A Level results day brings one question up surprisingly often: “Should I get this remarked?”
Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes a review of marking can change a grade and, occasionally, change what happens next for a student. But being one or two marks below a grade boundary does not automatically mean a paper has been marked incorrectly.
There is another important point to understand from the start. What most of us still call a remark is officially a review of marking. The examiner is not simply asked to mark the whole paper again from scratch and see whether they come up with a different number. The review looks for errors in the original marking and checks that the mark scheme was applied correctly and reasonably.
For students receiving A Level results in England on Thursday 13 August 2026, there is also a very short deadline if a university place depends on the outcome.
Here are 17 things worth knowing before asking for a review.
1. Start by calling it the right thing: a review of marking
“Remark” is the word most students, parents and teachers use, but it gives a slightly misleading impression.
Under the JCQ system, Service 2 is a Review of Marking. A reviewer checks the original marking to decide whether the mark scheme has been applied correctly. This includes looking for administrative errors, failures to apply the mark scheme correctly and cases where academic judgement was exercised unreasonably.
The key phrase is marking error.
A reviewer does not replace one reasonable examiner judgement with another simply because they personally might have awarded a slightly different mark.
That matters particularly in subjects involving extended writing. Two experienced examiners might reasonably differ slightly over an essay. That alone does not make the original mark wrong. JCQ explicitly recognises that different examiners can reasonably reach different academic judgements.
So the question is not:
“Could somebody else give this answer another mark?”
It is:
“Is there evidence that the original marking contains an error?”
2. Being one mark below a boundary is a reason to look, not proof you should review
Imagine a student receives 179 marks and the A grade begins at 180.
It is completely understandable to think: “We only need one mark. Put it in for a remark.”
But the grade boundary tells you how many marks are needed for the grade. It tells you nothing about whether the existing marking is wrong.
A student one mark below a boundary may have been marked perfectly accurately. Another student eight marks below a boundary could have a genuine marking error worth ten marks.
The sensible approach is therefore to combine the distance from the boundary with what teachers know about the individual papers.
Being close to the boundary makes the potential benefit greater. It does not make a mark change more likely by itself.
3. Look at the component marks, not just the final grade
A Level results are built from individual components or papers.
If a student has missed an A by three marks, you do not necessarily want all three papers reviewed.
Ask:
Which paper was unexpectedly low?
How does it compare with performance in mocks and other papers?
Is one component obviously out of line with the others?
Was the student usually particularly strong on the content assessed on that paper?
Ofqual explains that reviews are requested for individual components rather than for the whole A Level qualification. More than one component can be reviewed if necessary.
This is where an experienced subject teacher can be extremely useful.
Instead of saying, “You are two marks off an A, so let’s review everything,” the teacher may be able to say, “Paper 1 looks about right, but Paper 3 is much lower than we expected. Let’s look at that one first.”
That is a much better use of the process.
4. Ask to see the script where there is time
One of the biggest improvements to the post-results system is access to marked scripts.
Schools and colleges can obtain electronic copies of many marked A Level papers. Teachers can then look at what the student actually wrote before deciding whether a review is sensible.
AQA offers a free priority copy of a marked A Level paper to help schools decide whether to request a review. Pearson’s electronic Access to Scripts service is free for electronically marked Edexcel A Level scripts. OCR also provides access to scripts to support reviews free of charge, while Eduqas provides free electronic script access.
This can be enormously helpful.
A teacher might notice that an answer appears not to have been credited correctly. They might find a page that seems to have been missed. Or, just as importantly, they might look through the paper and conclude that the original mark is perfectly defensible.
That can save a student both money and uncertainty.
There is, however, one major exception.
5. If a university place depends on it, do not waste the short priority window
For summer 2026 A Levels, the deadline for a Priority Service 2 review is Thursday 20 August 2026.
That is only seven days after A Level results day.
The awarding body should complete a priority review within 15 calendar days of receiving it.
This is the service designed for A Level students where progression, particularly a university place, depends on the result.
AQA goes as far as telling centres not to wait for a priority script if a student’s university place is pending, but to go straight to the priority review instead.
So if you have missed your university offer because of one disputed grade, speak to your school’s exams officer and sixth-form team on results day.
