Is an appeal worth it?
What your total becomes if one grade goes up, what it costs if one goes down, and which single change would close the gap to a course you actually want.
Everything is worked out again from your grades rather than by adding a band difference, because those are not the same number. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Before you pay the fee
Most appeals do not change a grade. The ones worth paying for are usually where you and your teacher both think a paper was marked below what it shows, not where the total is close to a course you wanted.
View the script first. That is the part that tells you whether there is anything to appeal, and it is a separate step from lodging the appeal.
An offer already accepted is not withdrawn if an appeal goes the other way, but a place gained on appeal is offered later in the season, when some courses have already filled. Check the current arrangements on cao.ie rather than assuming last year’s.
Questions people ask
- Can an appeal lower my grade?
- An appeal is a re-mark, so the mark can land anywhere the marker puts it, including below where it started. Most appeals do not change a grade at all. That is why this page shows what a fall would cost you beside what a rise would gain.
- Is the appeal fee refunded?
- The State Examinations Commission says the fee is refunded if your result is upgraded. It is paid in advance either way.
- Why does raising a subject sometimes gain nothing?
- Only your best six count. A subject already outside your best six can go up a band and change nothing, because it is still outside. This page recalculates your whole total for every change rather than adding the band difference, so it shows what actually happens.
- How can raising a different subject change my maths bonus?
- The bonus is added to your maths result before the best six are chosen. If maths is only inside your six because of the bonus, then improving another subject can push maths back out, or change which subject the bonus displaces, which changes what the bonus is worth to your total.
This is an estimate worked out with the official points scale. It is not the official CAO calculator and it is not the State Examinations Commission. Your final points are decided by the CAO once results issue, and the appeal process is run by examinations.ie. See also CAO key dates.