Re: Teacher Assessed Grades and the right to appeal

I hope that this letter finds you all well. We have now had the opportunity to review all of the documentation provided by the JCQ (examinations Governing Body) which was published just before the Easter holiday. I would like to take the opportunity to detail some information regarding the school processes for the allocation of the Teacher Assessed Grades.

Teacher Assessed Grades

Summer 2021 results will be submitted to the Exam Boards on Friday 18^th June. They will be based upon a suite of assessment data that students will have completed over the duration of their courses. The assessments undertaken before and after Easter will be included in this. Subjects will apply a consistent approach utilising all this information to allocate the grade. It is possible that you may see some fluctuation of grades between assessments. This is to be expected. The draft Centre Policy – ‘Determining Teacher Assessed Grades in summer 2021’ can be found on our school website.

It is important to remember that the Teacher Assessed Grades must remain confidential. As I have already mentioned in my previous letter regarding Parents Evening, we are ‘not able to discuss anything to do with the final Teacher Assessed Grades (TAG’s)…..this information is confidential and any overt questioning regarding this would be considered as malpractice and will be reported to the exam boards’. We understand that you might have questions about final submitted grades, but we have to adhere to the strict conditions set by the governing body.

Results day and the right to appeal

Mr Graham has already outlined the procedure for the collection of results on Thursday 12^th August. Please remember if you cannot collect your results in person then you must notify Mrs Robinson, in writing and in advance, who will be collecting them. That person must bring ID when they collect your results. If no one collects your results then they will be posted home First Class on the day.

Students do have a right to appeal the grade allocated. There are 2 types of appeal and these are as follows:

1. Centre Review - If you don’t think you have been issued with the correct grade, you can appeal to your school or college, who will review whether they:

• made an administrative error, e.g. they submitted an incorrect grade; they used an incorrect assessment mark when determining your grade.
• did not apply a procedure correctly, e.g. they did not follow their Centre Policy, did not undertake internal quality assurance, did not take account of access arrangements or mitigating circumstances, such as illness.

2. Appeal to the Exam Board - If you still don’t think you have the correct grade after the centre review is complete, you can ask your school or college to appeal to the exam board, who will review whether:

• the school or college made an unreasonable exercise of academic judgement in the choice of evidence from which they determined your grade and/or in the determination of your grade from that evidence. A reasonable judgement is one that is supported by evidence. An exercise of judgement will not be unreasonable simply because a student considers that an alternative grade should have been awarded, even if the student puts forward supporting evidence. There may be a difference of opinion without there being an unreasonable exercise of judgement. The reviewer will not remark individual assessments to make fine judgements but will take a holistic approach based on the overall evidence.
• the school or college did not apply a procedure correctly, e.g. they did not follow their Centre Policy, did not undertake internal quality assurance, did not take account of access arrangements or mitigating circumstances, such as illness.
• the exam board made an administrative error, e.g. they changed your grade during the processing of grades.

It is very important to remember that as with any appeal, a grade can go up, down or stay the same as a result of the process. Only the student can request an appeal. Once we know the timeline for the appeals process we will update you. We are currently awaiting confirmation of this from the Exam Boards. Any appeal request will be dealt with on an individual basis.

Further guidance from JCQ about the whole Teacher Assessed Grading process can be found in the following document:

https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/JCQ-Guidance-for-Students-and-Parents-on-Summer-2021.pdf

There is no doubt that this is not the position we wanted to find ourselves in for the second year running. It has added to what has already been a stressful and disrupted year. You can however rest assured that all teachers have the best interests of the students at the heart of this process.

If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to contact wither myself, Ms Hammond or Mrs Robinson.

‘Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand’ Isiah 41:10

Mr Wilkinson

Deputy Headteacher