Exam Information 2022

OFQUAL published “Guidance for schools, colleges and other exam centres on contingency arrangements for students entering GCSEs, AS and A levels, the Advanced Extension Award and Project qualifications in summer 2022” on 11th November 2021 in which they outlined the arrangements for exams and non-exam assessments for students taking qualifications in summer 2022. 

“The government is clear that students entering GCSEs, AS or A levels in 2022 should expect to take exams in the summer and complete any non-exam assessments in the usual way throughout the year. 

In recognition of the fact that students’ education has been disrupted by the pandemic, they will be given extra help to prepare for their exams as follows, as confirmed following a joint DfE and Ofqual consultation: 

  • students taking GCSEs in English literature, history, and geography will not need to cover the usual range of content in the exams – the exam boards have published information on their websites on how this will work for each of their specifications in these subjects. Students taking GCSEs in all other subjects will be given advance information about the focus of the content of the exams to support their revision 
  • students taking AS and A levels will be given advance information about the focus of the content of the exams to support their revision 
  • students taking GCSE mathematics will be given in their exams copies of formulae they would in other years have to memorise 
  • students taking GCSE physics and combined science will be given in their exams a sheet covering all the equations they might need to apply in the exams 

The advance information for GCSE and AS and A levels will be published no later than 7 February 2022. The government will decide whether the advance information should be published earlier. The government will take account of the level of disruption to students’ education being caused by the pandemic if it decides that advance information should be published before 7 February 2022. It will give at least a week’s notice if it decides exam boards should publish the information before that date. 

Some changes have also been made to the way non-exam assessments that are used in some GCSE, AS and A level subjects are taken, to address difficulties that might otherwise be caused by the pandemic. 

Ofqual has decided that for the exams due to be taken in summer 2022, grade boundaries will be set so that more students than was the case before the pandemic receive higher grades, providing a safety net for students in this transitionary year. 

We expect students taking Project qualifications in summer 2022 to be assessed in the normal way. No changes have been made to the way the Advanced Extension Award will be examined. 

Although the government is firmly committed to exams going ahead in summer 2022, we need to have contingency plans in place for the unlikely event that exams have to be cancelled again because of the pandemic. “ 

Please click the link for the full document.  
Guidance for schools, colleges and other exam centres on contingency arrangements for students entering GCSEs, AS and A levels, the Advanced Extension Award and Project qualifications in summer 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  

The school will need to have a contingency plan in place for the unlikely event that exams have to be cancelled again because of the pandemic.  If exams are cancelled in summer 2022, students’ grades would instead be determined by their teachers, using a Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs) approach similar to that used in summer 2021.  

We will continue with the scheduled November 2021 Mock Examinations and will publish our contingency plan for Terms 3-5 in January 2022. 

The mock examination will be used to generate a predicted grade (or forecast grade) to support students’ 6th Form, College and University applications but will be used as part of the students’ evidence portfolio to determine the TAGs if necessary. 

Therefore, in accordance with the OFQUAL guidance for the contingency plans: 

  • We will mark the mock exam in line with published exam board mark schemes.  
  • We will provide students with feedback, which will include marks or comments.  
  • We will report the percentage and the grade at which the students’ performance in the mock exam indicates.  
  • Students will not re-sit the mock examinations. 
  • The original mock examination papers will be retained by the school. 

IMPORTANT 

  • Any grade used to indicate the level at which the student has performed is not a TAG. 
  • The predicted or forecast grade is a prediction of what we believe the student will achieve in the summer examinations based upon the evidence available at this point and will be dependent on the students’ continuing positive attitude, effort and application for the remainder of the year.  
  • It will not be possible for us to determine a TAG until OFQUAL set specific guidance on the determination of TAGs for 2022, which will only be available if exams are cancelled. 

 

If there are any events outside of a students’ control, such as illness or family bereavement, that might have affected their performance in an internal assessment, public or mock examination, please inform the school by completing this form either before or within 24 hours of the exam.

Self Certification Form 2022
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