Year 11 & 13 Exam results 2020
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Summer 2020 Results and Appeals
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Request to sit GCE in Autumn 2020 Form
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Year 13 Results Day - CAG FAQ
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JCQ - How appeals work - AEA, Extended Project, GCE, AS, GCE Alevel and GCSE
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JCQ - Appeals Guidance
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JTHS - Internal Appeals Procedures 2019-2020
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JTHS - Complaints and appeals procedure (exams) 2019-2020
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JTHS - Summer 2020 Results and Appeals process
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Exam results 2020 - Letter to parents - 13th July 2020
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Year 13 Results day - 13th August 2020
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Year 11 Results day - 20th August 2020
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Student guides to CAG
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Centre Assessment Grades (CAG) - FAQ
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JTHS process for CAG
Dear students and parents/carers,
2020 has proved to be a very challenging year in many ways, none more so than the uncertainty around exam results and how they will be calculated. Earlier in the year we sent you information from Ofqual about the process that all school would be asked to go through in order to submit grades and rankings for all students to the relevant exam boards. This full updated guidance can be viewed on these links:
As a school we have followed all guidance implicitly and have submitted all required information to the relevant exam boards for them to complete their standardisation procedures. In order to provide a little more information about exam results in 2020, including the arrangements for results days, we have created the following newsletter including a small number of useful articles. Please note that arrangements for exam results days have also been posted out to you.
Year 11 & 13 Exam Results 2020
We are hopeful that the summer results are no more stressful than usual and have attempted to prepare to address any concerns you may have with regards to collecting results in the current situation as well as understanding your options once receiving them. This will largely follow our usual model.
Please feel free to contact me at school if you have any further questions.
Kind regards,
Mr J Blanchenot
Deputy Head of School
Dear students and parents/carers,
Please find below the arrangement for collection of A level results this summer. Results day is on Thursday 13th August and the arrangements are as follows:
Electronic delivery of results
8am: All students to be emailed their statement of results via their school email address.
8am: Results will be visible to students via Go4Schools
Personal collection from school
The school will be open from 8am in order for you to collect your results in person if you would prefer to do this. However, we will have quite specific arrangements in place to allow us to administer this process safely:
On arrival to school
- Proceed to the tennis courts where you will be directed to the appropriate queue to join for the gym and the route you should use to get there.
- Only students will be allowed to enter the gym, parents should wait on the tennis courts in the clearly designated area.
- A maximum of 1 parent can accompany each student to this waiting area.
Collection of results (gym)
- Please join the appropriate queue outside of the gym (according to your surname). You will be directed to these by a member of staff.
- Maintain appropriate social distancing whilst in this queue – be patient.
- You will be directed to the correct table in the gym to collect your envelope – maintain distancing whilst you queue. Wait your turn and be patient.
- Do not open your results, follow the one-way system to the hall
Opening results (hall)
- On collection of results, students should move directly into the hall where they can either open their results envelopes or exit onto the tennis courts to open them with their parent.
- At this point you may also choose to leave the school site to open your results with both parents.
- Please ensure you maintain appropriate social distancing with other students or adults who are not in your immediate family ‘bubble’.
Booking an appointment to discuss next steps
- If, on opening your results, you believe that you need to make an appointment to discuss your university place with a member of staff, please proceed into the top of the hall where a member of staff will be available to make an appointment for you.
- Enter from the top of the hall to be directed.
- Again, only students can be inside the building and parents must wait outside and at this point should return to their car or wait at the front of school.
- Following on from making your appointment, please exit the school via the sixth form entrance, proceed to the front of school to meet your parents or return home.
Booking an appointment to discuss next steps from home
If you chose not to attend school to collect your results, you may still want to make an appointment to discuss your next steps. In this case, please email our 6th form team on the following email address to make an appointment: [email protected]
We hope that these arrangements are clear and understandable, particularly in the current situation. Feel free to contact me at school if you have any further questions.
