RESULTS DAY IS COMING, THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Posted on 14 August 2017 by Nick Chubb
The GCSE and A-level results days are just around the corner. Two years of hard work have gotten you to this point, and we hope you achieve what you set out to. It can be an unsettling time, particularly if further study or employment depends on your results, but don’t panic, we’re here to advise you on the next steps whatever the results may be! Before the big day comes though, take a look through our guide detailing what you need to know:
WHEN DO THE RESULTS COME OUT?
The results come out one week apart with A level results coming first:
- A/S and A Level results: 17th of August
- GCSE results: 24th of August
NO BROWN ENVELOPES HERE
Because our learners are on ships and military bases, not just all over the country, but all over the world, there’s no brown envelope to collect from us, instead your results will be emailed to you. We have a lot of results to process and will be fielding a lot of enquiries throughout the day so don’t worry if you don’t get your results first thing – we will get them out to you on the day.
If you need to know your results urgently (eg. for a University place), you can call us on 0207 654 7029 between 08:30 and 17:00 and we will let you know over the phone, we can only release the results to you so please don’t ask anyone to call on your behalf.
STATEMENT OF PROVISIONAL RESULTS
When you receive your results you will get a “Statement of Provisional Results” from each exam board you sat a qualification with. The reason it’s “provisional” is that you may make an appeal against the results, ask for papers to be remarked, or have a clerical check carried out (but more on that later).
If you’re happy that everything is OK with your results then these will likely be the final marks, however, the exam board do reserve the right to change people’s marks up until the certificate is issued.
ABC OR 123?
This year GCSE results are being reformed; English and Maths GCSE will be graded from 9-1, with 9 being the highest and 1 the lowest. For all other subjects, A*-G still applies but this will be phased out over the next few years. If you took more than one subject you could end up with a mixture of number and letter grades.
For more information on what the changes mean take a look at this video from Ofqual:
The 9-1 grades don’t match up exactly with the letter grades, the most important thing to note, is that a grade 4 is equivalent to a grade C.
If you’re not sure what your results mean or want some advice just get in touch with us.
PROBLEMS WITH RESULTS
Hopefully, you will receive the grade you were aiming for on results day. However, if this is not the case and an individual grade or paper is suspiciously low compared to others, you are very, very close to a grade boundary or if you think there is something missing from your results, you can appeal.
You should speak to your tutor in the first instance, but you have a couple of options; you can request for a paper (or papers) to be remarked, or if you think there is a clerical issue (eg. one paper not being marked at all), you can request a clerical review of the marking. Your grade could go up or down, so it’s important to weigh up the risks.
We will contact the relevant exam board on your behalf to make an appeal, there are tight deadlines and exam board fees for this service so please get in touch with us as soon as possible. If you are asking for a remark to try and make your original university place then request a priority remark. You must also let the university know this is what you’re doing.
NEXT STEPS
When considering “what next” it’s important to think about your goals and why you set out to study in the first place. It may have just been for personal satisfaction, to improve your employment prospects, or as a springboard to further study. Whatever your reasons we hope your results help to get you one step closer to where you want to be.
If your results didn’t go the way you wanted them to, don’t panic. In the grand scheme of things failing an exam is just a bump in the road, there will be other opportunities to sit exams and we are on hand to help whatever your results are.
If a place at university is dependent on your results and you come very close to hitting your grade, speak to the university, they may still take you. If not, it may be possible to apply through clearing for a place on a similar course at your chosen university or another course at a different university. If you achieved better than you were expecting you can also apply to “trade up” to a better university or course without losing your current offer through adjustment.
No matter what happens, we are here to support you; we’re on the end of the phone (0207 654 7029) and available over email, and can offer friendly, confidential, and impartial advice on what to do next.
CERTIFICATES
What’s the point in all this hard work if you don’t get something to hang in the downstairs loo right? In all seriousness, your GCSE and A level certificates are important documents which are expensive to replace. They will be required as proof of achievement for most further/higher education courses, and many potential employers will also expect to see certificates too.
You will receive your certificates around three months after your provisional statement of results, if you think there are any errors on it when you receive it, contact us immediately and we will help to rectify any issues. When you receive them you should make at least one copy and store them separately to the originals (digital copies in the cloud will mean you can access them anywhere, anytime), and keep the originals somewhere safe.
SELFIE
You’ve put a lot of hard work in to get to this point and so have we! We want to celebrate your success with you, so make sure when you get your results you take a #resultsdayselfie and send it to us.
If you’re on Twitter, you can tweet your selfie to us @marinesociety or tag us in your selfie on Facebook with @marinesocietycollege or email it to us at education@ms-sc.org.
We hope you get the results you want, but whatever happens, we’re here to support you. If you need advice, guidance, or support about your results or anything else which affects you, just get in touch!