SUMMARY
Explains what feedback you receive with your result, why your result is final, why Polestar does not release full exam papers, and how to prepare effectively for a retake.
Your result shows your outcome for each section of the exam, together with the front sheet and general examiner feedback. Because the exam is marked in separate sections, your result already tells you which area(s) to focus on — for example, if you passed the practical sections but not the written ones, that is where your preparation should go.
It is normal, and common, to pass some sections and need to retake others. Each section assesses a different competency, so a retake is about strengthening a specific area — not starting over.
Every exam is thoroughly checked and approved by our Director of Education before results are released — so your result has already been independently verified before it reaches you.
Results are final. Polestar does not offer a re-marking or appeals service, and we do not adjust scores on request. Marking is rubric-based, independently reviewed, and applied consistently to every candidate — reopening a result because it was disappointing, or because a fail was narrow, would be unfair to everyone else and would undermine the qualification.
The only circumstance in which a result would ever be revisited is a clear, demonstrable administrative error — for example, a genuine mistake in totalling the marks. A difference of opinion about the examiner's assessment is not a basis for changing a result.
“I only failed by a small margin.” A close result is genuinely encouraging — it means you are almost there. But a section is passed or not passed against the same standard for everyone, and being a point or two short does not change that. Focus your preparation on the flagged section and resit.
“I passed one written section but not the other.” Although the written sections are related, they are assessed on different criteria and measure different skills — so it is entirely possible to pass one and not the other. (On Mat and Reformer, the written section is Class Development.)
“I'm sure I performed better than my score.” It is not unusual to experience your own performance differently from an objective assessment. Our examiners frequently identify areas for improvement that are not obvious to the candidate in the moment. Please trust the rubric-based process and the expertise of our examiners — see How the Polestar exam works and how it is marked for how objectivity is built in.
Polestar provides the front sheet and general feedback, but we do not release full exam papers, marked scripts, or a question-by-question breakdown. This is standard practice both in Pilates education and in education generally, and it exists to protect you and every other candidate:
Receiving a result you did not hope for is disheartening, especially after all your effort — we understand that. Please take heart that many students who did not pass first time have come back stronger, passed, and gone on to become excellent teachers. We are committed to helping you get there.