Examinations update 2021 Posted on: 11 May 2021
Dear Student and Parent/Carer
As you know examinations for the summer 2021 series have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On Thursday 25th of February Ofqual announced their plan for grading based upon the response to their Consultation on how GCSE, AS and A level grades should be awarded in summer 2021.
The Academy and Ofqual fact sheet can be found here:
21-6780_Student_guide_to_awarding_in_summer_2021_pdf-a
The full Ofqual documentation can be found here:
Ofqual has also provided a useful infographic, which can be found here:
Ofqual infographic – GCSE & A level
Ofqual infographic – vocational
To summarise the key points:
grades will be awarded by the examination boards based upon teacher judgements, no algorithms will be used
teachers can use a range of evidence to generate your grade
you will only be assessed on what you have been taught
your grade will be based upon completed and future completed work, not what teachers thought you would get if the exams had gone ahead (as last year)
teacher judgements will not be shared with students prior to results day
results day is August 10 (AS/A level) and August 12 (GCSE)
appeals will be submitted to the school, but outcomes will be managed by the examination boards
Mock examinations
The mock examinations will form a significant part of the evidence needed to produce a teacher judgement on your grade. This is because mock examinations are completed under strict examination conditions, using past examination questions and the marking of the papers is standardised against national criteria.
Students have completed ‘paper 1’ mock examination in December 2020 and were due to complete ‘paper 2’ in January 2021, this is now scheduled for w/c 19th April – the first week back after the Easter break. The mock examination timetable will be published shortly.
2021 April Assessments Y11 +Y13 – Timetable
Parent/carer evenings and reports
Parents/carers have already received a full report for Year 11 and Year 13 in the autumn term; however current grades, individual assessment grades and target grades can be viewed at any time using Go4Schools.
We are hoping to run a ‘virtual’ parent/carer evening soon – details to follow.
In short, the message to students is keep working and try not to worry.
Kind regards
N J Clougher
Assistant Headteacher – Assessment, Reporting and Examinations
