Remark or Resit Decision Tool 2026

It depends on the size of the gap. If you were within a couple of marks of the next grade boundary and your performance felt stronger than the result suggests, a review of marking is worth trying — it is lower-cost and does not use up a sitting. If the gap is bigger, or you were not confident in your exam performance, a resit is more likely to actually close it. This tool gives you a recommendation based on how close your grade was.

Yes. A review of marking checks the marking against the standard, not only in your favour — a small number of reviews do result in a lower grade. Every board requires acknowledgement of this risk before a review is submitted. Free Access to Scripts (where offered) lets you see your marked script first, which removes much of the guesswork.

It varies by board — from around £51 (AQA A-Level) up to around £84 (OCR A-Level priority service), and a similar range for GCSE. Most boards refund the fee in full if the review changes your final grade. Select your board above for the exact current figure.

A priority review is the same check, expedited — aimed at candidates whose university or college place depends on the outcome. It has a much earlier deadline (often within a week of results day) and usually costs more. A standard review has a longer deadline but a slower turnaround.

For most UK and Cambridge qualifications, a resit is a completely fresh attempt — the exam is sat again from scratch. The exception is Pearson Edexcel International A-Level (IAL), which is modular: your best result across your two most recent attempts at a unit counts, so a resit only needs to cover the specific weak unit, not the whole subject.