepted onto the foundation year at Cambridge with or without meeting the offer and you will enjoy yourself. You don't have to assume that everything will be terrible all the time and that nobody wants you to succeed. It must be absolutely draining on you.

BTW I do hope you get the grades you need, you find supportive friends when you get to uni and you enjoy studying law.

At dds state school exam fees were only free i.e. paid by the school when papers were taken for the first time. Parents had to pay for resits (and for remarks).

Because they can? It is not regulated. Overseas students, for example, may not as easily be able to access the information and it may include a review of student’s results against it and advice on whether a marking review is worthwhile.

You can get the grade boundaries from the exam board website for free on results day. So for AQA Google 2025 A level/GCSE grade boundaries on results day (can't remember how early they appear).
Whilst accessing the scripts is free, obviously there is a certain amount of admin involved in this, so that could be what the charge is (although seems a lot for this!). For re-marks, you do have to pay but if the grade changes you are refunded.

Totally normal for there to be these fees. Schools may have a policy of covering some of them (e.g. the school benefits from better stats if a remark results in a grade increase) but a private exam centre has no skin in the game and no reason to subsidise anything. We're planning to pay for the script for one GCSE as DC was so proud of what they had written they were genuinely upset that they weren't allowed to take home a copy on the day of the exam.

• Remarks don't exist anymore.
• Reviews of marking (different to a remark) come at a cost. It would be expected that a centres would pass on this charge to you (and maybe add a small admin fee).
• It is now free for centres to access candidates' papers but there is some admin involved. Some centres do indeed charge an admin fee. £44 shocks me though.
• Schools have free access to grade boundaries and I'm also shocked they are charging you to see these as there would be little admin involved in sharing this with you (just an email). You should be able to get someone on an online forum eg thestudentroom to tell you the grade boundaries to save you the cost... not sure how quickly they appear publically online on exam board websites.

Hope that helps.

Im guessing because they can. It's bad though. That's a lot of money for minimal admin.

Only the centre can ask for the scripts, which are free to them.

They're charging massive admin fees.

But hopefully @kmo0416 won't need any of the extras on Thurssay. Please let us know how you get on and what UCAS says when it goes live