IGCSE Remark Deadlines 2026: Cambridge & Edexcel Dates

Results arrive in August. The deadlines that decide what you can do about them arrive within weeks, and one of them closes before results day. Every date below is taken from Cambridge International's and Pearson's own published documents.

Every deadline, by board and level

Cambridge communicates the outcome of an enquiry within 30 days of receiving it. An enquiry can be amended or cancelled only within 24 hours of submission.

Note the calendar. Cambridge publishes 20 September as a fixed date and it falls on a Sunday in 2026, with no weekend adjustment published. The last working day before it is Friday 18 September, and your centre's own cut-off will be earlier still.

Pearson completes each service to a published service level: 10 calendar days for a clerical re-check, 15 for a priority review, 20 for a review of marking and 35 for a review of moderation.

The deadline most people miss

Cambridge's standard final entry deadline for the November 2026 series is 16 August 2026. Cambridge IGCSE results are released on 18 August 2026.

The standard deadline closes two days before you find out whether you need it.

The route that stays open is the retake window: 21 September 2026 for retake entries from the June 2026 series only. That is the date that applies to a candidate deciding after results day, and it is set out in the Cambridge exams officers guide section on retake entries.

There is a second trap in the same week. Cambridge's enquiries deadline is 20 September and the retake entry deadline is 21 September — one day apart. Because an enquiry outcome takes up to 30 days, a candidate who enquires in September will usually have to decide about entering the November retake before the enquiry result arrives. Plan for both, and withdraw the entry later if the enquiry goes your way.

Multiple-choice papers cannot be re-marked

This is the single most important restriction for a Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 or Chemistry 0620 candidate, and most guidance leaves it out.

Cambridge's Services 2 and 2S — review of marking — are not available for multiple-choice question papers.

A multiple-choice paper is machine-marked against a fixed key. There is no marking judgement to review. What you can request is Service 1, a clerical re-check, which confirms that every part was marked and that the marks were totalled and recorded correctly.

If your disappointment sits in a multiple-choice component, a clerical re-check is the only service open to you, and it will not change a single answer's marking. If it sits in a theory or practical paper, a review of marking is available.

One further Cambridge rule: all components within a syllabus must be submitted together. You cannot add another component for the same candidate and syllabus later.

Recheck or remark — what the difference is

A clerical re-check is an arithmetic and administrative check. A review of marking is a judgement check. Pearson's Service 1 and Service 2 divide along the same line, with Service 3 covering the moderation of coursework and internally assessed work. Cambridge sets out the full position in its guidance on enquiries about results, and Pearson publishes its own post-results key dates for International qualifications.

Your grade can go down

On Pearson's Services 1, 2 and P2, marks and subject grades can go up, down, or stay the same.

Pearson requires written candidate consent before a review of marking is submitted, precisely because the grade may be lowered, and candidates must be told this before the application goes in. If nobody has asked you to sign something, the application is not ready.

Service 3, review of moderation, works differently: uniform mark scores can move in either direction, but grades will not be lowered for the current exam session.

Who can apply — and who cannot

Neither board takes applications from students or parents.

Cambridge enquiries are submitted through Cambridge International Direct, which is a school system. Pearson appeals must come from the centre; applications submitted by students or parents are invalid and will not be processed, with private candidates the only exception.

An appeal at Pearson must be made within 30 calendar days of the outcome being issued, and cannot be submitted until the post-results outcome has been received. Preliminary appeals are processed within 42 calendar days and hearings within 70.

Everything on this page therefore runs through your exams officer. Your first message on results day is to them, not to the board.

What Service P2 is, and whether it applies to you

Pearson's Service P2 is a review of marking processed faster than the standard service. Pearson describes it as generally used when a candidate's place in further or higher education depends on the outcome.

For an International AS or A Level candidate holding a university offer, this is the date that matters: 20 August 2026, seven days after results. Miss it and you are on the 24 September standard timetable, which will not resolve before most offers do.

For an International GCSE candidate the equivalent date is 27 August 2026. Very few International GCSE candidates have a pending higher-education offer, so ask your exams officer whether your case qualifies before assuming this route is open.

Retake routes

Cambridge runs a November series. Retake entries from the June 2026 series close on 21 September 2026, results are released in mid-January 2027, and the enquiries deadline for that series is 26 February 2027. Confirm with your centre whether the November series is offered for your syllabus in your zone.

Pearson Edexcel runs a January series rather than a November one. Entry deadlines are set through your centre — ask your exams officer for the cut-off date, which will be earlier than Pearson's own.

Fees

Cambridge sets enquiry fees per centre and publishes them to schools rather than publicly, so your exams officer holds the current figure.

The fact that matters more than the number: Cambridge does not charge the fee if the enquiry leads to a change in syllabus grade. A well-judged enquiry on a paper that was mismarked costs nothing.

Your first 48 hours

1. Ask your exams officer how many marks you were from the next grade boundary. Two marks and twenty marks are different decisions.
2. Ask for your centre's internal cut-off date. It will be earlier than the board deadline on this page, and it is the one that binds you.
3. Get the script. Cambridge Service 1S and 2S include a copy; Pearson's access to scripts closes 24 September 2026.
4. Check whether your weak component was multiple choice. If it was, a review of marking is not available at Cambridge.
5. If you are close to a boundary on a theory paper, ask about a review of marking — and be ready to sign the consent that says the grade may fall.
6. If the gap is wide, stop looking backwards and enter the retake. The marks are won in the next series, not in this one.

Where to go next

If the answer is a retake, the work starts now, not in January. Our solved past papers work every Cambridge and Edexcel paper through mark by mark, so you can see where the marks were available rather than guess. If you would rather be taught it, the live IGCSE classes cover Biology and Chemistry from the syllabus up.

Hosni Showike is the author of eight published science textbooks with more than 20,000 copies sold worldwide, and has taught IGCSE and International A Level Chemistry and Biology for over 20 years, including 16 years teaching to Cambridge and Edexcel mark schemes at A-level.