Special consideration in GCSE, AS and A level: summer 2022 exam series
Updated 15 December 2022
Applies to England
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1. Introduction
In this report, Ofqual presents the number of special consideration requests for GCSE, AS and A level exams in England based on data received from exam boards for the summer 2022 exam series.
We report here on special consideration given in the form of post-exam adjustments made to the mark or grade of students who might not have been able to demonstrate their ability in an assessment due to exceptional circumstances that could have had an impact on their performance. For this type of special consideration, a request relates to a single request for a student sitting a specific component in an exam series. In other cases, special consideration takes the form of an adjustment to the way an assessment is taken. We report on that form of special consideration in our statistics on access arrangements.
Requests for post-exam mark adjustments are made by schools and colleges usually after an assessment has taken place and applications specify which students and which components the application is for. Applications can be for an individual student, or for a group of students if a reason for special consideration covers all these students. JCQ, a membership organisation of 8 providers of qualifications, including the 4 exam boards offering general qualifications in England, publishes guidance and procedures on special consideration. There may be small changes year-on-year to this document that reflect the procedures in place for particular examination series.
There are 2 categories of special consideration included in this report: mark adjustments and qualification awards. Mark adjustments are for students who were present for the assessment but disadvantaged in some way at the time of taking the assessment. Qualification awards are for students who were absent with good reason for one or more of the assessments.
In summer 2020 and summer 2021, exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and, as a result, there were no special considerations for those series. Summer 2022 saw the return of exams and assessments following disruption due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. JCQ issued supplementary guidance for students with symptoms of respiratory illnesses including COVID-19. Students who were unable to attend examinations due to following UK Health Security Agency guidance were considered to be absent for acceptable reasons. In addition, greater spacing was introduced between exams in the timetable to reduce the likelihood of students missing all of their assessments in a qualification. JCQ also changed the eligibility criteria for students who missed an exam for reasons beyond their control, so that they could receive a grade if they had completed at least one assessment in a qualification as opposed to completing at least 25% of the overall assessment.
In this release, all counts are rounded to the nearest 5 to ensure confidentiality of data. Figures for AS are reported along with A level. Further information on this release is available in the background information as well as data tables accompanying this report.
2. Main trends
- In 2022 there were 588,170 special consideration requests, similar to the number in 2019, the last time summer examinations were held.
- 552,300 special considerations were approved in 2022, meaning there was an approved special consideration request for 4% of all assessments, similar to 2019.
- The majority of special consideration requests (94%) were approved, slightly higher than in 2019 (92%).
3. Special consideration requests
| Special consideration requests | Level | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requests made | A and AS Level | 167,730 | 131,220 | 123,615 | 122,500 |
| Requests made | GCSE | 439,165 | 484,150 | 467,220 | 465,670 |
| Requests made | Total | 606,895 | 615,370 | 590,835 | 588,170 |
| Requests approved | A and AS Level | 157,925 | 124,045 | 114,500 | 116,475 |
| Requests approved | GCSE | 409,650 | 447,645 | 429,030 | 435,825 |
| Requests approved | Total | 567,575 | 571,690 | 543,530 | 552,300 |
The number of requests is similar compared to 2019, and lower than in 2017 and 2018.
4. External and internal assessment requests
| Request type | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal requests | 21,975 | 11,885 | 10,360 | 5,880 |
| External requests | 584,920 | 603,490 | 580,475 | 582,290 |
Requests relating to internal assessments (for example non-exam assessments) represent a small proportion of the total number of requests: in 2022 99% of requests were for external assessments (for example exams) (582,290 requests) and 1% were for internal assessments (5,880 requests).
5. Special consideration requests by subject
The charts below show special consideration requests at component level (units prior to 2019) alongside the number of certifications as reported in the data published by JCQ. The certification chart is provided to show the breakdown of entries by subject. Generally, we would expect to see a relationship between the volume of special consideration requests and the volume of entries, noting, though, that the number of components varies by subject. Additionally, caution may be needed when comparing with previous years due to the transition between legacy and reformed qualifications.
6. AS and A level subjects with the highest number of requests made in 2022 with number of certifications
| Subject | Requests | Total qualification certifications |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 16,255 | 96,625 |
| Psychology | 12,520 | 81,621 |
| Biology | 11,740 | 70,901 |
| Chemistry | 9,875 | 58,895 |
| Sociology | 6,755 | 47,661 |
| Physics | 6,555 | 39,385 |
| History | 6,355 | 44,887 |
| English literature | 5,780 | 34,389 |
| Business studies | 5,590 | 41,766 |
| Geography | 5,330 | 35,632 |
For AS and A level, the subjects with the most special consideration requests were generally those with the largest entries. Figures for all subjects can be found in the accompanying data tables.
