Getting ready for Results Day

Now the exams have all been sat, we want to take the opportunity to thank everyone in schools and colleges for everything they have done. Read this message from our Assessment Director, Hayley White, to say a very big thank you to everyone.

Results days: Key dates

Results documents

The results documents available for Exams Officers to download in Edexcel online are:

• Broadsheets (CSV/PDF) -shows all summer results
• Component mark list (CSV/PDF) - shows the paper marks, paper weighting, overall marks and grades awarded to candidates by subject (linear qualifications) or unit (modular qualifications). PDF files also include grade boundaries.
• Contributing units report (CSV/PDF) - shows how individual units have contributed to cash-in grades for modular qualifications.
• Candidate statement of provisional results (CSPRs) (PDF) - a statement of results per candidate which includes overall grades, and contributing units for modular subjects.

Grade Boundaries

You can access Summer 2022 grade boundaries on our website from results day. In addition to the official grade boundaries that are produced at subject level, we will also be providing notional grade boundaries at paper level. These can help you mark and assess future mocks.

The Ofqual blog also provides an update on ten things to know about grading for GCSE, AS and A Level exams as all exam boards begin to return to pre-pandemic standards. They have also provided an update on how students' exams and assessments have been turned into grades in addition to providing a podcast on marking and grading this summer.

All exam boards have used data from 2019 and 2021 as a starting point for grading. Using data is important to support alignment between exam boards, so that it is no easier to get a grade with one exam board than another. Senior examiners have reviewed the quality of student work over a range of marks and have recommended grade boundaries based on all the available evidence. Grade boundaries change each year to reflect any differences in the demand of the question papers and this year is no exception as a result of the package of measures. Although it is likely that some grade boundaries will be lower than when summer exams were last sat in 2019, this will not be the case for every qualification. However, the outcomes for qualifications will reflect a midpoint between summer 2019 and 2021.

Scaled marks for A level and GCSE Psychology qualifications

The total subject mark for A level and GCSE Psychology is not the same as the total of individual component marks ('raw' marks). This is due to a process called 'scaling'. The raw marks are given a 'weighting' factor to reflect the contribution each component makes to the overall qualification. The raw mark for each component is scaled by multiplying it by the weighting factor. The scaled marks are then added together to produce the overall qualification subject mark. We provide an example of how scaling works in our scaling document. We have also created an online Component Scaling Calculator to help you transfer raw marks into scaled ones.

Pearson's unitised approach to IAL

In Summer 2020 and 2021 each unit grade for IAL was assigned a fixed notional UMS. As the unit results from these previous series will have associated UMS scores, they can be aggregated with future unit results. Guidance on this is provided in the Pearson grading guidance document produced for Summer 2021 on page 6.

Availability of Summer 2022 Question Papers and Mark Schemes

Exam materials from the Summer 2022 exam series will be made available on our website (secure download) on the following dates:

ResultsPlus - our online results analysis tool

ResultsPlus is our free online results analysis tool, that gives you a detailed breakdown of your students’ performance in Pearson Edexcel exams.

It provides you with the most detailed analysis available of your students’ performance. ResultsPlus will help you to identify topics and skills where your students could benefit from further learning – helping them gain a deeper understanding of their subject.

Teachers can sign into Results Plus using their Edexcel Online username and password if their account profile has Results Plus access granted by the Exams Officer. 

Examiners’ reports can be obtained from ResultsPlus on results day by following the steps below:

• Log into ResultsPlus using your Edexcel Onlne details
• Once you are logged in under your centre, select 'ResultsPlus Analysis.
• Then select 'Whole cohort results' followed by 'Cohort paper analysis'.
• Select the relevant qualification and series, 'GCE' and 'June 2022', followed by the relevant subject and 'View paper analysis'.
• Select 'Exam docs' and you will find the Examiners' Report for that component.

Access to Scripts

You can also use our free Access to Scripts service to view your candidates’ marked exam scripts online or download as a PDF. It is available from results day until the 16 December 2022.

Providing a rich source of information, you can use this service to help make decisions about requesting a review of marking, but it can also help inform future teaching and learning and gives insights and visibility that performance data alone cannot provide. 

If scripts have been marked ‘traditionally’ (i.e. not online), you will need to request them, free of charge, by 16 December 2022, via the Post Results section of Edexcel Online as in previous exam series. 

Note, you will need 'Exam viewer' in your Edexcel Online profile if you want to download candidate scripts from results day. 

Discover more about Access to Scripts, along with FAQs and a step-by-step User Guide.

See how teachers have been using Access to Scripts

"An excellent service, we have used it to inform our teaching"
Take a look at the Access to Scripts case studies to see how a number of schools and colleges have been using this service to evaluate how their students performed in the exams, identify skills gaps, help tailor future teaching plans and to develop staff CPD.

Access to scripts is available for any exam paper that has been marked online. You can still request free script copies which have not been marked online (i.e traditionally) but these will not appear on the script portal. Written permission must be gained from candidates before scripts can be accessed.

Please note, candidate consent is required before requesting script copies, as per section 4.2 of the JCQ's Post-results services guide. Candidate consent can only be obtained after results have been published.

Post-results support services

If you're not happy with your students' results this summer, you should take the following steps:

• View the grade boundaries, question papers, mark schemes and examiners’ reports of the paper/qualification concerned.
• View your students’ scripts using the free access to scripts service.
• Log in to ResultsPlus to see how your students have performed on every question and compare their performance to the national average.
• If you're still unhappy with your students' results, you may apply for a review of marking via our post-results services. 

Full details of all our post-results services are available on our website.

How to apply for post-results services

Please speak to your Exams Officer if you wish to proceed with a review of marking. Exams officers should contact their Centre Account Specialist on 0344 463 2535 if they require guidance or watch our post results video. All applications for reviews of marking must be submitted through Edexcel Online.

Results support for students, parents and carers

We have a dedicated web page for student post-results support. Please forward this link to your students where they can find information on the services for students.

We also have created a guide for students on Understanding results and grades and have new '#ExamsSpelledOut' student videos..

Ofqual and UCAS have also released a joint letter for those leaners progressing onto further education.

Appeals

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a review of marking, you may wish to appeal against the decision. We will allow the head of centre (or designated member of the centre’s senior management team or examinations manager) 30 calendar days from the receipt of the outcome of the review of marking, during which an appeal may be lodged by sending an email to the following address: edexcelappeals@pearson.com. There is further guidance on appeals on our website. 

Applications for appeals may only be accepted from a head of centre (on behalf of a candidate or a group of candidates) or private candidates. See the JCQ appeals booklet, 46 & 47.

We wish you and your students a well-deserved break over the summer, and the best of luck on results day.