EXAMINATIONS POLICY – APRIL 2012

Sir James Smith’s CommunitySchool

Enjoy and Achieve

Examinations Policy @ SJS

Spring Term 2012

  1. Aims
  2. Setting up the Exam Year
  3. Accountability of Subjects
  4. Exam entries
  5. Amendments to Entries
  6. Change of tier
  7. Late entries
  8. Re-sits and payments
  9. External examination season
  10. Information to candidates and parents/carers
  11. Coursework
  12. Internal examinations
  13. Conduct in the examination
  14. Despatch of exam scripts and coursework
  15. Conduct of invigilators
  16. External invigilators
  17. Results
  18. Special Needs
  19. Special Needs Exam Procedures
  20. Appendix

A1. Appeals against internally assessed work

Background

It is our intention that everything possible should be done to ensure candidates sitting public examinations are well prepared and fully informed. The examination itself should be well organised and completed with no upset or disturbance. Candidates should feel confident that they experienced the best conditions in which to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do.

1 Aims:

1.1 The school aims to provide an efficient system for disseminating information to subjects and from examination boards and from pupils and subjects to the boards.

1.2 The school also aims to ensure that external and internal examinations are run in such away as to uphold the integrity of the examinations system. Key principles for the system are:

  • The pupils have an entitlement to be entered for the examination for all courses they have completed.
  • The system should be transparent and accountable in the way that the process operates.
  • The system should be cost-effective with procedures to minimise waste.
  • The system should aim to support accuracy to minimise errors.
  • The system should be fair and support the maximisation of opportunity.
  • The system should allow for the provision of accurate and up to date information to subjects, parents, the education authority, DFES and other interested parties.

1.3 Parents and carers are kept informed about examinations entries. Any changes to exam entries must be communicated to parents. Students are not allowed to ‘drop’ subjects without permission of the subject teacher and parent(s).

2 Setting up the Examination Year:

In July the Examinations Officer will circulate to all subjects the board and specification used by that department. This must be checked, signed, amended as necessary and returned to the exam officer by the Subject Leader. An estimate of the number of entries in each tier will also be requested.

3 Accountability of subjects

3.1 One person should be nominated from each department to take responsibility

for exam entries/withdrawals etc – this will usually be the Subject Leader.

3.2The Examinations Officer will set up marksheets for each subject within the SIMS Assessment Manager system into which the subject teacher will input a forecast grade for each candidate. This in turn will generate an examination entry. Subjects that have the option of sitting differing tiers should pay particular attention to this when completing their marksheets. Once all marksheets have been completed the entries will be transferred into SIMS Examinations Organiser by the Examinations Officer.

3.3Deadlines will be indicated prominently for all returns.

3.4The Examinations Officer will print out copies of the entry marksheets and distribute them to the Subject Leaders. It is the Subject Leader’s responsibility to check these entries, and return a signed copy to the Examination Officer confirming that they are correct. Any changes required must be marked clearly on these marksheets and given back to the Examinations Officer before the examination board deadline for entries.

4 Exam Entries

All candidates will be entered by the due date set by the board. It is the responsibility of the Subject Leader to ensure entries are made correctly – tier, syllabus, component, numbers, and award claim code where appropriate, etc.

5 Amendments to entries

5.1 Amendments will be accepted either in writing or via email by the Examinations Officer up to the date set by the board. When the amendments have been made the Examinations Officer will reprint the entry marksheets and pass to the Subject Leader for checking. Please note that changes cannot be made to marksheets in Assessment Manager once the entries have been transferred into Examinations Organiser.

5.2 Amendments to entries made after the examination board published date will

incur extra administration charges. Where appropriate this will be deducted from the relevant subject cost centre.

6 Change of tier

Any change of tier must be informed to the Examinations Officer either in writing or via email.

Please note that changes cannot be made to marksheets in Assessment Manager once the entries have been transferred into Examinations Organiser.

7 Late Entries

The Subject Leader will inform the Examinations Officer either in writing or via email of any late entries. A forecast grade for the candidate must be provided. Any additional fees will be normally be charged to the department.

8 Re-sits and Payments

8.1 Subject areas that wish students to retake modules because of poor performance should write to the parents and carers.

8.2 If students underachieve in a module because of exceptional circumstances such as extended illness of either the student or their teacher the school will cover the cost of the entry.

8.3 Any student wishing to re-sit an examination can do so at his / her expense. Notification of a re-sit request must come from the Subject Leader and a forecast grade must be provided for the candidate. Details of the re-sit fees payable will be sent out to parents/carers.

