In March it was announced that the
summer 2020 GCSE exam series would be cancelled in order to help fight the spread of the coronavirus and that students due to sit the
exams would be awarded a grade based on an assessment of the grade they would
have been most likely to achieve had exams gone ahead.
Results will be issued to this year’s cohort based on a range of
evidence and data, including performance on mock exams and non-exam
assessment. All centre assessment grades through an external standardisation process to better ensure
that grades are comparable between schools and colleges.
Which qualifications are covered?
This information is relevant to all students and exam centres in England using the
following qualifications regulated by Ofqual and offered by AQA, OCR, Pearson,
WJEC Eduqas, ASDAN and City & Guilds.
- GCSEs (including short course GCSEs)
- AS and A levels
- Extended Project Qualifications (EPQ)
- Advanced Extension Awards (AEA) in maths
How will centre assessment grades work?
Teachers have used 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. They have taken into account the full range of available evidence -
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. The government have asked schools to provide a rank order of students within each
grade in a subject. This is because the statistical standardisation process will need
more granular information than the grade alone.
The Headteacher, Mrs Atkinson, has signed a declaration confirming the centre assessment grades
and rank order are a true representation of our students’ performance, and submitted it to the exam board by Friday 12 June 2020.
Do Year 11 students need to submit more work?
There is no requirement to submit additional work for the
purposes of determining a centre assessment grade, and no student will be
disadvantaged if they are unable to complete any work set after schools were
closed.
How can schools and colleges rank order their
students accurately?
Teachers are highly experienced at making assessment decisions and evidence shows they can rank order their students with a high degree of accuracy. Many are already familiar with ranking students where they do this in subjects with nonexam assessment.
What about if a student has transferred from one
school to another?
If a student has transferred from one school to another part-way through
their studies, the current Headteacher will consult with the previous
centre about evidence they hold and may take this into account in reaching a
judgement where they are confident to do so.
What should schools and colleges do in the case of late entries?
Exam boards will issue
results only to those students who were entered for exams this year before the entries deadline of 21 February. Exam boards can exercise discretion where a compelling case
can be made that a student would have been entered before the later ‘late entries’
deadline set by JCQ.
Will centre assessment grades be accurate?
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 across the country should be consistent. Exam boards will therefore
standardise the judgements once grades have been submitted.
How will centre assessment grades be standardised?
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. 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.
As with other years, the statistical model will consider prior attainment at school or college level, not at individual student level. As such, students’ individual performance will not be predetermined by their prior attainment at KS2 or GCSE.
Will the standardisation process take into account
recent improvement in school performance?
Ofqual’s data shows that for the vast majority of schools and colleges any year-on-year variation in results for a given subject is quite small. In 2015 and 2016, 90% of
centres were classed as having stable outcomes and 8.5% of centres were classed
as having ‘unstable results’. Only 0.8% of centres had results that increased by more
than the national average change in both 2015 and 2016 and only 0.5% of centres
had results that decreased more than the national average change in both 2015 and
2016.
Will students see the centre assessment grades their
school or college submits?
There has been a great deal of confusion over whether or not students are entitled to see their centre-assessed grades (CAGs) and
the pupil rankings which centres were also asked to determine, as well as receiving their final calculated grade. Schools and colleges
have been told, rightly, that they must not reveal these ahead of results days. Our understanding, initially, was that these would
remain private, and that students would only be told their final calculated grade.
However, it has since become clear that CAGs and pupil rankings are not exempt from subject access requests (SARs) made under the
Data Protection Act 2018. It now appears that CAGs and rank orders are personal data, which students have a right to know.
If after receiving their results, a student would like to see their centre assessed grade, they must submit a request in writing or email to Mrs T Reeves, by Friday 11th September 2020.
Can centres share or discuss a student’s centre
assessment grade with other centres or within their
multi-academy trust?
The provision against sharing centre assessment grades, rank order information,
and the professional judgements which underpin them does not apply to centres
sharing data within their multi-academy trusts or local education authority, or to
discussions between teachers at different centres where necessary to determine a
centre assessment grade for a student who has studied at more than one centre (for
instance, students in alternative provision, or private candidates transferring to
another centre). Head of Centre authorisation would still be required to share this
information.
This information should be exchanged directly between centre staff, and on no
account should the centre assessment grade be shared with the student or their
parent or carer as part of this process.
When will results be released?
Results will be released on 20th August as originally planned.
Will grades issued in 2020 carry the same weight as
grades issued in previous or future years?
The grades awarded to students should have equal status to the grades awarded in
other years and should be treated in this way by universities, colleges and
employers. On the results slips and certificates, grades will be reported in the same
way as in previous years.
Will students be able to progress to the next stage of education or employment with these grades?
