Dear Year 11 Parents and Students,
In February we provided you with an update in relation to the grade awarding processes for International Examination Qualifications and the impact of this on our Year 11, 12 and 13 cohorts. We are pleased to announce that we now have this certainty from the associated examination boards.
Examinations will continue for our Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) Learners. CAIE have remained firm in their original stance, and are committed to providing an examination based route to grade awarding, where it is safe to do so.
Pearson Edexcel International will be aligning their grade awarding procedures with the UK (domestic) qualifications. This is in response to the joint Ofqual (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) consultation decisions that will be imposed on UK Schools. Grades will be determined through teacher judgments.
What does this mean for our students?
Circumstances will look subtly different for each student depending on the syllabi that they study and the associated qualification board, however, all students will be faced with a balance between two grade awarding pathways; final examinations (CAIE) and evidence generation (Edexcel/AQA).
In accordance with the guidelines that have been released, we have now established key dates that will guide provision for the remainder of the academic year. We are confident that these timelines will afford a degree of flexibility (which will be crucial as we work to generate robust academic profiles for each student) and enable us to successfully cater to the needs of each of our learners. The following dates will be pertinent to the Year 11 students:
| Study Leave: | Monday 17th May – Friday 28th May (Inclusive) |
| Last day of school: | *Friday 11th June |
| Submission deadline for Teacher Assessed Grades: | Friday 18th June
(Edexcel/AQA subjects) |
*All evidence in support of final grade submissions will be finalised by this date.
HERE you can access details of the examinations that will run this Summer, including the dates of these examinations. You will also be able to identify which examinations will not be running and where therefore, the Teacher Assessed Grade route takes effect. Individual student timetables will be shared with students when we return from the Easter break.
We appreciate that the students are currently in the middle of their Mock Examinations and that their focus will (and should) remain intently on their preparations for these. We will address the students promptly when they return to school, as they may desire clarity and assurances about their personal circumstances. In the meantime THIS FAQ piece will hopefully ease any concerns and provide answers to many of the queries that you may have at this time. Furthermore, we hope that this document proves useful in providing clarity about the rationale behind our decisions and the additional measures in place to support the students.
We will be running a Parent Q&A session on Tuesday 23rd March at 18:30 to provide greater insight and to address any supplementary questions that you may have. Details will be shared soon.
Thank you for your ongoing support during this crucial period.
Your sincerely,
Peter Roberts
Deputy Head of Secondary (Academic)