Special consideration in GCSE, AS and A level: summer 2023 exam series
Published 30 November 2023
Applies to England
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Introduction
We report here on special consideration given in the form of post-assessment 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 occurring at the time of their assessment that could have had an impact on their performance. For post-assessment special consideration, a request relates to a single request for a student who has sat a specific component in an exam series. Post-assessment special consideration differs from access arrangements, which are adjustments that are made to the way an assessment is taken. We report on data for pre-assessment access arrangement 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. Requests 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. The Joint Council of Qualifications (JCQ), a membership organisation of 8 providers of qualifications, including the 4 exam boards offering GCSE, AS and A levels 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 a particular exam 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.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to the cancellation of exams in summer 2020 and summer 2021. As a result, there were no special consideration requests for those series. Exams and assessments resumed in summer 2022, with some adaptions to the usual assessments. Under JCQ guidance, students with symptoms of COVID-19, who were absent from exams due to following UK Health Security Agency guidance, were automatically considered absent for an acceptable reason. To minimise the likelihood of students missing all their assessments for a qualification, extended time intervals were introduced between timetabled exams. JCQ also changed the eligibility criteria for students who missed an assessment for an acceptable reason. Previously, students needed to have completed at least 25% of the overall qualification’s assessments to be eligible for a grade under special consideration arrangements. This was changed to only require completion of at least one assessment in a qualification.
In 2023, AS, A level and the majority of GCSE exams and assessments returned to pre-pandemic arrangements. Nevertheless, in a small number of GCSE subjects, some of the adaptions implemented in 2022 were maintained. In addition, the extended spacing between exams was retained, as were the revised expectations for students to be eligible for a grade under special consideration arrangements where they were unable to take assessments for an acceptable reason. This was to maximise the likelihood that students who were in this position could receive a grade.
In this release, all values 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 and data tables accompanying this report.
Key headlines
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In 2023, there were 700,600 special consideration requests, 19% higher than in 2022 and partially explained by an increase in GCSE and A level entries. In 2023, special consideration requests were submitted for 4.4% of all assessments, similar to 2022 (3.5%).
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Special consideration requests for GCSEs were 20% higher in 2023 (561,415 requests) than in 2022 (465,670 requests). Requests for AS and A level were 14% higher (139,185 requests) than in 2022 (122,500 requests). Most special consideration requests were for GCSE assessments (80%), similar to 2022 (79%).
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The majority of special consideration requests (95%) were approved, slightly higher than in 2022 (94%).
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There were 666,175 special consideration requests approved in 2023, meaning special consideration requests were approved for 4% of all assessments, similar to 2022.
Total number of special consideration requests
There were 700,600 special consideration requests in 2023, 19.1% higher than in 2022 (588,170 requests). The increase in special consideration requests for 2023 may be partially explained by increases in GCSE and A level entries. For example, there was a 1.2% increase in the total number of GCSE and A level entries, from 16.6 million in the summer 2022 exam series to 16.8 million in the 2023 summer exam series. Out of all special consideration requests in 2023, 95.1% were approved (666,175), similar to the proportion of requests approved in 2022 (93.9%).
| Special Consideration requests | Level | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requests made | AS and A level | 131,220 | 123,615 | 122,500 | 139,185 |
| Requests made | GCSE | 484,150 | 467,220 | 465,670 | 561,415 |
| Requests made | Total | 615,370 | 590,835 | 588,170 | 700,600 |
| Requests approved | AS and A level | 124,045 | 114,500 | 116,475 | 133,590 |
| Requests approved | GCSE | 447,645 | 429,030 | 435,825 | 532,585 |
| Requests approved | Total | 571,690 | 543,530 | 552,300 | 666,175 |
Special consideration requests for external and internal assessments
Requests relating to internal assessments (for example non-examination assessments) represent a small proportion of the total number of requests. In 2023, 1.6% of requests were for internal assessments (11,400 requests) and 98.4% were for external assessments (689,200 requests). The proportions of requests were similar to 2022, where 1.0% of requests were for internal assessments (5,880 requests) and 99.0% were for external assessments (582,290 requests).
| Assessment type | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal assessment requests | 11,885 | 10,360 | 5,880 | 11,400 |
| External assessment requests | 603,490 | 580,475 | 582,290 | 689,200 |
Special consideration requests by subject
The charts in this section present 2 sets of data: special consideration requests at a component level (referred to as units prior to 2019) and the number of certifications. Statistics on the number of certifications are based on data published by JCQ. The certification chart is provided to show the breakdown of certifications by subject. Typically, we would anticipate a relationship between the number of special consideration requests and the number of certifications. However, it is important to recognise that the number of components can vary depending on the subject. Comparing this data with previous years should be approached cautiously due to changes in qualification structures, including the transition between legacy and reformed qualifications.