Do not go home on Thursday and decide to think about it next week.
6. Tell the university immediately
If your university place depends on a possible grade change, contact the university as soon as you know a priority review is being submitted.
Explain clearly:
your name and UCAS details;
the course you are holding an offer for;
your original result;
which paper or subject is being reviewed;
and that a Priority Service 2 review has been requested.
JCQ specifically advises candidates and centres to inform the university. The university may be willing to keep a place open until the review is completed. The exam board does not automatically tell the university that you have requested a review, although UCAS will be notified if the final grade changes.
That phone call could be as important as submitting the review itself.
Do not assume that everybody’s systems automatically talk to each other.
7. Understand the three main post-results services
There are three terms that often get mixed together.
Service 1: Clerical re-check
This checks that all parts of the paper have been marked, marks have been totalled correctly and the marks have been recorded correctly. It does not reconsider whether an examiner awarded the right marks for an answer. JCQ requires this to be completed within 10 calendar days.
Service 2: Review of marking
This includes the clerical checks but also reviews whether the original marking was correct. The summer 2026 deadline is 24 September 2026, and the normal completion time is within 20 calendar days.
Priority Service 2
This is the faster A Level version. The summer 2026 deadline is 20 August, with completion within 15 calendar days.
For most A Level students talking about a “remark”, Service 2 or Priority Service 2 is what they actually mean.
8. AQA: know the costs before submitting papers
For summer 2026 A Levels, AQA charges:
| AQA service | 2026 exam-board fee |
|---|---|
| Clerical re-check | £9.70 per component |
| Review of marking | £51.95 per component |
| Priority review of marking | £61.70 per component |
| Priority copy of marked script | Free |
AQA’s priority deadline is 20 August 2026 and the standard review deadline is 24 September 2026. AQA states that the normal review can take up to 20 calendar days and the priority service up to 15.
There is another useful AQA detail.
If the overall subject grade changes, AQA does not charge for components that were submitted together or were still being processed together. That can matter if a school is considering reviews of more than one paper.
AQA also includes a copy of the reviewed script as part of its review service.
9. Pearson Edexcel: scripts are particularly easy to access
Pearson Edexcel’s 2026 A Level charges are:
| Pearson Edexcel service | 2026 exam-board fee |
|---|---|
| Clerical check | £14 |
| Review of marking | £57 |
| Priority review of marking | £68 |
| Electronic access to many scripts | Free |
These fees apply during the period covering summer 2026. Pearson’s deadline for an Edexcel GCE Priority Service 2 review is 20 August 2026, while Service 1 and Service 2 requests remain open until 24 September.
One advantage for teachers is Pearson’s Access to Scripts system. Electronically marked scripts can be viewed and downloaded free of charge, allowing the subject teacher to inspect a paper before recommending a review where time permits.
Pearson also waives post-results fees where the review results in a change to the overall qualification grade.
For a student who is close to a boundary but whose university place is already secure, looking at the script first is often the sensible route.
10. OCR: slightly higher fees, but useful script access
OCR charges for the June 2026 series are:
| OCR service | 2026 exam-board fee |
|---|---|
| Clerical re-check | £12 |
| Review of marking | £67.75 |
| Priority review of marking | £83.50 |
| Access to scripts to support a review | Free |
OCR’s priority service is available for AS and A Levels in the June series, and OCR says it aims to complete priority reviews by 31 August. Standard Service 2 outcomes are often received more quickly, although the JCQ maximum timescale remains 20 calendar days.
OCR does not charge for a clerical check or review of marking if the certification grade changes.
OCR also provides reviewed copies of scripts after the outcome, including review annotations where applicable.
Again, the important question is not which board is “more generous”. All boards work within Ofqual and JCQ rules. The question is whether there is evidence of an error on the particular paper.
11. Eduqas: the fees are a little different again
Eduqas A Levels are offered by WJEC and are used by schools in England.
For the June 2026 series, the published fees are:
| Eduqas service | 2026 exam-board fee |
|---|---|
| Clerical re-check | £11 |
| Review of marking for GCE / Level 3 | £51 |
| Priority review of marking | £60 |
| View Script Access | Free |
The Priority Service 2 deadline is 20 August and the standard review deadline is 24 September. Eduqas states the same expected timescales: within 15 calendar days for priority reviews and within 20 days for standard reviews.
