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• I haven’t done as well as I expected. What can I do now?

• What is cashing-in?

• I achieved a higher mark for the same unit last time. Can I use that result?

• What is a uniform mark, and what are the grade boundaries?

I haven’t done as well as I expected. What can I do now?

First of all talk to your subject teacher. After all the teaching that you have had, tests and internal examinations, he/she is the person who best knows what grade you are capable of achieving. Take your results slip to your subject teacher, and go through the information on it in detail. If you both think that there is something wrong with the result, the school or college can apply to see your completed examination paper and then, if necessary, ask for a re-mark immediately. The original mark can be confirmed or lowered, as well as raised, as a result of a re-mark. A charge will be made if the original mark is confirmed or lowered.

Another way of dealing with this problem is to consider re-sitting some parts of the examination again. However, if you have taken a linear or a modular GCSE, you will have to take the terminal written components (written papers) again. You can carry forward your coursework mark and your unit test marks if you wish.

If you have taken an AS or A level qualification, it is possible for you to re-sit some of the units.

Your results slip can help you decide which units you might want to re-take, as it will show all the units and their uniform marks that were used to calculate a subject grade. Remember that not all the units have the same percentage value towards the final grade - lower percentage units have less impact on the final grade than higher percentage ones. Look to see whether you have done particularly badly on a higher percentage unit – you can tell which ones they are by their higher uniform mark totals – and think about re-taking those. Then look at the smaller percentage units.

Whatever you decide to do you must speak to your subject teacher and, if necessary, your Examinations Officer who will advise you on when entries have to be made, fees that might have to be paid and whether you are eligible to re-take the units you want.

What is cashing-in?

Cashing-in is the last stage of creating a grade for a qualification that is made up of a series of units (see question 'What is a uniform mark?' below). Usually for Advanced Subsidiary qualifications you must take three units before you get a grade; for Advanced GCE you must take six units.

Cashing-in should have been done at the same time as the entries were made for you for particular units this summer. If your school or college didn’t enter the cash-in code for a particular subject you won’t have a grade for it. You need to speak to your Examinations Officer who will be able to check whether or not a cash-in code was submitted. If it wasn’t, please ask your Examinations Officer to contact us so that your grade can be calculated as soon as possible and a revised result will be issued to you. Although Edexcel offers a fast turnaround time from receipt of written instructions, it may take up to five days for the grade to reach you, depending on your centre's arrangements.

To enable us to calculate an overall grade, it is necessary to have the right number of units and the cash-in code. For some subjects it is also necessary to have the right combination of units.

To receive an overall qualification grade your school or college must enter you for the last of the units that you are taking and a cash-in code. For example, the Edexcel A level Geography Specification B qualification is made up as follows:

Please note that unit numbers for AS and A level specifications start with a 6, and cash-in codes with an 8 for AS and 9 for A level.

In some subjects, e.g. Mathematics, Biology/Human Biology, etc. you have to complete a certain combination of units. For example, for A level Statistics (9453) you must do 6683, 6684, 6685, 6686 and 6687 as well as EITHER 6671 OR 6688.

For GCSE modular examinations, the unit code numbers start with a '5', and the cash-in code starts with a '1'.

Problems can arise from ineligible entries. These occur when the candidate has been entered for cashing-in but has not completed the correct combination of units. If this has happened, you must talk to your Examinations Officer.

I achieved a higher mark for the same unit last time. Can I use that result?

What is a uniform mark, and what are the grade boundaries?

The calculation of grades for unitised specifications is quite complicated and involves the use of what is called a uniform mark scale (UMS). When the uniform marks are added up they give a total which is then converted to a grade. Although we give an explanation below of how a grade is calculated do not worry too much about this; it is the final grade that is important for entry to college or university, or your chosen career.

When modular courses were first introduced, a problem occurred with the total number of marks that each subject had and so the examination boards decided to use what is called the Uniform Mark Scale. The following maximums were agreed for the qualifications listed:

For AS specifications:

 
 For A level specifications:

The UMS grade boundaries for units are as follows:

GCE max 90 UMS

      
 
GCE max 100 UMS

     
GCE max 120 UMS

From your results slip, you can see not only whether you did better on some units and not so well on others, but also how close you were to an overall grade boundary.