International A Levels, IGCSEs 2021: Results, Appeals & Resits

Whether you are sitting Cambridge A Level or IGCSE exams next month, or are waiting to receive teacher assessed grades from exams boards Pearson Edexcel and AQA, here are the key dates you need to know about International A Level and IGCSE results, resits and remarks.

Teacher assessments

Pearson Edexcel and AQA have cancelled all International A/AS Level and IGCSE exams for this summer, and students will receive teacher-assessed grades instead. These grades, based on mock exams, coursework, essays and in-class tests, need to be submitted to the relevant exam board by June 18, 2021.

No algorithm will be used by exam boards to standardise teachers’ grades if they appear too generous.

There is no minimum requirement for how much content a student has studied for their GCSE or A Levels this year. While in a normal year it is expected that students have been taught the whole curriculum, exams watchdog Ofqual says that it is difficult to measure content coverage this year.

"Setting a threshold would potentially mean that students who did not meet that threshold, through no fault of their own, could not get a grade, which could be unfair. It is important, that students have been taught enough content to enable them to progress to the next stage of their education or to employment, but it is difficult to define precisely what that means for individual students who will have different planned progression routes."

Exams

Cambridge is the only A Level/IGCSE exam board to run its June 2021 exam series as planned, where it is permitted by national education authorities. In countries where exams do not run, Cambridge is switching to a teacher assessment approach.

Results

International and UK A/AS Level results will be published on August 10, and I/GCSE results be published on August 12, both just a few days earlier than previous years. Teachers are not allowed to tell students’ their final grade before results day.

Appeals

Students will be able to appeal their grades, and a final decision will be made by the exam board. Grades can go up or down as the result of an appeal. Appeal fees are likely to be scrapped to allow all students the chance to appeal their grades at no additional cost.

Students can appeal to their school if they feel teachers did not go through the right process when issuing grades, or if there has been an administrative error. They can also challenge a grade if they feel that circumstances such as a bereavement at the time of an assessment, were not taken into account. The school can then decide to change the grade if it agrees that a mistake has been made.

If this appeal is unsuccessful and a student is still unhappy with their grade, they can appeal to the exam board.

Resits

Students who are unhappy with their grade can choose to sit an examination in the autumn term 2021, and there will be a full series of GCSE, AS and A Level examinations held in the autumn. Alternatively, students can enter again for the summer 2022 exams.

Art & design subjects

For GCSE, AS and A Level art & design, which are 100% non-exam, students’ grades will be based on their portfolio only. Ofqual, which regulates all exam boards that provide GCSEs, AS and A levels, says that "students should not be penalised if, due to circumstances beyond their control, they were unable to complete their portfolio".

Read more: IB DP '21: Exams Start for South East Asia Students