AS and A level subjects with the highest number of special consideration requests in 2023 with number of certifications
| Subject | Number of requests | Total qualification certifications |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 17,640 | 97,940 |
| Psychology | 13,810 | 83,035 |
| Biology | 13,750 | 73,300 |
| Chemistry | 10,955 | 61,330 |
| Sociology | 7,640 | 49,640 |
| History | 7,440 | 46,490 |
| Physics | 7,285 | 38,680 |
| Economics | 6,350 | 40,495 |
| Geography | 6,345 | 36,405 |
| English Literature | 6,175 | 35,730 |
For AS and A level, the subjects with the highest number of special consideration requests were generally those with the largest number of certifications. Figures for all subjects can be found in the accompanying data tables.
GCSE subjects with the highest number of special consideration requests in 2023 with certifications
Please note that certifications in combined science are double counted because combined science is the equivalent of 2 GCSE grades.
| Subject | Number of requests | Total qualification certifications |
|---|---|---|
| Combined Science | 109,905 | 874,000 |
| Mathematics | 81,870 | 761,960 |
| English Language | 61,150 | 728,210 |
| History | 50,060 | 293,195 |
| English Literature | 49,980 | 594,530 |
| Geography | 36,075 | 279,080 |
| Religious Studies | 27,185 | 222,410 |
| French | 18,595 | 125,150 |
| Spanish | 18,120 | 120,200 |
| Biology | 14,015 | 177,905 |
Similar to AS and A level, the GCSE subjects with the most special consideration requests were generally those with the highest certifications. Figures for all subjects can be found in the accompanying data tables.
Special consideration applications for individuals and groups
According to JCQ guidelines, special consideration applications can be made either on an individual or group basis. An individual application involves just one student and can relate to one or more assessment components. However, there can also be cases where a group of students has been affected by a similar issue (for example, a fire alarm during an exam). In these cases, a group application can cover all students and any components affected by the event. Because a single group application encompasses a number of students, the sum of applications for individuals and groups is not equal to the total number of special consideration requests (which are counted at individual student and component level).
The chart and table show the percentage of applications relating to individuals or groups as a percentage of all special consideration requests.
| Application type | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | 95.8% | 96.6% | 97.0% | 96.2% |
| Group | 4.2% | 3.4% | 3.0% | 3.8% |
The chart and table below give a breakdown of group applications in 2023 by number of students in the group. For instance, 25.4% of group applications included between 2 and 5 students.
| Size of group application | Percentage of all requests | Percentage of group requests |
|---|---|---|
| 2-5 | 1.0 | 25.4 |
| 6-10 | 0.7 | 19.4 |
| 11-20 | 0.7 | 19.6 |
| 21-50 | 0.7 | 19.4 |
| 51-100 | 0.4 | 10.4 |
| 101-200 | 0.2 | 4.9 |
| 201+ | <0.1 | 1.0 |
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 their assessments. Further information is provided in the JCQ guidelines.
Number of approved requests for mark adjustments and qualification awards
| Special consideration type | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification award approved requests | 16,985 | 21,260 | 50,135 | 32,565 |
| Mark adjustment approved requests | 554,705 | 522,265 | 502,165 | 633,610 |
Most (95.1%) approved requests in 2023 were for mark adjustments, higher than in 2022 (90.9%), but similar to previous years (for example, 96.1% of approved requests were for mark adjustments in 2019).
The proportion of approved qualification award requests (4.9%) was lower in 2023 compared to 2022 (9.1%), but similar to the years before the pandemic (for example, 3.9% of approved requests were for qualification awards in 2019).
Approved special consideration requests for mark adjustments by tariff
The guidelines published by JCQ allow for percentage adjustments to a student’s mark according to a tariff. The exam boards permit adjustments of up to 5% of the maximum mark of a question paper. The chart and table below show the total number of approved mark adjustments and the percentage approved by tariff.
| Mark adjustment tariff | Percentage of marks adjusted in 2018 | Percentage of marks adjusted in 2019 | Percentage of marks adjusted in 2022 | Percentage of marks adjusted in 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 0.8 | 0.2 | <0.1 | 0.0 |
| 1% | 18.3 | 16.4 | 16.2 | 13.3 |
| 2% | 25.0 | 23.7 | 24.4 | 27.0 |
| 3% | 24.5 | 26.2 | 26.8 | 28.0 |
| 4% | 22.9 | 27.9 | 24.0 | 26.2 |
| 5% | 8.5 | 5.6 | 8.6 | 5.5 |
The majority of mark adjustments (81%) were by either 2%, 3% or 4% in 2023. A smaller proportion of students received the highest tariff of 5% in 2023 (5.5%) than in 2022 (8.6%), though this is more in line with the 2019 summer exam series (5.6%) prior to the pandemic.
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Head of profession: Nadir Zanini