At the time of writing this letter, we are yet to receive clarification from OFQUAL as to how student’s exam results will be generated & published, the current guidance is:

This year’s summer exam series, including A levels, GCSEs and other qualifications, and all primary assessments, have been cancelled as we fight to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The Government’s priority is now to ensure affected students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including going into employment, starting university, college or sixth form courses, or an apprenticeship in the autumn.

This means ensuring GCSE, A and AS level students are awarded a grade which fairly reflects the work that they have put in. There will also be an option to sit an exam early in the next academic year for students who wish to. Ofqual will develop and set out a process that will provide a calculated grade to each student which reflects their performance as fairly as possible, and will work with the exam boards to ensure this is consistently applied for all students. The exam boards will be asking teachers, who know their students well, to submit their judgement about the grade that they believe the student would have received if exams had gone ahead.

To produce this, teachers will take into account a range of evidence and data including performance on mock exams and non-exam assessment – clear guidance on how to do this fairly and robustly will be provided to schools and colleges. The exam boards will then combine this information with other relevant data, including prior attainment, and use this information to produce a calculated grade for each student, which will be a best assessment of the work they have put in.

Ofqual and exam boards will be discussing with teachers’ representatives before finalising an approach, to ensure that it is as fair as possible. More information will be provided as soon as possible.

The aim is to provide these calculated grades to students before the end of July. In terms of a permanent record, the grades will be indistinguishable from those provided in other years. We will also aim to ensure that the distribution of grades follows a similar pattern to that in other years, so that this year’s students do not face a systematic disadvantage as a consequence of these extraordinary circumstances.

We will continue to monitor and respond to instructions from the Department for Education and OFQUAL. 

Please make sure you continue to check for updates on the school website. 

I will be instructing faculties to prepare transition work for Year 11 students. These will be available on the website shortly after Easter. The work set will help to ensure that your son or daughter can successfully develop their learning and subject knowledge in preparation for the start of a new academic year.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me during school hours.

My email address is cox.j@thenorwoodschool.org

Stay safe and healthy, remember to follow the guidance of Public Health England and best wishes to you and your families.

Yours sincerely

Jeremy Cox

Associate Assistant Head teacher (Sixth Form)