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Anyone still waiting for GCSE marking reviews?

176 replies

ShowDownTime · 01/09/2026 18:23

Ours were submitted on results day. Heard nothing yet but I know some people have. Waiting on CIE and AQA.

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ShowDownTime · 15/09/2026 23:57

We’ve been unlucky it seems. 2 marks off a 9 in English lang and lit and neither went up. 1 mark off in French and no change. 😩 Well done to all of you who have found those extra marks and got the grade your DC needed and deserved. We are just waiting for History now (also 1 mark off a 9) - submitted on results day and still nothing!

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LawDegree · 16/09/2026 07:01

I thought all remarks had to be done within 20 calendar days? Is that just their target with no comeback if they don't meet it?

cherrywhite · 16/09/2026 11:46

Still waiting for English Language, but I suspect there's an English backlog due to the number being submitted!

I think the successes being reported here give false hope and aren't representative of overall remark results. According to the official stats, 4.3% of all GCSE grades were challenged, but only 1% were changed. Of 243,150 challenged grades in summer 2025, 24.1% were changed up and less than 0.1% were changed down.

So 75.8% of challenges resulted in the grade staying the same.

We're not expecting ours to go up, but the English result was so out-of-kilter with predicted scores, it seemed sensible to investigate this.

Stowickthevast · 16/09/2026 13:32

@cherrywhite I sent in one Eng Lang paper on the Monday after results and it took 3 weeks to come back with no change.

I sent the other one yesterday, but the exams officer said they're taking about 7 days now. This is AQA. She just needs 1 mark to move up so still hopefully she may get it.

DameOutrage · 16/09/2026 15:42

I got the marks wrong in my earlier post - she got 12+8 in writing for a total of 20.

I pushed school and they got an examiner to look at it and she feels it's been incorrectly assigned to "level 2" and should be mid level 3 and is worth the remark. So we will give it a go. It's a long shot as well have to find 7 marks, but I will update!

somethingerudite · 16/09/2026 21:35

Update on our remaining 3 requests:
Economics - head of department has said no more marks to be found.
Biz Studies - head of department thinks there are missing marks on both papers and has submitted them for review
History - I found out Paper 1 was submitted and we just heard back today that it's gained 2 marks (we need 4 for the next grade up). Inspired by others on this thread I requested the scans of the papers myself and got Gemini to assess the papers - it thinks Paper 2 has a clearer-cut case for missing marks, so I've requested that the second paper is also submitted to AQA and have offered to pay for this ourselves.

Having read through the papers alongside the mark scheme and a bit of back and forth with Gemini I'm actually quite gutted about the way his history paper has been marked, even with the 2 additional marks found. Has anyone ever appealed?

TickedOffAndALittleFedUp · 17/09/2026 08:37

Dd had Eng Lit remarked and gained 12 points so went up a grade so we've submitted Lang too as she was only a couple off a 9 and RE too. All AQA papers so hoping for positive results.

FoxandDuck · 17/09/2026 08:41

Still waiting for Eng Lang here. Only need one mark. We’ve only submitted one paper so far as it seemed pretty clear from that paper alone that she should have been marked at a different level so we’re now doing the dance of whether to submit the other paper. Really hoping to hear back today!
Quite a lot resting on it as it opens up a couple of DD’s preferred Uni options if she goes up a grade.

GiveMearoomwithaview · 17/09/2026 09:56

I did not know we could request our own copies of papers, do I just email the exam officer?

we have submitted:

English lang (1 mark off)
Citizenship (1 mark off)
Maths (4 marks off but the school suggested this for a remark)

Stowickthevast · 17/09/2026 11:02

@FoxandDuck I thought Paper 1 English Lan was marked at the wrong level but it came back unchanged. To be fair, when I asked AI, it did identify paper 2 as being more likely to have extra marks so am hopeful this one will succeed.

Have also heard that her school has asked for Art to be reviewed as the whole cohort lost two grades on teacher assessed marks and no-one got higher than a 7, with the majority getting 5s and 6s. This is a grammar school so they're aiming for the top grades. DD is not bothered about this one but will be pleased if it goes up.