8.4 After the final deadline, the cost to re-sit an exam will double, as late entries are subject to penalty fees from the Examination Boards.

9 External Examination Season

The exam officer is responsible for the organisation and conduct of all external exams.

9.1Final confirmation of entry numbers and levels will be made with the Subject Leader.

9.2All exam papers will be counted in by the exam officer and locked away.

9.3All sealed exam papers will be checked by the Subject Leader in the presence of the Examinations Officer in good time before the exam date.

9.4Whenever possible the Subject Leader or other member of department will be present at the start of each subject exam to answer any subject specific queries about the examination. They will not however be allowed to open an examination paper to read the questions.

9.5No spare exam papers can be removed from the exam room before the end of a session or before the exam papers have been collected by the courier.

9.6All exams will be conducted according to the rules laid down by exam boards and within the start and finish times determined by the board.

9.7Any misconduct or irregularity must be reported to the Examinations Officer as soon as possible, who will then inform the exam board concerned.

9.8In the absence of the Examinations Officer at the end of any exam papers will be collected and taken to the front office and given into the care of the office staff.

9.9Students will not be allowed to leave an exam unless their exam paper has been picked up and secured by an invigilator. Unused papers will be placed in the Subject Leader’s pigeon hole only after the candidates papers have been verified and despatched.

10 Information to Candidates and Parents/Carers

10.1 The Examinations officer will send two copies of the candidate examination timetable out to parents/carers when entries and seating arrangements are complete. This will be accompanied by an examination guidance booklet informing the parents of the examination board regulations, contact details and details of when and how results will be available. A list of any re-sit fees payable will also be included.

10.2 The process will be repeated for any student that has an amendment to their entries.

10.3 The examination notice boards will be used to publicly display dates and times of examinations and other exam related information.

11 Coursework

It is the responsibility of each department to ensure all coursework is despatched at the correct time. The Subject Leader may liaise with the exam officer if necessary. Appropriate labels and envelopes will be distributed to the Subject Leader’s by the Examinations Officer when required. When coursework is packed and sealed return it to the examinations officer for despatch. It is the responsibility of the Subject Leader to include all necessary completed paperwork in with the coursework sample and to photocopy any forms etc that need to be kept for reference.

12 Internal examinations

The exam officer will be responsible for the overview of the organisation of accommodation and invigilation for these exams. Each department will be responsible for producing exam papers, which are suitable for the time slot allocated to their subject. These should be given to the examinations officer a minimum of a week before the examination period begins.

13 Conduct in the examination

13.1 Students need to be informed about exam protocol and expected conduct. This would normally be achieved through an assembly presented by a senior member of staff and is also included in the examinations guidance booklet sent out to candidates.

13.2 If there is any misconduct in the examination room ON CALL staff should be summoned immediately. This should also be reported to the Examinations Officer who in discussion with the Headteacher will inform the examination board if regulations have been breached.

13.3 Any breach of exam conduct will be treated as a serious incident. Any repeated breach of conduct could result in either: 1) the student sitting their exams in a room away from other students; 2) transferring the student’s examinations to another examination centre.

13.4 Students arriving up to 30 minutes late will be subject to Examination board regulations. Students arriving after this may be admitted as per regulations.

14 Despatch of exam scripts and coursework.

The examinations officer will despatch exam papers to examiners by a traceable system (eg Parcel Force Worldwide).

15 Conduct of invigilators

15.1 The exam officer will ensure that each exam session will have a designated lead invigilator in charge, whose role will be to deploy invigilators and oversee conduct of each.

15.2 The lead invigilator or subject Subject Leader’s will check attendance according to the seating plan.

15.3 Invigilators must not take any work into the exam room but give full attention to the conduct of the examination.

15.4 It is essential that invigilators move around the exam hall in a random manner to ensure all candidates can be confident of supervision.

16 External invigilators

The exam officer will co-ordinate a team of external invigilators. This will include:

  • An annual training session in September.
  • Informing invigilators early in the season what dates invigilators are going to be required.
  • Allocate a lead invigilator to each examination.
  • Allocate available invigilators to examinations and should normally inform invigilators at least 2 weeks before the examination.
17 Results

17.1 Results will be available for collection by staff on the day notified by the exam boards.

17.2 Subjects should check for the possibility of a re-mark/re-grade within three days of scrutiny of the results.

17.3 If a result is queried the Examinations Officer will investigate the feasibility of asking for a re-mark.

17.4 Initial costs of enquiries will be met by the department. The board will refund fees of enquiries that lead to a change in grade.