7. GCSE subjects with the highest volume of requests made in 2022 with certifications
Please note that certification in combined science is double counted because combined science is the equivalent of 2 GCSE grades.
| Subject | Requests | Total qualification certifications |
|---|---|---|
| Combined science | 93,680 | 843,944 |
| Mathematics | 65,860 | 723,450 |
| English literature | 57,450 | 572,821 |
| English language | 49,150 | 697,827 |
| History | 28,965 | 274,913 |
| Geography | 28,315 | 274,903 |
| Religious studies | 23,450 | 221,983 |
| French | 16,530 | 122,746 |
| Spanish | 13,795 | 107,488 |
| Physics | 13,735 | 165,291 |
Similar to AS and A level, for GCSE the subjects with the most special consideration requests were those with the highest entry. Figures for all subjects can be found in the accompanying data tables.
8. Individual and group special consideration applications
According to JCQ guidelines, applications for special consideration can be made either on an individual or group basis. An individual application involves just one student and can cover one or more components. However, there can also be cases where a group of students has been affected by similar circumstances (for example a fire alarm during an exam), in which case a single group application can cover all students and the different components they were taking that were affected by the event.
The chart and table show the percentage of applications relating to individuals or groups.
| Year | Group or individual | Percentage of requests |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Individual | 96.2 |
| 2017 | Group | 3.8 |
| 2018 | Individual | 95.8 |
| 2018 | Group | 4.2 |
| 2019 | Individual | 96.6 |
| 2019 | Group | 3.4 |
| 2022 | Individual | 97.0 |
| 2022 | Group | 3.0 |
The chart and table give a breakdown of group applications by number of students in the group . For instance, 37.1% of group applications included between 2 and 5 students.
| Size of group | Percentage of all requests | Percentage of group requests |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97.0 | Not applicable |
| 2-5 | 1.1 | 37.1 |
| 6-10 | 0.5 | 15.6 |
| 11-20 | 0.5 | 17.8 |
| 21-50 | 0.5 | 16.3 |
| 51-100 | 0.3 | 8.7 |
| 101-200 | 0.1 | 3.6 |
| 201+ | 0.0 | 0.9 |
More than one special consideration request can be included in a single application. One application for special consideration, whether for an individual or a group may relate to one or more components. Also, a single group application encompasses a number of students. The sum of applications for individual and groups is therefore not equal to the total number of special consideration requests (which are counted at individual student and component level).
9. Categories of special consideration
There are 2 categories of special consideration included in this report: mark adjustments and qualification awards. Mark adjustments are for students who were present for the assessment but disadvantaged in some way at the time of taking the assessment. Qualification awards are for students who were absent with good reason for one or more of the assessments. Further information is provided in the JCQ guidelines.
9.1 Approved mark adjustment and qualification award requests
| Special consideration type | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification awards | 24,690 | 16,985 | 21,260 | 50,135 |
| Mark adjustments | 542,890 | 554,705 | 522,265 | 502,165 |
Most (91%) approved requests in 2022 were for mark adjustments, as in previous years. The number of mark adjustments is lower than in previous years and the number of qualification award requests is higher than 2019. This could be due to JCQ changing the eligibility criteria for students who missed an exam for reasons beyond their control in summer 2022, so that they could receive a grade if they had completed at least one assessment in a qualification as opposed to completing at least 25% of the overall assessment.
9.2 Size of mark adjustments
The guidelines published by JCQ allow for percentage adjustments to the mark given for a student’s work according to a tariff. The exam boards permit adjustments of up to 5% of the maximum mark of a question paper.
| Percentage mark adjustment | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| 1% | 18.6 | 18.3 | 16.4 | 16.2 |
| 2% | 25.0 | 25.0 | 23.7 | 24.4 |
| 3% | 26.7 | 24.5 | 26.2 | 26.8 |
| 4% | 21.6 | 22.9 | 27.9 | 24.0 |
| 5% | 7.9 | 8.5 | 5.6 | 8.6 |
The majority of mark adjustments (75%) were by either 2%, 3% or 4% in 2022. Mark adjustments of 0% were the least common. A higher proportion of students received the highest tariff of 5% in 2022 (8.6%) than in 2019 (5.6%), although the 2022 figure is more in line with previous years.
10. Feedback
User feedback We welcome your feedback on our publications. Should you have any comments on this statistical release and how to improve it to meet your needs please contact us at data.analytics@ofqual.gov.uk.
Head of profession: Nadir Zanini