Kind regards,
Mrs A Spencer
Director of Sixth Form
a.spencer@jths.co.uk
Dear students and parents/carers,
Please find below the arrangement for collection of GCSE results this summer. Results day is on Thursday 20th August and following consultation via parental questionnaire the arrangements are as follows:
Electronic delivery of results
8am: All students to be emailed their statement of results via their school email address.
8am: Results will be visible to students via Go4Schools
Personal collection from school
The school will not be open for all students to collect results at the same time. This is in order to limit the number of people on the school site and inside the building at any one time due to the Covid-19 situation. As such, please be aware of the following time slots where you will be allowed to enter the school site to collect your results:
Time Slots Tutor groups
8.15am – 8.45am JTA
8.45am – 9.15am YLO
9.15am – 9.45am RHS
10.00am – 11.00am Open collection slot
We respectfully ask that you stick to these time slots in order to support us in being able to safely manage the number of people we have inside the school building.
On arrival to school
- Proceed to the tennis courts where you will be directed to the appropriate queue to join for the gym and the route you should use to get there.
- Only students will be allowed to enter the gym, parents should wait on the tennis courts in the clearly designated area.
- A maximum of 1 parent can accompany each student to this waiting area.
Collection of results (gym)
- Please join the appropriate queue outside of the gym (according to your surname). You will be directed to these by a member of staff.
- Maintain appropriate distancing whilst in this queue – be patient.
- You will be directed to the correct table in the gym to collect your envelope – maintain distancing whilst you queue. Wait your turn and be patient.
- Do not open your results, follow the one-way system to the hall
Opening results (hall)
- On collection of results, students should move directly into the hall where they can either open their results envelopes or exit onto the tennis courts to open them with their parent.
- At this point you may also choose to leave the school site to open your results with both parents.
- Please ensure you maintain appropriate social distancing with other students or adults who are not in your immediate family ‘bubble’.
Booking an appointment to discuss next steps
- If, on opening your results, you believe that you need to make an appointment to discuss your 6th form application with a member of staff, please proceed into the top of the hall where a member of staff will be available to make an appointment for you.
- Enter from the top of the hall to be directed.
- Again, only students can be inside the building and parents must wait outside and at this point should return to their car or wait at the front of school.
- Following on from making your appointment, please exit the school via the sixth form entrance, proceed to the front of school to meet your parents or return home.
Booking an appointment to discuss next steps from home
If you chose not to attend school to collect your results, you may still want to make an appointment to discuss your next steps. In this case, please email our 6th form team on the following email address to make an appointment: [email protected]
*appointments will be available between 12.00pm to 3.00pm on the 20th August and 8.30am to 10.30 am on Friday 21st August
We hope that these arrangements are clear and understandable, particularly in the current situation. Feel free to contact me at school if you have any further questions.
Kind regards,
Mr J Blanchenot
Deputy Head of School
The following visual guides have been produced by Ofqual and the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).
What should I do if I am worried about my child’s place at JTHS sixth form? (following results day)
Please make an appointment to see a member of the Sixth Form team to discuss possible options. You will have received a letter in your results envelopes with more specific details about this process. Entry to our sixth form will be based on students meeting the entry requirements for each course.
What should I do if I am worried about my child’s place at university? (following results day)
There are students who do not meet the entry requirements for their university place every year. Our sixth form team are very experienced in supporting these students in either accessing this place or investigating alternative options. Whilst this is a unique situation, we will endeavour to provide this support. Please contact a member of the sixth form team if you need support in any way.
How were the grades created?
The grades were created in line with the guidance published by Ofqual. The full guidance for parents and students can be accessed here:
At John Taylor we designed our own process in order to comply with this guidance, a summary of this can be seen in appendix 1. In summary the guidance states the following:
‘We are asking schools and colleges to use their professional experience to make a fair and objective judgement of the grade they believe a student would have achieved had they sat their exams this year. It is important that schools and colleges take into account the full range of available evidence when they grade students - including non-exam assessment; the results of any homework assignments or mock exams; and any other records of student performance over the course of study’.
How were the rankings decided upon?
