Saint Augustine’s
CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL & SIXTH FORM CENTRE
PRINCIPAL: A F QUINN BA (HONS) NPQH
Examination Information
Booklet 2017
For Student and Parent/Carer
Student Name: ______
Contents
Page No.
Introduction 3
Before the Exams
Your attendance4
Sixth Form Notice4
Your Candidate or Exam number4
Individual Candidate Timetable 4-5
Exam Start Times 5
Rooming 5
Exam cards and seating5
Uniform6
During the Exams
Being Silent6
At the start of an examination 6-7
The right equipment 7-8
Your coats, bags and valuables 8
Mobile phones, pagers, MP3 players 8
Invigilators8
Travel arrangements 8-9
If you are ill or have transport problems 9
Special Consideration 9
Frequently Asked Questions 9-10
For the scribblers10-11
After the Exams
Yr 11 Book Return day11
St Augustine’s Day11
Results days 11
Post Results Services12
Certificates 12
Careers Advice 12
And finally …. 13
Permission Form - for someone else to collect your results 14
The Official documents to read …..
Written Exams 15
On Screen Tests 16
Introduction
It is the aim of Saint Augustine’s Catholic High School to make the examination experience as stress-free and successful as possible for all candidates.
Hopefully, this booklet will prove informative and helpful for you and your parents/carers. Please read it carefully and show it to your parents/carers so that they are also aware of the examination regulations and the procedures to follow in the event of any problems occurring.
The awarding bodies (or examination boards) set down strict criteria which must be followed for the conduct of examinations and Saint Augustine’s Catholic High School is required to follow them precisely. You should therefore, pay particular attention to the Information for Candidates that is printed on the back 2 pages.
Some of the questions you may have, are answered at the back of this booklet. If there is anything you do not understand or any question that has not been addressed, please come to the Exams Office and ask!
Exams Office staff are:
Mrs Richings and Mrs McIntyre – Examinations Officers
Mrs Walker – Examinations Administrator
You can contact us by:
a) Speaking to us in person in the Exams Office
b) Telephoning us on the school number 01527 550400
c) emailing us on
Remember - we are here to help
Before the Exams
Your attendance:
Year 11
You are to follow your timetable up to Friday, 16th June 2017, except when attending examinations or revision sessions. From Monday, 19th June 2017 students will attend for examinations and revision sessions (these are compulsory), unless they have not completed all BTEC work. Students will need to sign in and out in the canteen from Monday, 19th June 2017.
Year 12
For those of you sitting AS examinations in unreformed subjects ie Accounting, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Media Studies, Product Design and General Studies, you will have one day’s study leave prior to each of your examinations. In addition you will be granted exam leave during the week of Monday, 26th June 2017 – Friday, 30th June 2017 for the end of Year 12 exams. You must sign in and out at the Exam Notice board (by Mr O’Connor’s office) on these days. Otherwise you will continue to attend lessons as normal.
Year 13
Your Examination Leave begins on Monday, 15th May 2017. You must sign in and out at the Exam Notice board (by Mr O’Connor’s office) when attending for examinations.
Your candidate or exam number
You have been given a candidate number (sometimes called Exam Number) – you will find this on the top of your Individual Candidate Timetable and on your exam desk card. It would help if you learnt this number as you will need to write it on every exam paper you do.
Individual Candidate Timetable
This document is important and should be kept safely for reference purposes. All students MUST refer to their Individual Candidate Timetable for information on rooming, seating and timing. Please read your timetable very carefully to make sure you know when and where your exams take place. If you think you have the wrong exam/tier on your timetable or you think you are missing an exam, see the Exams Office immediately.
Your timetable is unique to you. Do not ask your friends where the exam is …. they may be somewhere different!
You are advised to take a copy of your timetable to display at home, so that you and your family can see it and that you all know when you should be at school taking an exam. If you lose your timetable you can get a replacement from the Exams Office.
The full examination timetable is published on the Exam notice board within school and on the exams section of the School website. However you should always refer to your Individual Candidate Timetable first.
Exam Start Times
Morning Examinations start at 9.30am promptly
Afternoon Examinations start at 1.30pm promptly
These times may vary, so please rely on your individual timetable – not your friends – as it may well be different.
Please be outside the exam venue at least 15 minutes before the start time.