Yes, this approach will enable students to move onto the next stage of their
education or employment in the autumn as planned. We have consulted widely and
most of those responding to the consultation were supportive of this approach.
Can students appeal these grades?
In line with the direction given to us by the Secretary of State for Education, appeals
will be allowed in cases where a centre believes it has made an error when
submitting its information; or similarly, if the centre believes an exam board made a
mistake when calculating, assigning or communicating a grade. Additionally, a
student who had evidence of bias or discrimination should raise this with their centre.
Students who feel that their grades from the summer do not reflect their ability will have the opportunity to take their exams in the autumn series or in summer 2021. If they choose to do this, students will be able to use the higher of the two grades for future progression.
If a Blackburn Central High School graduate wishes to resit their exam(s) they must notify Ms Griffiths, Examinations Officer, in writing by 11th September 2020.
What about students who have an agreed
reasonable adjustment or access arrangement?
Schools and colleges will judge the grade that these students would most likely have
achieved if they had been able to sit their examinations with the intended reasonable
adjustment or access arrangement in place.
Will special consideration apply this year?
Special consideration requests are considered in the event that a student is unable to take an assessment or suffers a traumatic event that might affect their performance. These will not apply this summer because students will not be taking their exams. Instead judgements should reflect how the students would have performed under ordinary circumstances. Where illness or other personal
circumstances might have temporarily affected performance, for example in mock exams, centres should bear that in mind when making their judgements.
What about year 10 students who have had their teaching and learning significantly disrupted this year?
We know the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will have caused stress and uncertainty for many students, regardless of whether or not they were due to take exams this year. Students who are studying GCSE courses, but are not due to take exams until 2021, will also have experienced disruption to their teaching and learning this year. We do not yet know for how long this disruption will continue.
A range of possible options for next year if being considered.
How will this affect students who have English as an additional language (EAL)?
We will use our professional experience to make a fair and objective judgement of the grade we believe a student would have achieved had teaching and learning continued as normal and had they sat their exams. For students with English as an additional language (EAL), we considered the likely language acquisition a student would have made by the time of the exam, and any increased ability to demonstrate subject content knowledge, as part of this and reflect this in their judgement.
Who will be eligible to take exams in the autumn?
Entry to autumn exams is restricted to those
students who had entered for the summer series or to those who the exam board
believes have made a compelling case about their intention to have entered the
summer series. Students who would normally be entitled to take GCSEs in English
language and maths in November should be able to take exams in those subjects.
If a Blackburn Central High School graduate wishes to resit their exam(s) they must notify Ms Griffiths, Examinations Officer, in writing by 11th September 2020.
When will the autumn exam series be held?
The autumn examination series will run from Monday 2nd November until Monday 23rd November 2020. If, when a student receives their results they would like to sit any of the subjects they should contact Ms Griffiths, Examinations Officer, by no later than Friday 11th September 2020 so that the entries can be made in advance of the deadline of 18th September for most subjects, and 4th October for English Language and Maths.
Will students be able to sit all of their exams in the
autumn?
The autumn series is being provided so that any student who does not feel their
calculated grade reflects their ability is given the opportunity to sit an exam at the
earliest reasonable opportunity. Exam boards will offer autumn exams for all of the GCSE qualifications they had intended to offer in the summer.
If students are unhappy with a grade do they have to
take all their exams in the autumn or can they just
take exams in the subject they are unhappy with?
Students will not have to sit exams in all subjects in the autumn. They may take
exams in as few subjects as they would like to. If a student wishes to take exams in
a particular subject in the autumn, they will need to take all the exam papers in that
subject.
What about exam fees this year? Will there be a cost
for students taking exams in the autumn?
Fees for exams are set by the exam boards. They will share further information on
fees for awarding grades this summer, and for the optional autumn exam series in
due course. Fees are payable by centres for students enrolled in school or college.
External/private candidates pay their own fees and should enquire with the relevant
board about these.
Will students choosing to take an exam this autumn
still be able to go to university this year?
Students may still choose to take an exam even where their college
place has been confirmed. However, it will take time for the results of these exams to
be issued, so they will need to discuss with their college whether to start their course as planned or to delay their entry.
When will the results of the autumn exams series be
released?
Results for GCSE exams taken in November could be
published in February. The results for GCSE English and Maths could be published
in January, as usual. This is dependent on the final dates of the autumn exam series,
however.
If students take an exam this autumn, which will
stand – the exam or centre assessment grade?
Students who feel that their grades from the summer do not reflect their ability will
have the opportunity to take their exams in the autumn series or in summer 2021. If
they choose to do this, students will be able to use the higher of the two grades for
future progression.
More information on awarding qualifications in Summer 2020