Appeal

Really silly question but is it possible to appeal your A-level grades from 2021 (in order to get into higher education), if you didn’t have the courage before to share mitigating circumstances?

There is no ability to "appeal your A-level grades" due to "mitigating circumstances" anyway.

There are three separate processes which candidates can take advantage of:

1. If there was some event which happens during the exams or immediately before (a death in the family, a flare-up of a medical condition, illness, etc.) then your school / college could have applied for special consideration at the time. This could have bumped-up you mark on the impacted papers by between 1% and 5%.

2. If, having received you mark / grade on results day you felt you'd been under-marked in some way, you could have requested a "review of marking" whereby a second examiner (often a senior examiner) reviews the marks awarded for each question and ensures that they're reasonable and inline with the mark scheme. This also includes a "clerical check" to make sure the marks have been totaled correctly too. If, following the review of marking, you still feel that you've been under-marked, or that there has been some procedural error, there is an appeal process.

3. During your university application, you can make universities aware of some mitigating circumstances which you'll like them to take account of when deciding whether or not to make you an offer, or when deciding whether or not to confirm your place should you miss the requirements of the conditional offer.

None of the above can be applied two years after the event. However, should you wish to apply to university now, using the grades you achieved in 2021, you could make the universities aware of the mitigating circumstances which applied at the time which explain why the grades are perhaps lower than they might like them to be, in the hope that they would still consider your application.

Would I be able to retake the A-levels in autumn this year?