Editing GCSE (section)

=== Errors and mistakes ===
Teachers and pupils have the option to question exam results and have the scripts marked again if they feel the grade awarded does not reflect the pupil's ability and expectations; or if they review a copy of the script and notice a marking error. In recent years, there have been complaints that GCSEs and GCE A-Levels were marked unfairly. (In 2012, for the first time in the history of the exams, the proportion of all GCSEs awarded an A*–C grade fell).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19355956|title=Anger over 'harsh' English GCSE grades|date=23 August 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=14 June 2015}}</ref>

This can be seen as, in general, more appeals being submitted each year; however, the appeals rarely result in any grade changes as only 182 out of 6.2 million (0.003%) grades were changed in England in 2018, with most upheld appeals ending in no change of marks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/794519/Appeals_for_GCSE__AS_and_A_level_summer_2018_exam_series.pdf|title=Appeals for GCSE, AS and A level Summer 2018 Exam Series}}</ref>

In one incident concerning the 2016 GCSE biology exam, there were complaints about the apparent lack of biology content in the exam.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/this-gcse-biology-exam-that-left-students-tears-could-you-answer-questions-1561200|title=This is the GCSE biology exam that left students in tears: Could you answer the questions?|date=20 May 2016|work=International Business Times UK|access-date=21 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=17 May 2016 |title=Students left 'fuming' over GCSE biology exam that contained questions about drunk 15-year-olds |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/05/17/students-left-fuming-over-gcse-biology-exam-that-contained-quest/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 October 2017 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/05/17/students-left-fuming-over-gcse-biology-exam-that-contained-quest/ |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=17 May 2016 |title=Fury over GCSE biology exam that had 'no biology' in it |work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]] |url=http://metro.co.uk/2016/05/17/fury-over-gcse-biology-exam-that-had-no-biology-in-it-5888645/ |access-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> One of the questions in the biology exam asked students to define an "[[independent company]]", which some students perceived to be a business studies question.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/17/gcse-exam-pupils-baffled-by-business-studies-question-in-biology-paper|title=GCSE exam pupils baffled by 'business studies' question in biology paper|date=17 May 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=11 October 2017|agency=[[Press Association]]}}</ref>

The May 2017 English literature exam (under the regulation of OCR) wrongly implied that [[Tybalt]], a character in ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', was not a [[Capulet]]. This serious flaw in the question confused many of the students. OCR accepted responsibility and claimed no pupil would be disadvantaged. The question was worth 40 marks, a relatively large number of marks.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=26 May 2017 |title=A plague o' both your houses: error in GCSE exam paper forces apology |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/26/error-gcse-paper-leads-to-apology-ocr-exam-board-romeo-and-juliet-tybalt-shakespeare |access-date=15 December 2018 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In 2022, advance information was given by examination boards to students, providing them with information on what topics would or would not be on the exam. However, in the Physics paper 1 exam, a topic that was stated as "Not Assessed" came up; AQA accepted the mistake and awarded all students the full 9 marks to the question.<ref>{{Cite web |title=An update on GCSE Physics Higher Tier Paper 1 |url=https://www.aqa.org.uk/news/an-update-on-gcse-physics-higher-tier-paper-1 |access-date=2022-06-25 |publisher=AQA |language=en}}</ref> Also, in 2022, a question on one of the higher Maths papers was leaked hours before students sat them. The exam board [[Edexcel]] apologised and conducted a full investigation.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/gcses-2022-fine-boards-over-exam-paper-errors-say-mps | title=Exam paper errors: Plea for action }}</ref>