Rooming
We use the Sports Hall and Gym for most large exams, but we also use the Year 13 Study Area and other classrooms and meeting rooms in the school – your timetable will tell you where to go …. please check it carefully!
Exam Cards and Seating
Your timetable has a seat code for each of your exams. You need to memorise each seat code so that you know where you are sitting in the exam room. Your desk will be marked by your exam card. Quietly find the exam desk with your card on and sit down. If you cannot find your desk ask an invigilator.
You will normally be seated in alphabetical order with A at the front of the room and Z at the back. If there are different exams in the same room you will be grouped with other students sitting the same exam.
Uniform
Years 10 and 11 - School Uniform must be worn at ALL times when sitting exams and when you are in school during the study leave period. There will be no dilution of standards!
Year 12 and 13 - All Sixth Form should be aware that ‘appropriate’ casual clothing should be worn. If you attend not dressed according to the Sixth Form Dress code, you may not use classrooms or Sixth form facilities other than the Dining Room and Theatre toilets.
During the Exams
Being Silent!
Please wait quietly outside the exam room – you will be called in when the room is ready.
Once you enter the exam room YOU ARE UNDER EXAM BOARD RULES AND SHOULD REMAIN SILENT until the examination is over and you are well away from the exam room. You must not communicate with any other student either by speaking or mouthing to them. Even eye contact or smiling at another student is counted as communicating! This conduct is treated as misconduct and is treated severely – you could be disqualified from all your exams – BEWARE!
You may not pass anything to another student in an examination. If you need to borrow a pen or pencil or have a question – put your hand up and speak to an invigilator – they are there to help you.
At the start of an Exam
Check you have the correct paper in front of you…
You will be told how to complete the details on the front of your exam paper or on the answer booklet. LISTEN carefully to all instructions given at the start of the exam and make sure you know how long you have to complete the paper. You will be given a 5 minute warning before the end of the exam.
Only write in BLACK ink – DO NOT WRITE IN PENCIL – only use pencil for diagrams. Do not use correction fluid, correction pens or gel pens! Highlighter pens may be used on questions within the question paper, but never used on your own work.
You cannot ask the invigilators questions regarding the content of the exam, but if you think there is something missing from your paper, then put your hand up and ask for guidance.
When your exam has finished and your papers have been collected in, you will be dismissed a row at a time. PLEASE LEAVE IN SILENCE – other students may still be working in the room or an adjoining room. You are not allowed to take anything from the exam room except your own possessions – it is an offence to remove exam material.
Once you have been dismissed you go to normal lessons. If you are on Examination leave, you should either go home (you must sign out at reception) or revise in the designated study areas.
PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB THE REST OF THE SCHOOL!
The right equipment
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the necessary equipment with you for each examination.
Your clear exam pencil case should include:
black pens x 2
pencils x 2
eraser
ruler
pencil sharpener
calculator (no calculator covers)
compass
protractor
There is a limited supply of spare stationary available should yours stop working, so make sure you check your equipment before your exam.
You must not bring any unauthorised books or paper into the exam room – this is CHEATING. However, remember to bring any set texts or books, if required. No food or drink is allowed in the exam room except for water or squash. Clear plastic bottles only – labels must be removed.
Glasses cases, unless they are clear, should not be brought into the exam room. If brought in by mistake, they must be placed under your desk out of reach.
Your coats, bags and valuables
For all exams any coats, bags and personal belongings must be left in your locker.
Mobile phones, Data storage devices, Smart Watches, MP3 players and any other gadgets...
You should not bring mobile telephones to school during the examination period. Please note that if you are found to have a mobile phone on your person during an examination – whether it is turned on or not – you may be disqualified from that examination and may jeopardise all your other examinations. Exam Boards can disqualify students from taking examinations for up to 5 years. The Examinations Boards wish to make it clear to all students that taking mobile phones, pagers, MP3 players, data storage devices, web enabled technology (including smart digital watches) or any other unauthorised device into an examination is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.
Please be aware that any infringement of this rule WILL be reported to the relevant Examination Board. Do not risk it – there are no exceptions!
Invigilators
The school employs exam invigilators to conduct the examinations. Students are expected to behave in a respectful manner towards all invigilators and follow their instructions at all times.
Invigilators are in the examination room to supervise the conduct of the examination. They will distribute and collect the examination papers, tell candidates when to start and finish the examination, hand out extra writing paper if required and deal with any problems that occur during the examination. Invigilators cannot help you with the exam papers or explain questions, so please do not ask.
