How to find out your GCSE results?

When important documents are lost or misplaced, it can be a nightmare to think of the next steps to take. It’s inevitable that people may lose or forget about the contents of certificate awards such as GCSEs. Not knowing GCSE grades where they are needed can be extremely stressful! However, it’s important not to panic. This article will give helpful information on what exactly to do to get those GCSE results back!

Your GSCE results are displayed on your GCSE certificate. If you don’t have your certificate, you will need to do one of the following:

• Contact the school where you sat your GCSE exams.
• Contact the exam board directly. They can send you a “certified statement of results”. You can use the statement of results for any applications requiring GCSE grades.

While this may have given you a brief overview on how to get a copy of your grades, it may also be worthwhile to check out the rest of this article for more information concerning replacements and results!

How can you find out your GCSE grades?

Your GCSE grades will be found on your GCSE certificate. After sitting your GCSE exams, the following August should be when you can collect the certificate in person at your school.

Your school will then hold that certificate for about a year. If you would like to read more about this, check out this article from Think Student!

However, due to other circumstances, you may not always be able to collect GCSE results in person. There are other options when it comes to collecting GCSE results, so worry not!

Schools will typically only offer these options only when it comes to extenuating circumstances (such as an injury that makes students unable to come in person, being abroad, or if the student cannot be transported to school to collect results).

GCSE results can be given out via post, email, or other family members collecting the results on your behalf. However, those family members will most likely have to bring some form of identification with them. Additionally, if you decide to stay in your secondary school for Sixth Form, they may give your results in September when you start Year 12!

Some schools may not offer results by email or phone to avoid confidentiality issues, so it’s important to keep that in mind when thinking of how to get GCSE results!

To read more about receiving results online, and whether you can, check out this article from Think Student.

If you would like to read more about alternative ways of getting your GCSE results, check out this article from Think Student.

Can you get a replacement GCSE certificate?

If, for whatever reason, you need a replacement certificate, contact the exam board you took the exam with.

In short, technically it’s not a replacement, but “certified statements of results” are offered instead, which is in essence the same thing. You cannot get a replacement certificate for O-Levels, CSEs, GCSEs or A-Levels, but the certified statement is concrete proof of your qualification and can’t be dismissed by potential schools or employers.

However, boards may offer those replacement certificates for other qualifications they may offer.

With getting a certified statement of results, the board will likely ask for proof of identity and a fee. To read more about getting a replacement for your GCSE exam certificate, check out this article from the UK Government on the topic.

How much are the fees for certified statements of results?

The cost of replacement certificates ranges from £10 to £69 depending on the exam board.

Below are some approximate figures:

• AQA – £43
• CCEA – £30 for one, £10 for any after
• Edexcel (Pearson) – £10-69 (depending on their services)
• OCR – £50.50 and an extra £20 for fast tracking services
• WJEC – £30 for one and £10 for any after

Since the prices do vary from board to board, it is important to double check on the exam board’s websites to make sure you have the correct board.

How do you retrieve old GCSE results?

Surprisingly, the process of retrieving old GCSE results isn’t terribly difficult. All it requires is some communication and patience (and some money!). Without further ado, here are the steps for acquiring old GCSE results.

1. Contact your old school or exam centre

If you classify old as less than a year, your school should still have your exam certificates, so no hassle there.

However, if your exams were sat longer ago than that, and you’ve forgotten the exam board, you should contact the school to find the exam board out.

Schools typically use a mixture of GCSE exam boards. To find out which subjects you sat had which exam board, contact the school. You must tell them the year you left and the subjects you took. Even though your school won’t have your exam certificates anymore, they will still have a record of what exam boards were used that year.

It’s as simple as finding their contact information online and giving them a ring!

2. Find out your exam board

The next step is finding out your exam board, which will be one of five existing ones: AQA, Edexcel, WJEC, OCR or CCEA.

However, it may also be possible that the exam board you sat with doesn’t exist anymore. In that case, that exam board will have merged into one of the newer ones! For example, if you have the old board Associated Examinations Board (AEB), contact AQA!

To check which exam board you should contact if that board no longer exists, check out this article by the UK Government website!

3. Contact your exam board (or its newer version)

Once you know which board(s) you sat your examinations with, you can start contacting the boards that you need the copy of the qualification from!

Unfortunately, this does require purchasing the proof of exam qualifications. However, the proof received is sufficient for everyone who requires it, like future employers or companies, and further education institutions.

Below you can find a list of the five existing exam boards, as well as links to their contact pages for replacement exam certificates:

• AQA
• CCEA
• Edexcel (or Pearson)
• OCR
• WJEC

4. Acquire copy of results!

After reading through your exam board’s information, contact them and wait for that request to be processed!

Do keep in mind, however, that processing requests may take some time. Make sure that you have enough time for the proof of results to be processed, dispatched and delivered to you, especially if you are applying somewhere with a deadline with that proof!

If you’re short on time and desperately need that proof, you can instead get a confirmation letter sent to your employers or university from the relevant exam board. The Confirmation Letter of Grades can be found on the exam boards’ websites. The website will give you instructions on how to complete the form to be sent to whatever institute you need.

However, after the form is signed, the other party will be required to fill out paperwork, and in some instances pay a fee. This may be a downside, so if you are in a situation where you must resort to acquiring the confirmation letter, make sure you’re in the institute’s good books!

To read more about replacement certificates and Confirmation Letters of Grades, check out this article from Think Student.

You never know when you might need proof of your grades again, so make sure to keep that copy safe!

Why might you need your GCSE results?

Your GCSEs are an important set of qualifications. Having those qualifications is useful in every path of life you might take.

For instance, you need you GCSEs if you want to continue your education in Sixth Form or college, which is in turn necessary to get more qualifications if you want to continue to university.

Additionally, if you choose to stop or postpone your education to immediately start working, GCSEs can be important when trying to find a job. Employers will most likely expect passes in English language and maths and having that proof of those grades is helpful for that.

Maybe you want to start an apprenticeship or something similar? GCSEs can play a big role in helping you get a better apprenticeship than someone without those qualifications.

Even if it is not immediately necessary, you should ensure that you always have a copy of your GCSE grades and the certificates that prove them. If you are not in possession of these documents at any point, make sure that you try to replace them as soon as possible! You never know when you will need them.