The full CAG process including rankings can be seen in the John Taylor process in appendix 1. This was completed in line with the Ofqual guidance:
When rank ordering students in a subject it is vital that schools and colleges base their decisions on the full range of available evidence. We realise there are some circumstances in which rank ordering is more challenging – such as in large colleges or in schools where students are very similar in terms of performance. In large schools and colleges, subject teachers within a department should discuss the rank order and come to a shared view of the standard being applied.
How did you make sure the grades and ranking were fair and accurate?
As seen in appendix 1, a staged process was created initially using fine grades. This allows more specific grades to be given initially to assist with whole cohort level ranking. Grades were then moderated and discussed at whole subject level, before being moderated at whole school level. Final checks were completed by subjects where requested to ensure both CAG and rankings were fair, accurate and produced in line with Ofqual guidance.
Will my child receive the centre assessment grade his/her teacher allocated to him/her?
Schools were required to submit CAG and rankings to exam boards. In order to make sure grades are fair between schools, the exam boards then put all grades through their own process of standardisation using a model developed with Ofqual. This model is described fully in appendix 1, stage 9. This means that exam boards are able to move grades up or down and so they may not be in line with centre assessment grades.
What can I do if I am not happy with the grade my child has been awarded?
Students cannot appeal their CAG or position in the school’s rank order. However, there are possible options available to students who are not satisfied with their results:
- Students can ask a centre to check whether it had made a mistake when it submitted data about the student’s likely grade to the exam board.
If the school does not believe it did so, then they have no grounds to appeal the grade (move to option 3)
- a. If the school believes that they did submit the incorrect data, they can appeal to an exam board on the grounds that the exam board used the wrong data when calculating grades.
- If the school believes that they submitted the correct data but the exam board grade has been incorrectly calculated, assigned or communicated they can appeal to an exam board on these grounds.
- If there have been no mistakes shown, the final option is for the student to opt to sit an exam in that subject during the Autumn term. Details for this option can be found below.
These options are in line with Ofqual guidance for this exceptional situation:
- Students cannot challenge their centre assessment grade or their position in the centre’s rank order through an appeal. A student will be able to ask their centre to check whether they made an error when submitting a centre assessment grade and including them in the centre’s rank order.
- Appeals cannot be based upon the process or procedure used by a centre
- Students can appeal to the centre only, not the exam board, and they cannot seek any information the exam board holds that would be needed for an appeal. This also applies to private candidates
- Centres can appeal to an exam board on the grounds that the exam board used the wrong data when calculating grades as the centre believes it has made an error when submitting its information
- Centres can appeal to an exam board on the grounds that the exam board made a mistake when calculating, assigning or communicating a grade.
- Appeals cannot be made against the operation or outcome of the statistical standardisation model
Autumn exam series
Students can re-sit exams in those subjects that they are not happy with their grade. The exam season for A levels has been confirmed as 5th – 23rd October with a deadline for entries of 4th September. The exam season for GCSEs has been confirmed as 2nd – 23rd November with a deadline for entries of 18th September for all subjects (apart from English language and maths which are 4th October). Please ask for full details of this process during your appointment.
What can I do if I think the school has been biased or discriminated against my child?
If students or others have concerns about bias, discrimination or any other factor that suggests that a centre did not behave with care or integrity when determining the centre assessment grade and/or rank order information they should normally raise these concerns with their centre, in the first instance; or they could take their concerns to the relevant exam board if this was the more appropriate route. Where there is evidence, Ofqual will require exam boards to investigate such allegations as potential malpractice or maladministration.
Appendix 1: JTHS process for CAG and rankings
Stage 1 – Review of current grades
All departments review their current grade calculations in Go4Schools to ensure they include an appropriate range of evidence. This grade is calculated using a variety of assessments completed during the course. It does not include every single assessment but is in line with the Ofqual guidance as shown below:
It is important that schools and colleges take into account the full range of available evidence when they grade students - including non-exam assessment; the results of any homework assignments or mock exams; and any other records of student performance over the course of study.