Travel arrangements
It is your responsibility to ensure that you arrive at the examination room at least 15 minutes before the examination is due to start, using the timings on your individual candidate timetable. If your exam is not due to finish until after 3:50pm, you must make your own arrangements to get home.
If you are ill or have transport problems
If you are ill, or going to be late on the day of your exam, you or your parent/carer should notify the school IMMEDIATELY on 01527 550400.
If you are unable to attend due to serious illness, you or your parent/carer must obtain a medical note from the doctor or complete a Self-Certification Form (available from the Exams Office). This form should be submitted to the Exams Office as soon as possible. The self-certification form must give specific information about dates and exact reasons why you could not sit the paper. Without this the Exam Boards will not consider issuing a final GCSE or GCE grades for the missed exam during the summer season. It is at their discretion as to whether they feel the absence was justified. Historically, it is extremely difficult to achieve a good grade based on medical evidence.
If you are late for an exam, go straight to the examination room. You must be aware that if you are late your exam paper may not be accepted by the Exam Board, so it is important that you are ready 15 minutes before your exam start time. If the exam board chooses not to accept your paper you will receive 0 marks for that paper. The Exam boards take lateness very seriously as it can impact on the security of the exam.
Special Consideration
The school can write to the Exam Board to ask for Special Consideration in exceptional circumstances ONLY. The maximum allowance given is 5%. Feeling unwell or stressed will, unfortunately, not qualify for Special Consideration.
Deaths of family members and major traumas do qualify, but for medical reasons we will require a Doctor’s letter or a Self-Certificate specifying dates and exact reasons – otherwise we will not be able to submit an application to the Exam Board.
Remember Special Consideration is only applied for in exceptional circumstances.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if the fire alarm goes off?
If the fire alarm does go off during an exam, you will be told to put your pens down and to sit in silence while awaiting instructions. The Exams Officer will lead you to the assembly point in an orderly manner and in silence. You must not communicate with the other candidates and you will remain under exam conditions at all times. The length of time of disruption will be noted and will be added on at the end of the exam. The exam board will be notified of the situation and special consideration will be requested if necessary.
What if I need to go to the toilet during the exam?
If you are desperate to go to the toilet during the exam, raise your hand and wait for an invigilator to come to you. He or she will then escort you to the toilet. Please remember – going to the toilet not only disturbs other candidates in the room, it also breaks your concentration. Also, you will not receive additional time.
What if I feel ill during the exam?
If you feel unwell during an exam, raise your hand and wait for an invigilator to come to you. Explain what the problem is and they will deal with it appropriately. Please remember – if you have a cold or suffer from hay fever, bring plenty of tissues with you!
What if I have a clash in the examination timetable?
Depending on the total length of the exams, you will take them one after the other in either the morning or afternoon session. Any serious clashes will have been identified by the Exams Office and you will have been informed what arrangements have been made. We can move an exam due to a clash from a morning to an afternoon session (or vice versa) in some circumstances. If this happens, you will be isolated and supervised between the exams in order to maintain the security of the exam and will need to bring a packed lunch to be stored in your locker.
What if I have an appointment the same day as my exam?
You will need to change your appointment! Exams HAVE to happen at the date and time specified by the exam board. Going on holiday, or to a wedding or having your hair done for the Prom is not a valid excuse!
For the scribblers!
Defacing of exam papers or writing obscene or offensive words is forbidden and could result in you being disqualified! Examination boards have sent back copies of scripts in the post for the school to investigate what has been written or implied. Graffiti on exam desks is also forbidden. All the desks are scribble free and we would like to keep it that way. We have detailed seating plans and we will know WHO YOU ARE!
After the Exams
Year 11 Book Return Day and Celebration
Book Return Day for Year 11 students will be on Tuesday, 27th June 2017 from 10am. You will need to return any text books, library books and locker keys that you may have. When you have returned all items and have been signed off by all departments, you will then be able to collect your Prom ticket. A service will then follow at 11.30am to celebrate the culmination of your two years of study.
Year 13 Celebration Service
A service for our Year 13 students to celebrate the culmination of your two years of study will be held on Thursday, 29th June 2017. You are invited to attend this celebratory service at 11.30am, followed by an opportunity to meet up with your Form Tutors and peer group.