Year 11 Assessment Opportunities - Hanham Woods Academy

Dear Parent/Carer

I hope this letter finds you and your family safe and well.

Following the significant rise in infections and the pressure on the NHS, the Government took the decision to put the country into lockdown at the start of January 2021. At this time the Government also announced that summer examinations at GCSE and A-level would not take place, in the normal way. Instead they would be replaced by a form of Centre Assessed Grades that will be used to award grades for students completing courses in summer 2021.

An Ofqual consultation has recently closed (Friday 29^th January) that is considering how Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) will specifically work this year. We expect the outcome of the consultation to be announced in the next two weeks. At that point we will have greater clarity on the approach and timeline for awarding grades this year.

The consultation has sought views on a range of areas, which gives some indication of what will happen. Whilst the following have not been confirmed there is a good possibility that:

Teacher assessed grades will replace grades that are normally determined by the sitting of final exams and that achieved through coursework.
These grades will be based on the standard at which students are working at and have demonstrated. It should reflect a wide range of work and evidence.
There are likely to be shared assessment materials provided to schools to support the teacher assessment of grades and add to what teachers already know about their students.
The deadline for schools for the teacher assessed grades will be around the middle of June.
The consultation is seeking views on results being issued to students in July.

So what does this mean for students?

All students need to continue to work hard and complete their courses up to the end of the year, at least up to and including June.
Teachers will continue to set and assess work produced by all students.
Students should use the feedback from teachers to make progress and improve. Teachers will use the criteria for each course to support students to understand how to improve and make progress. Teachers will not grade work as it happens over the next few months.
Teachers will only assess a final grade at the end of the course. Students should focus on working hard and using feedback to continue to improve and not on accumulating grades.

What is the purpose of the assessments after Half Term?

The two weeks after Half Term have always been planned as a set of Pre-Public Exams. (PPEs) However, we will continue to use this time to complete key assessments in each subject. Students will…

Complete an assessment in each subject, during the first two weeks of Term 4. This provides an opportunity for students to show what they can do, know and understand.
The assessments have been designed carefully and are based on the curriculum in each subject. Some assessments will feel like an exam paper that you have seen before, some will be part questions. Teachers will inform students of the content and structure of the assessment before the end of term.
Complete the assessment remotely, at set times across the two weeks. An assessment timetable will be published shortly.
Submit the assessment by the time set.
Receive feedback and a mark for each assessment. The assessments are not graded. Grading through teacher assessment will only happen at the end of the course.
The feedback that students receive will be used so that students can improve their work.

The assessments are only one part of the evidence that teachers will use and the feedback from the assessments will allow students to improve the quality of the work in the rest of Term 4.

It is not possible to provide more clarity and certainty ahead of the outcome of the consultation. We will fully update students and families when we know more about the process towards teacher assessed grades for GCSEs and A-Levels.

Thank you for your ongoing support during these unprecedented times. If you have any concerns or issues you would like to raise please contact Mrs Tushingham who is the Year 11 Raising Standards Leader ([email protected])

Yours sincerely

Mr S T Kneller | Academy Principal