Stage 2 – Subject teacher CAG
Subject teachers use their professional judgement and experience, alongside objective assessment data such as current grade and trial exam results to create an initial CAG. These were expressed in the form of 3 fine grades, for example a grade 5 could be expressed as:
5: Solid grade 5
5+: Strong grade 5
5-: Less secure grade 5
‘We are asking schools and colleges to use their professional experience to make a fair and objective judgement of the grade they believe a student would have achieved had they sat their exams this year’.
Stage 3 – Group level rankings
Subject teachers allocate a ranking for their students within each fine grade. For example, all students with a fine grade of 5+ were ranked starting with rank 1 for the strongest students. This is largely based on objective data evidence but is influenced by professional judgement.
We are also asking schools and colleges to provide a rank order of students within each grade. This is because the statistical standardisation process will need more granular information than the grade alone’.
Stage 4 – Initial subject level CAG and rankings
All group level CAG and rankings were then collated to form a whole year group summary. Heads of subject then create a whole cohort ranking within each fine grade and then within each full grade. For example, 5+, 5 & 5- are ranked just within grade 5. This stage is based upon objective data for all students as stated in the Ofqual guidance as well as considering subject teacher rankings.
Stage 5 – Whole subject moderation
Following on from the initial subject level ranking completed objectively by the Head of department, all subject teachers were involved in a moderation discussion to ensure all were in agreement of the grades and rankings of all of their students within the whole cohort. This stage includes both the use of objective data and professional judgement and deliberation. The first 5 stages of our process were designed to be in line with Ofqual guidance, providing fair and accurate CAG and rankings for all students.
In an unprecedented situation such as this, schools and colleges are best placed to judge the likely performance of their students had courses been completed as normal. There is evidence to show that teachers can rank order students with a high degree of accuracy. In the interests of fairness to students, judgements made by schools and colleges across the country should be consistent. Exam boards will therefore standardise the judgements once grades have been submitted.
Stage 6 – Whole school moderation
On completion of stage 5, the senior leadership team were able to analyse all provided data to complete important moderation to ensure that the overall whole school and subject level summary data was in line with what would be expected. This is in line with the standardisation process that we would expect to be carried out by exam boards before grades are issued (see below). This stage also included checking of individual student grades and rankings for all subjects.
Stage 7 – Final subject level checking
Following whole school moderation, any queries raised were noted and all relevant subjects were then asked to discuss where relevant. This ensures that any potential anomalies were followed up and all subject teachers/heads of subject were able to have further discussion to ensure they were satisfied that grades were fair, accurate and appropriate.
Stage 8 – Final whole school level checking
Finally, the whole school and subject level summary data was checked in line with stage 6. Following this final stage, all data was submitted to the John Taylor MAT for checking at their level. This then confirmed that all CAG and rankings were suitable and could be signed off by the Head of Centre to be submitted to relevant exam boards.
Stage 9 – Exam board standardisation (external)
To make sure that grades are fair between schools and colleges, exam boards will put all centre assessment grades through a process of standardisation using a model developed with Ofqual. The standardisation model will draw on the following sources of evidence: historical outcomes for each centre; the prior attainment (Key Stage 2 or GCSE) of this year’s students and those in previous years within each centre; and the expected national grade distribution for the subject given the prior attainment of the national entry. For AS/A levels, the standardisation will consider historical data from 2017, 2018 and 2019. For GCSEs, it will consider data from 2018 and 2019, except where there is only a single year of data from the reformed specifications. Standardisation will not change the rank order of students within each school or college; nor will it assume that the distribution of grades in each subject/centre should be the same. However, if grading judgements in a subject in some schools and colleges appear to be more severe or generous than others, exam boards will adjust the grades of some or all of those students upwards or downwards accordingly. This means that the centre assessment grades submitted by schools and colleges and the final grade that students receive could be different. It also means that adjustments to centre assessment grades might be different in different subjects.
Stage 1 – Review of current grades
All departments review their current grade calculations in Go4Schools to ensure they include an appropriate range of evidence. This grade is calculated using a variety of assessments completed during the course. It does not include every single assessment but is in line with the Ofqual guidance as shown below:
It is important that schools and colleges take into account the full range of available evidence when they grade students - including non-exam assessment; the results of any homework assignments or mock exams; and any other records of student performance over the course of study.
