Dear Year 11 and 13 students, parents and carers,

I wanted to keep you updated on how you will be assessed this summer, as I know you will be anxious for more details. As you know, at the start of term, the Secretary of State announced that GCSEs and A Levels were cancelled. Since then, there have been a series of announcements. At present, Ofqual are consulting with schools on their proposals, and the final details won't be announced for some time. 

However, some details now seem fairly clear. The main point is that the school will decide grades, based on the standard you are working at at the end of the year.

This will be based on two main sources of evidence:

1. Exams taken in May and June at Holmleigh Park. These won't be full A Level or GCSE papers, but will be set by the exam boards and will be fairly similar. The main difference is we won't examine you on subjects you have not been taught due to lockdown. If you have to self-isolate on the day of an exam, we will also be able to make alternative arrangements.
2. Other assessed work. This might include coursework, practice papers, November mock exams etc. Evidence from later in the year will generally have more weight.

We also know that our grades will be moderated, both internally and externally. This means that the grades your teachers assign to you will be changed to ensure that we have assessed you fairly. We don't yet know exactly how this process will work, but I'm confident that the assessment process will be fair and thorough. 

Finally, please be aware that teachers cannot talk to you about grades. Doing so would be considered exam malpractice, and so you cannot ask your teachers about grades.

For now, the key message is to keep going. The more work you do in lockdown, the better you'll do in the assessments when we return to school, and the more evidence we'll have to award you a higher grade. If there's anything we can do to support, please let Mr Enderby and Mrs Marsden-Green (Year 13) or Ms Leech and Ms Furleger (Year 11) know.

Best wishes,

Mr Farmbrough