Eduqas also makes scripts available electronically for six months after publication of results, with candidate consent required before accessing them.
WJEC/Eduqas makes the same important point as the other boards: marks and grades can be lowered as a result of a review, which is why written candidate consent is needed.
12. Your grade can go down
This is not a theoretical warning included in tiny print.
When a student agrees to a review of marking, they are accepting that the mark could:
increase;
stay exactly the same;
or decrease.
The resulting subject grade can therefore also rise, stay the same or fall. Written candidate consent is required before a school submits a Service 1 or Service 2 request.
You cannot say:
“Please review it, but only accept the new mark if it is higher.”
If the review identifies that the original examiner awarded marks that should not have been awarded, those marks must be removed.
In practice, downward grade changes are rare. In summer 2025, Ofqual reported that less than 0.1% of challenged AS and A Level grades changed down, while 24.0% of challenged grades changed upwards.
Rare does not mean impossible.
That is why the decision deserves thought.
13. Do not interpret the national statistics as a 24% chance of success
The Ofqual figures are useful, but they are easy to misuse.
In summer 2025, 58,830 AS and A Level grades were challenged. Of those, 14,150, or 24.1%, changed following reviews. Ofqual also found that 55.7% of reviewed AS and A Level component marks did not change at all.
It would be tempting to tell a student:
“You have roughly a one-in-four chance.”
That is not what the figures mean.
These are not randomly selected papers. Schools deliberately choose papers where they think a review may be worthwhile. Some will have been selected because teachers have inspected the script and spotted a concern. Others will be extremely close to a boundary.
So the national figure should give reassurance that reviews genuinely do sometimes change grades, but it cannot tell you the probability that your particular paper will change.
The quality of the evidence matters much more.
14. Reviews may be more straightforward in some questions than others
A marking error can happen in any A Level subject, but the nature of the assessment matters when deciding what to look for.
Suppose a Physics student has written the correct numerical answer with valid working and the response has incorrectly received zero marks.
That can be relatively straightforward to identify against a mark scheme.
Now consider a 25-mark History essay or English Literature response sitting near the border between two levels.
That involves much more academic judgement.
JCQ’s rules recognise exactly this distinction. A marking error can include failing to apply the mark scheme to a right-or-wrong answer, but in questions involving academic judgement, the original mark is only changed where that judgement was unreasonable, not simply because another examiner might reasonably have awarded something different.
This does not mean essay subjects are not worth reviewing.
It means teachers should be looking for something stronger than:
“I would probably have given this essay 18 instead of 17.”
15. Coursework and NEA are different
Do not assume that a disappointing coursework or NEA mark can simply be individually “remarked” after results day in the same way as an examination paper.
Where work was internally marked by the school, students must have been given an opportunity to challenge the school’s marking before the marks were submitted to the exam board. Ofqual explains that someone not involved in the original marking should then review the work under the school’s internal procedure.
After results, Service 3 is a review of moderation.
This is a centre-level process. It reviews whether the exam board’s original moderation was carried out properly. It is not an individual student’s remark and is generally only available where the exam board adjusted the centre’s marks.
The original moderation sample is reviewed, not a paper chosen by one disappointed student.
So if an NEA result looks wrong on results day, speak to the subject department and exams officer rather than immediately asking for “my coursework to be remarked”.
16. If the review does not solve the problem, there is an appeals process
A review of marking is not necessarily the final stage.
If the school still believes a marking error remains, or believes the exam board has not followed its procedures consistently, properly or fairly, the head of centre can appeal.
For a student entered through a school or college, the student or parent cannot normally appeal directly to the exam board. The appeal has to go through the head of centre. Private candidates are treated differently and can appeal directly in the circumstances set out by JCQ.
The appeal must normally be submitted within 30 calendar days of the review outcome.
If that preliminary appeal is unsuccessful, there is a further appeal hearing stage, with a request normally required within 14 calendar days of the preliminary outcome.
An appeal is not simply:
“We still don’t like the mark.”
There must be a proper ground for challenging the decision.
17. The best decision on results day is usually evidence first, emotion second
This is the part that matters most.
