Exam retakes and re-marking

If you or your teachers think that you could achieve better grades, you can choose to re-take your exam.

What is a retake?

An exam counts as a retake if you have sat the same syllabus in the past year.

What you need to do

If you are a school student you need to speak to your school exams co-ordinator.

If you are a private student you need to provide your:  

• previous centre number
• candidate number
• confirmation of syllabus retake.

Please note: the retake option may not apply to all subjects. You can usually submit previously used coursework so you will only need to retake written exams. Any coursework that is resubmitted needs to meet the requirements of the syllabus in the new exam series and must be re-assessed.

Teams of examiners assess every exam paper. They are specialists in their subjects and follow a strict marking scheme. Principal examiners oversee the process to make sure that grades are awarded fairly.

If a student is awarded a grade that differs significantly from their teacher’s prediction or comparative performance, their exam is automatically re-checked and often re-graded. Borderline grades are also re-marked to ensure the grade is fair.

The exam marking process is carefully designed to be fair to all students. However, if you feel that your exam result does not represent your work, you can ask to have your paper re-marked.

Request a re-mark

If you are a school student and believe that your exam results are incorrect, you should talk to your teacher. If your teacher agrees that you should request a re-mark, you will need to contact your school or the British Council. You may need a letter from your teacher to support your request, and in most cases, you will have to pay a re-marking fee.

If you are a private candidate, please log in to your candidate portal to submit your remark request. You can download the guidance document at the bottom of this page to help you navigate the request process. Service charges are indicated on the portal where applicable.

Payment for applicable fees should preferably be made online using your bank’s debit or credit card to enable prompt confirmation and faster processing of your request. You may also choose to make an offline payment via bank transfer to: Standard Chartered Bank Account 0002859402 with account name British Council Trading Services Nigeria Limited. Please note that bank transfers take longer to confirm and may delay the processing of your request.

After making your payment, please send the following details immediately to cambridge.registrations@ng.britishcouncil.org: 

• Evidence of payment (summary slip or transfer receipt)
• Candidate full names
• Account holder’s name

Remember: your grade and mark may be lowered, confirmed or raised following the enquiry. If your grade is raised, you may be entitled to a full refund for this service.

Teachers and exam officers must obtain consent from a candidate before ordering an examination re-mark.

Teachers and school exams co-ordinators may want to order detailed reports on the exam performance of a group of candidates or a whole class of students.

The British Council allows you to order reports for groups of up to five, up to 15, or groups of 16 and more.

To place an order for exam reports, you will need written consent from each candidate.

Please contact us for more information.