Amazing result @TickedOffAndALittleFedUp well done to your DD.

itsnotaremark · 17/09/2026 11:41

GiveMearoomwithaview · 17/09/2026 09:56

I did not know we could request our own copies of papers, do I just email the exam officer?

we have submitted:

English lang (1 mark off)
Citizenship (1 mark off)
Maths (4 marks off but the school suggested this for a remark)

Yes - email the exam officer and they should be able to give you copies of the script - they have access and can download them immediately. So did you submit for review before seeing the scripts? How did you decide which papers to submit (or did you just submit all of them?)

Teeheehee1579 · 17/09/2026 11:49

We had English lit back today (took a week) and she’s gone from a 5 to a 6 (they found 9 marks on paper 1!!) so near the grade 7 boundary. She is delighted but really the marking of English from AQQ does not seem great this year does it. Or perhaps this thread is giving a skewed view 😀

Teeheehee1579 · 17/09/2026 11:50

We submitted without looking at them first btw - just submitted both (only one went up but all that was needed).

KwellsBells · 17/09/2026 15:20

FoxandDuck · 17/09/2026 08:41

Still waiting for Eng Lang here. Only need one mark. We’ve only submitted one paper so far as it seemed pretty clear from that paper alone that she should have been marked at a different level so we’re now doing the dance of whether to submit the other paper. Really hoping to hear back today!
Quite a lot resting on it as it opens up a couple of DD’s preferred Uni options if she goes up a grade.

Which board is that @FoxandDuck?

We’ve only just submitted my DC’s English Language on Tuesday this week, so interested to know when approximately we might hear back.

It’s AQA which has a max of 20 calendar days I think, but just interested if they’re coming back sooner.

It makes no difference really as DC has embarked on next stage, but her teacher still felt it was worth a review as one question seemed weirdly low (and much lower than the others).

cherrywhite · 17/09/2026 19:44

We submitted AQA English Language on Friday 4th but nothing back yet. I guess they had a bit of an influx once schools went back and teachers were able to check papers etc

KwellsBells · 17/09/2026 20:44

cherrywhite · 17/09/2026 19:44

We submitted AQA English Language on Friday 4th but nothing back yet. I guess they had a bit of an influx once schools went back and teachers were able to check papers etc

Thanks @cherrywhitethat's useful to know

FoxandDuck · 17/09/2026 22:40

It’s AQA that we’re waiting for. The exams officer actually went to find DD today to reassure her that her request for a review was submitted as she’d guessed (accurately as it turned out) that DD would have spoken to others at the school who submitted their Eng Lang request later than she did and have already heard back. She has no insight as to why DD’s is taking so long. DD and I have decided that it must be because it’s getting a massive re-grade! We are hoping that, if that is the case, it is upward. Whilst she really wants a 6 (or higher!) rather than a 5, it would be a catastrophe if it dropped to a 4 (or lower!)

SlipperyLizard · 18/09/2026 08:18

We’re still waiting for AQA (although it hasn’t been that long). Can I ask how the results come through? Do they go to school first, then school sends them on?

Stowickthevast · 18/09/2026 08:35

@SlipperyLizard yes that's what happened for us. The exam officer forwarded on a paper from AQA saying no change.

Teeheehee1579 · 18/09/2026 10:00

Yes school sent an email saying mark had gone up with the reviewed papers attached

makemineadecaf · 18/09/2026 19:47

We’ve had three AQA grades go up! Waiting on one from edexcel.

KwellsBells · 18/09/2026 20:48

makemineadecaf · 18/09/2026 19:47

We’ve had three AQA grades go up! Waiting on one from edexcel.

crikey!! Definitely something odd going on with AQA

Reallywhatsthat · 18/09/2026 21:10

Not necessarily @KwellsBells you are looked at a very skewed sample on this thread. The vast majority of people who submit for a review will not then bother replying to a thread if there is no change to their mark.

KwellsBells · 18/09/2026 21:12

Reallywhatsthat · 18/09/2026 21:10

Not necessarily @KwellsBells you are looked at a very skewed sample on this thread. The vast majority of people who submit for a review will not then bother replying to a thread if there is no change to their mark.

That is true. I have heard a lot anecdotally too though about some very weird examples markings this year at both GCSE and A-level.

ShowDownTime · 19/09/2026 09:32

We finally heard back from CIE for History and we got the upgrade!! Don’t know how many extra marks yet (DS will ask Monday) but a grade change with this exam board is subject to a tolerance so you need more than just 1 or 2 marks added for your grade to change (which feels unfair) but it suggests we got a few extra which is great!

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