Stage 2 – Subject teacher CAG
Subject teachers use their professional judgement and experience, alongside objective assessment data such as current grade and trial exam results to create an initial CAG. These were expressed in the form of 3 fine grades, for example a grade 5 could be expressed as:
5: Solid grade 5
5+: Strong grade 5
5-: Less secure grade 5
‘We are asking schools and colleges to use their professional experience to make a fair and objective judgement of the grade they believe a student would have achieved had they sat their exams this year’.
Stage 3 – Group level rankings
Subject teachers allocate a ranking for their students within each fine grade. For example, all students with a fine grade of 5+ were ranked starting with rank 1 for the strongest students. This is largely based on objective data evidence but is influenced by professional judgement.
We are also asking schools and colleges to provide a rank order of students within each grade. This is because the statistical standardisation process will need more granular information than the grade alone’.
Stage 4 – Initial subject level CAG and rankings
All group level CAG and rankings were then collated to form a whole year group summary. Heads of subject then create a whole cohort ranking within each fine grade and then within each full grade. For example, 5+, 5 & 5- are ranked just within grade 5. This stage is based upon objective data for all students as stated in the Ofqual guidance as well as considering subject teacher rankings.
Stage 5 – Whole subject moderation
Following on from the initial subject level ranking completed objectively by the Head of department, all subject teachers were involved in a moderation discussion to ensure all were in agreement of the grades and rankings of all of their students within the whole cohort. This stage includes both the use of objective data and professional judgement and deliberation. The first 5 stages of our process were designed to be in line with Ofqual guidance, providing fair and accurate CAG and rankings for all students.
In an unprecedented situation such as this, schools and colleges are best placed to judge the likely performance of their students had courses been completed as normal. There is evidence to show that teachers can rank order students with a high degree of accuracy. In the interests of fairness to students, judgements made by schools and colleges across the country should be consistent. Exam boards will therefore standardise the judgements once grades have been submitted.
Stage 6 – Whole school moderation
On completion of stage 5, the senior leadership team were able to analyse all provided data to complete important moderation to ensure that the overall whole school and subject level summary data was in line with what would be expected. This is in line with the standardisation process that we would expect to be carried out by exam boards before grades are issued (see below). This stage also included checking of individual student grades and rankings for all subjects.
Stage 7 – Final subject level checking
Following whole school moderation, any queries raised were noted and all relevant subjects were then asked to discuss where relevant. This ensures that any potential anomalies were followed up and all subject teachers/heads of subject were able to have further discussion to ensure they were satisfied that grades were fair, accurate and appropriate.
Stage 8 – Final whole school level checking
Finally, the whole school and subject level summary data was checked in line with stage 6. Following this final stage, all data was submitted to the John Taylor MAT for checking at their level. This then confirmed that all CAG and rankings were suitable and could be signed off by the Head of Centre to be submitted to relevant exam boards.
Stage 9 – Exam board standardisation (external)
To make sure that grades are fair between schools and colleges, exam boards will put all centre assessment grades through a process of standardisation using a model developed with Ofqual. The standardisation model will draw on the following sources of evidence: historical outcomes for each centre; the prior attainment (Key Stage 2 or GCSE) of this year’s students and those in previous years within each centre; and the expected national grade distribution for the subject given the prior attainment of the national entry. For AS/A levels, the standardisation will consider historical data from 2017, 2018 and 2019. For GCSEs, it will consider data from 2018 and 2019, except where there is only a single year of data from the reformed specifications. Standardisation will not change the rank order of students within each school or college; nor will it assume that the distribution of grades in each subject/centre should be the same. However, if grading judgements in a subject in some schools and colleges appear to be more severe or generous than others, exam boards will adjust the grades of some or all of those students upwards or downwards accordingly. This means that the centre assessment grades submitted by schools and colleges and the final grade that students receive could be different. It also means that adjustments to centre assessment grades might be different in different subjects.