If a student misses a grade by one mark, emotions run high. Parents understandably want something done immediately. Teachers want the best possible outcome for a student they have taught for two years.
But a good post-results decision needs more than disappointment.
I would use this simple approach.
First, check whether the grade actually matters. Has the university already accepted the student anyway? If so, the urgency may disappear.
Second, check the overall mark against the grade boundary.
Third, look at the individual paper marks. Is one unexpectedly low?
Fourth, ask the subject teacher whether the result looks credible.
Fifth, where time allows, obtain the script and inspect it.
Sixth, if a university place is at risk, contact the university and consider Priority Service 2 immediately. Do not miss the 20 August deadline while waiting for perfect information.
Finally, decide whether there is enough evidence to justify the review.
There will be occasions where the advice is:
“You are one mark away. We have looked at the paper and there are two answers we genuinely think have been marked incorrectly. I would request the review.”
There will also be occasions where the responsible advice is:
“You are one mark away, but we have looked through the script and cannot identify a marking error. A review is possible, but being close to the boundary is the only evidence we have.”
Both can be good advice.
The purpose of the post-results system is not to keep submitting papers until a student gets the grade they hoped for.
It is there to correct mistakes.
Used carefully, it is an important safeguard. Used automatically simply because somebody is close to a boundary, it can become expensive and give students false hope.
2026 A Level review of marking: quick comparison for England
| Exam board | Standard Service 2 | Priority Service 2 | Clerical check | Priority deadline | Standard deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AQA | £51.95 per component | £61.70 per component | £9.70 | 20 Aug 2026 | 24 Sept 2026 |
| Pearson Edexcel | £57 per component | £68 per component | £14 | 20 Aug 2026 | 24 Sept 2026 |
| OCR | £67.75 per component | £83.50 per component | £12 | 20 Aug 2026 | 24 Sept 2026 |
| Eduqas | £51 per GCE unit/component | £60 | £11 | 20 Aug 2026 | 24 Sept 2026 |
These are the published exam-board fees for the relevant 2026 services. Schools and colleges should confirm their own arrangements with candidates because the amount a family is asked to pay can depend on the centre’s policy. The major boards generally waive or refund review charges where the review produces the qualifying grade change under their published charging rules.
Sources used
This article covers A Levels regulated in England. Ofqual identifies the four exam boards offering GCSE, AS and A Level qualifications in England as AQA, Cambridge OCR, Pearson and WJEC.
Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) – Post-Results Services, Summer 2026
Used for the official definitions of Service 1, Service 2, Priority Service 2 and Service 3; candidate consent; review principles; the 20 August and 24 September deadlines; and the 10, 15, 20 and 35-day completion times.
JCQ – Guide to the Awarding Organisations’ Appeals Processes, effective June 2026
Used for the definition of a marking error, academic judgement, who can appeal and the 30-day appeal deadline.
Ofqual – Reviews of Marking and Moderation, Summer 2025
Used for the latest available national statistics for England. In 2025, 24.1% of challenged AS and A Level grades changed following review; 24.0% changed upwards and fewer than 0.1% downwards.
Ofqual – Background Information for Reviews of Marking and Moderation
Used for the explanation of how component reviews work, the four exam boards operating in England, fees, reviews of moderation and the regulatory background to the system.
Ofqual – Student Guide to Exams and Assessments in 2026
Used for information about exam marking, moderation and the internal review process for school-marked non-exam assessment.
AQA – Review and Priority Review of Marking / Clerical Re-check / Access to Scripts
Used for AQA’s 2026 fees, deadlines, charging arrangements, turnaround times and free priority script service.
Pearson Edexcel – Post-Results Services, Fees and Key Dates
Used for Edexcel’s 2026 Service 1, Service 2 and Priority Service 2 fees, deadlines, charging rules and free electronic Access to Scripts service.
OCR – Reviews of Marking and Post-Results Services Fees 2025/26
Used for OCR’s Service 1, Service 2 and Priority Service 2 fees, free script access, grade-change charging policy and review procedures.
WJEC Eduqas – Post-Results Services, June 2026
Used for Eduqas fees, deadlines, free View Script Access, consent requirements and review timescales.
Information checked on 12 August 2026, the day before A Level results day in England.