{"id":244117,"date":"2026-04-07T16:48:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=244117"},"modified":"2026-04-11T22:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:05:28","slug":"number-of-exam-grades-challenged-declines-by-18-per-cent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/number-of-exam-grades-challenged-declines-by-18-per-cent\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of exam grades challenged declines by 18 per cent"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

The number of exam grades that were challenged at appeal has dropped by more than 18 per cent in a year, despite the number of appeals going up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

New figures<\/a> released by Ofqual show 2,170 GCSE, AS and A Level grades were challenged at appeal in 2024-25<\/a>, down 18.3 per cent from 2,655 the previous year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Over the same period, there was a 0.1 per cent decrease in the total number of results issues, meaning the drop in grades challenged is not explained by changes to entry patterns.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The number of appeals submitted also increased marginally by 7.5 per cent, from 1,795 to 1,930.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

An individual appeal can cover more than one grade, for example if a school or college submits an appeal against its results for a qualification that more than one of its students has taken.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At the same time, one grade might be challenged by multiple appeals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There were 1,165 appeals received for GCSEs and 770 for AS and A Levels in the 2024-25 academic year, with both showing a slight increase compared to the previous year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The appeals involved challenges to 1,255 GCSE grades, a 12.6 per cent decrease, and resulted in 500 grades being changed, down 5.8 per cent.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At AS and A-level, 910 grades were challenged, a drop of 25.1 per cent, while 215 grades were changed, a 1.4 per cent increase.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Small increase in upheld appeals<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The number of grades challenged at appeal represents just 0.03 per cent of the 6.7 million results issued in the 2024-25 academic year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

An Ofqual spokesperson said: “The vast majority of results are not challenged each year, and it is good to see this number continue to fall.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cThis reflects the hard work of students, teachers and awarding organisations, and our continued commitment to maintaining high standards in qualifications.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The proportion of appeals upheld increased slightly compared to last year, from 54.2 per cent to 56.6 per cent.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Of the upheld appeals, 70.2 per cent were associated with a grade change.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Appeals can be submitted for several reasons, including to contest the outcome of a review of marking or moderation, malpractice, or a decision on reasonable adjustments or special consideration.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The most common reason for an appeal was “review of marking \u2013 marking error”, which accounted for 74.4 per cent of appeals.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But the number of overall appeals increases, as does their success rate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":316072,"featured_media":222700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[73,155],"post-theme":[2345],"class_list":["post-244117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-a-level","tag-gcses","post-theme-assessment"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t