Results, appeals & resits
How do I get ready for the November GCSE maths or English resit?
The November series is a resit window for GCSE English Language and maths only, open to students who were 16 or older on 31 August. You sit the full qualification again: both English Language papers, or all three maths papers. Entries close weeks before, so ask your college or exam centre now. Results come out in January. Aim your revision at the marks between you and a grade 4.
Last updated 23 September 2026 · Written and fact-checked by the GCSEwiz team
Who can sit the November resit?
Anyone who was 16 or over on 31 August can sit GCSE English Language or maths in November, whether they are at college, in a sixth form, working, or an adult returning to it. Every other subject is only resat in the summer. Most November candidates are students who got a grade 3 in the summer and are resitting as part of their post-16 course.
If you are at college or in a sixth form, they will usually enter you. If you are not, you can enter as a private candidate through an exam centre that accepts them, which costs a fee and needs arranging early.
What do I sit?
The whole qualification, not just the paper that went badly. In maths that is three papers at the tier you are entered for; on AQA and Edexcel, Paper 1 is the non-calculator paper. In English Language it is both papers, reading and writing on each. The papers follow the same pattern as the summer ones, so summer past papers are the right practice.
What mark do I need for a grade 4?
November boundaries are set for the November papers and are often different from the summer's, so no figure is a guarantee. As a guide, in June 2025 a grade 4 on the Foundation maths papers needed 160 of 240 marks (67%) on AQA and 144 of 240 marks (60%) on Edexcel. Many resit students sit Foundation, where a 4 or a 5 is the top of the paper and the questions you can reach are the ones that count.
What is a good six-week plan?
Start from your summer paper if you can get it back, or a recent past paper marked with the real mark scheme. The marks you dropped on questions you almost had are the cheapest ones to win back.
| Week | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sit a full past paper. List every question you lost marks on, and why. |
| 2 and 3 | Maths: the high-frequency Foundation topics (fractions, percentages, ratio, equations, area and angles). English: the reading questions worth the most marks, and a plan for the writing task. |
| 4 | One timed paper a week from now on. Mark it the same day. |
| 5 | Go back to what the timed paper exposed. Short daily sessions beat one long one. |
| 6 | Light practice and rest. Check your exam times, room and equipment. |
What if I do not get the grade in November?
There is no limit on attempts, and the summer series is the next chance. Keep practising through the year rather than stopping and starting, because the skills fade fastest when you leave them. Our guide to failing GCSEs twice covers the other routes, including Functional Skills, if GCSE is not working for you.
Keep reading
- How do GCSE resits work - can I resit in November?
- What happens if you fail GCSE maths?
- What happens if you fail your GCSEs twice?
- How do I pass GCSE maths if I find maths hard?
- Can I resit my GCSEs as an adult?
- What do I need in my last paper to get the grade I want?
- GCSE Maths on GCSEwiz
- GCSE English Language on GCSEwiz