17.5 On the published results date in August students will be able to collect their examination results between 9.30am and 2.30pm.

17.6 For all other sessions the examination results will be managed in the following way:

  • Processed data will be circulated to the Subject Leaders concerned.
  • Subject Leaders will ensure other subject staff have information about (i) Their own classes/students; (ii) The overall cohort/year group
  • Subject Leaders need to provide an explanation of marks, grade boundaries and any other information that enables the candidate and others to understand the significance of the mark/grade. This information must be with the Examinations Officer prior to the arrival of examination data.
  • KS4 students will have their examination results posted home with a covering letter to explain marks/grades
18 Special needs

It is the responsibility of the SENCO to liaise with the Examinations Officer about the arrangements for candidates with Special Needs. The SENCO will ensure the Examinations Officer has all information needed on each candidate with special needs. The Examinations Officer will ensure requests for special consideration will be sent to the boards and process the replies.

19 Special needs exam procedures

19.1 Subject staff should inform the SENCO of special needs pupils who are embarking on a course leading to an examination, and the date of that exam. The SENCO can then inform individual staff of any special arrangements which individual pupils can be granted during the course and in the exam. In the case of pupils with specific learning difficulties/visual impairment or certain other medical conditions, these can be any or all of the following:

  • Extra time for coursework and examinations
  • Rest periods
  • A reader
  • A scribe (amanuensis)
  • Enlargements/models
  • A helper
  • A prompter
  • Separate room/invigilator
  • Use of word processing/printing facility

19.2 Special arrangements can also be made for pupils to take their examinations outside school e.g. phobic pupils, M.E. sufferers. In these cases invigilation/examination rules must still be adhered to.

19.3 SENCO will inform the Examinations Officer, who will communicate with the exam boards at the beginning of a course, if any pupil is to be given special arrangements for coursework which carries marks towards a final mark.

19.4 A separate room and invigilator are required for candidates with a reader/writer and a separate room is required for an individual or group who is/are granted extra time/rest periods/use of a word processor.

19.5 It is preferable that the reader/scribe should be a person within the learning support department who is familiar with and has had practice with the pupil taking the examination. It is important if for example the pupil and reader or scribe have worked together in similar situations such as internal tests/exams. It is the duty of learning support to ensure that no unauthorised help is given to these pupils.

19.6 The SENCO, in consultation with the Examinations Officer will complete the special arrangement request forms for special needs candidates at the appropriate time and provide the necessary evidence to reach the exam boards on the stipulated dates. Boards have a timetable of dates for the ordering of modified/-enlarged papers for NCTs and GCSEs which must be complied with.

19.7 The early opening and checking of special needs candidates' papers should be conducted in the presence of the Examinations Officer only with the permission of the exam board, at an agreed time and any further enlargements/modifications completed by the designated person in good time for the start of the exam. In cases where extra time has been granted and the examination finishes after school hours, the candidate's papers will be given to the exam officer and locked away.

19.8 The necessary re-scheduling of internal and external exams for special needs pupils will be co-ordinated with the Examinations Officer e.g. pupils who have extra time cannot fit two exams in one day.

19.9 Candidates with visual impairments may be granted an early start to examinations to allow time for rest breaks and extra time. Such candidates will be properly supervised at all times and have no contact with other candidates taking the same examination.

19.10 Candidates with extra help/time for coursework must ensure that it is all their own work. It is the responsibility of learning support to ensure that all work is original.

20Appendix

APPENDIX 1: Appeals against internal Assessment of Work for External Qualifications

Sir James Smith’s CommunitySchool is committed to ensuring that whenever their staff assesses students' work for external qualification; this is done fairly, consistently and in accordance with the specification for the qualification concerned. Assessments are conducted by staff who have appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills, and who have been trained in this activity. Sir James Smith’s is committed to ensuring that assessment evidence provided by candidates is produced and authenticated according to the requirements of the relevant specifications for each subject. Where a set of work is divided between staff, internal moderation and standardisation will ensure consistency.

If a student feels that this may not have happened in relation to his/her work, s/he may make use of this appeals procedure. Note that appeals may only be made against the process that led to the assessment and not against the mark or grade submitted by the centre for moderation by the awarding body.

This procedure is available from the exams office and is posted on the exams notice board.