Dear {"ANONYMIZED":"2023-08-13"},
I 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.
It is critical that you read the Student Declaration section.
When will my course finish?
The last day for A Level or GCSE lessons will be Friday 21 May.
If you are completing a BTEC course at English or Welsh Bridge then it could be a different date depending on whether any final assignments need to be finished, so please ask your teachers who will tell you the final date.
What are Teacher Assessed Grades?
The grade that you get will be determined by your teachers, based on work that you have already done, as well as the recent assessments being set in each course. Please do not ask your teachers about the grade as the exam boards have made clear that they are not allowed to tell you.
How will I know what assessments are being used for my Teacher Assessed Grade?
You will already have received a document explaining which assessments will be used in each A Level or GCSE course – if you have not seen that document, then please check your college email account and/or ask your teacher to send you a copy.
BTEC courses are continually assessed so your grade will be determined based on all the assignment work done during the course.
How will the College make sure that Teacher Assessed Grades are fair for everyone?
- Teachers ensure that they mark assessments to the same standards by cross-checking samples of work with each other – this is called standardisation
- Subject teams will meet to agree the final Teacher Assessed Grade
- They will take account of any mitigating circumstances where possible and may look at alternative evidence if necessary
- The grades are then checked by the manager for that qualification
- Two members of staff will complete and sign a declaration on the grades that are awarded
- The grades are then checked by the Director of A Levels and Head of Quality to make sure that the profile of grades awarded for a subject are in line with grades awarded in previous years
- The Principal then checks the grades and signs to say that they are fair before we submit them to the exam boards
- The exam boards then check the grades; they will ask the College for a sample of student work and our assessment documentation to check that marking and grading decisions are accurate.
Student Declaration
The exam boards need you to confirm that all of the work you have done is your own.
We need to know about any circumstances which may have temporarily affected your performance so that we can consider this when determining grades.
You will be sent an electronic form which you must complete to declare all the work you have done is your own and to let us know whether there are any additional issues that may have affected your performance.
This form will be sent to your College email address on Monday 10 May and must be completed by Friday 14 May. It is very important to complete the declaration, so make sure that you can access your college email before 10 May – please seek assistance from the IT team if needed.
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 JCQ guidance criteria then we will be able to take this into account as part of 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?
A Level subjects will release their grades on Tuesday 10 August.
GCSE subjects will release their grades on Thursday 12 August.
BTEC subjects are likely to release their grades that same week – probably on Tuesday 10 August.
We will send details later about the arrangements for receiving your results in the summer.
Can I appeal my grade?
Please be reassured that the College and the exam boards will have worked through a rigorous process to make sure that your grade is as fair as possible, but it will be possible to appeal your grade if you decide that is sensible.
Please note that grades can go down as well as up on appeal and that your recent assessment evidence will be submitted to the exam board for them to consider whether the grade awarded was reasonable based on the evidence. 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
