Dear {"ANONYMIZED":"2023-08-13"},
II hope that you and your loved ones are well.
Please read this information very carefully as it contains some important instructions for you to follow as well as answers to some key questions.
This information is for students in the last year of their course or who are on one-year courses.
It is critical that you read the Student Declaration section.
When will my course finish?
Your teacher will let you know the finishing date of your course. It is likely to be a different date for different courses depending on what assessments need to be finished.
How will the grade be worked out for my vocational qualification?
If you are doing a qualification that leads directly to employment like Hairdressing or Plumbing, then the exam board (such as City and Guilds) will assess your work as normal, and you will not have Teacher Assessed Grades.
If you are doing a qualification that could lead on to university such as Engineering or Business, then part of your course may have Teacher Assessed Grades. This will make sure that you get a fair chance to go to university or other progression routes. Your teacher will tell you how your grade will be worked out.
What are Teacher Assessed Grades?
You will have completed most of your qualification and this will be the main thing that decides your grade. There may be some parts of your course that have not been assessed due to issues encountered during lock down. The grade that you get will be calculated by your teachers based on the assignments and work that you have already done and will also include the assignments you complete up until the 28 May.
How will the College make sure that Teacher Assessed Grades are fair?
- Assignments are checked within College to make sure they are fair
- Teachers have their marking checked within the college to make sure it is fair (internal verification)
- Teachers have their marks checked by the Exam Boards such as BTEC to make sure they are marking to the same standard as the rest of the country and in line with previous years
- A team of teachers will decide on any Teacher Assessed Grade for fairness
- The grades are then checked by the manager for that qualification
- The grades are then checked by the Head of Quality and Vice Principal to make sure they are in line with the rest of the country
- The Principal then checks the grades and signs to say that they are fair
- The exam boards then check the grades and ask the College for evidence where necessary.
How will I know what assessments are being used for my Teacher Assessed Grade?
It will be based on the units and assignments that you have completed. Your teacher will give you more detailed information.
Student Declaration
There is a form you must fill in to declare all the work you have done is your own and to let us know about any additional things that may have affected your grade such as serious illness.
This will be sent to your College email address on Monday 10 May and will need to be completed by Friday 14 May. It is very important to complete the declaration, so please make sure you can access your college email ahead of this time.
What sort of circumstances should I declare?
This will be unique to each individual, but these are issues which temporarily affected your performance during assessments or at particular points in the course. We are told by the regulations that we must check the JCQ guidance document to see whether the issue would usually be eligible for special consideration. That document gives examples such as bereavement, serious illness or injury, recent crisis/incident/trauma etc.
Please let us know what the issue was, when it happened and how it affected your performance – if we think that it meets the criteria then we may be able to adjust the evidence that is used to determine your grade.
Please note that the disruption to normal education due to the pandemic and associated lockdowns is not, of itself, a reason to request mitigating circumstances, since that will be the same for everyone in the cohort – it would need to be an issue that is particular to you that temporarily affected your performance.
Any information that you provide at this point will only be shared with your teachers and other members of staff who are needed to judge the circumstances. The information provided will only be retained by the college for as long as necessary to complete the assessment.
When will I receive my grade?
Most qualifications will release their grades on Thursday 10 August.
Can I appeal my grade?
You will know the grades for the assignments you have completed, and this is what makes up your grade. The College and exam boards have a rigorous process to make sure that you get the correct grade. Ofqual have not yet decided on the mechanism for the appeals process so we will update you with details closer to results day and there will be links to the appeals process from the college website.
I hope that the information here addresses any questions that you may have around the assessment process for this year. We understand how challenging the last years has been and we want to make sure that you receive grades which are as fair as possible.
Stay safe,
James Staniforth
Principal and CEO
Shrewsbury Colleges Group
