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Exams Internal Appeals Procedure

The Saltash.net Community School Policy for Assessment Decisions at GCSE, AS & A Level

This policy is designed to promote quality, consistency, accuracy and fairness in assessment and awarding. In all cases, the final awarding decisions are taken by the Awarding Bodies: AQA; OCR; Edexcel; WJEC; CCEA and others.

This document covers the schools policy in dealing with the Awarding Bodies, the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), internal departments, officers of the school and any other parties involved in awarding matters.

Examinations and Procedures Relating to Examinations

Examinations policy is decided by the Leadership Group with reference to the guidance and regulations supplied by the JCQ and the Awarding Bodies. The Examinations Officer, Heather McClung, is responsible to the Head of Centre for the day to day administration of the examinations system.

All candidates should note that the Awarding Bodies are often unable to process appeals and queries relating to the examinations process, timetabling, internal assessment or complaints from students or parents. All queries of this type must be raised in the first instance with the school Examinations Officer. Should a complaint relating to the administration of some part of the exams process be made against the Examinations Officer, this must first be notified to Nick Scantlebury, Deputy Headteacher.

At the time of the exams, candidates must be aware of the JCQ ‘Warning to Candidates’, a copy of which is posted inside and outside of each examinations room. During examinations, candidates must follow any instructions given to them by the Examinations Officer, member of the Examinations Office staff or any Invigilator present. Candidates must also be aware of the regulations regarding the submission of coursework, particularly those relating to the proper acknowledgement of sources. Failure to do so can result in the Awarding Bodies or the JCQ setting penalties which can include official reprimands, loss of examination marks or in extreme cases the loss of all examination results and banning from future examinations.

The school undertakes to run the examinations system in accordance with the published JCQ guidance, given in the Instructions for the Conduct of Examinations (I.C.E.) document, and others.

Mobile Phones and Examinations

The possession of a mobile phone in an examination room, whether switched on or not, is an offence under JCQ regulations. School policy is that mobile phones must not be brought into the examination room. Failure to observe this regulation may result in the loss of all results for the exam.

Internal Assessment

Under the Joint Council Code of Practice, the Awarding Bodies require school centres offering their examinations to:

 

  1. Have a published appeals procedure relating to internal assessment decisions;
  2. Make this document available and accessible to candidates.

 

The Awarding Body will moderate the assessed coursework/oral tapes and the final mark awarded is that of the Awarding Body. This mark is outside the control of the school and is not covered by this procedure.

The school will ensure that:

 

  1. Work submitted by the candidate for assessment has been authenticated as original work according to the guidance issued by the Joint Council;
  2. At the beginning of the school year, candidates are given written guidance about the Awarding Bodies regulations on the production of coursework, the school’s deadlines for submission as well as information about the school’s appeals procedure.
  3. Within each department, candidates are given adequate and appropriate time to produce the coursework;
  4. Internal assessments are conducted by staff who have an appropriate level of knowledge, understanding and skill;
  5. The consistency of the internal assessment is secured through the departmental mark scheme or marking criteria and internal standardization, as necessary;
  6. The staff responsible for internal standardization of a subject will endeavour to attend appropriate training sessions given by the relevant Awarding Body.

 

Examination Coursework Procedure at saltash.net Community School

 

  1. Coursework is defined as any piece of written or practical work which is marked by the school or an external examiner and which contributes to a GCSE, AS or A Level Award.
  2. Students must read and understand fully the Notice to Candidates from the Joint Council for Qualifications about Coursework Regulations (attached).
  3. Irregularities in coursework discovered prior to the student signing a declaration of authentication will not be reported to the Awarding Body but dealt with as an internal disciplinary matter. The work will not gain any credit.
  4. An irregularity in coursework discovered after the signing of the declaration of authentication by the student will be reported to the Awarding Body which may lead to disqualification from the subject.
  5. Coursework must be handed in by the agreed published departmental deadline.
  6. All students are given the same and sufficient time to complete the work.
  7. Students are given clear instructions as to the time and place for handing in the work.
  8. The work must be handed in by the student to the designated teacher and not given to another student to hand in.
  9. If the student is absent from school on the deadline day, a parent/carer or friend must bring the work to school to be handed in to meet the deadline.
  10. If it is impossible to deliver the work to school, the appropriate Head of Department or, in case of absence, his or her representative, must be contacted by phone on the deadline day for advice.
  11. If the coursework has not been completed by the deadline, the incomplete work must be handed in on the deadline day to receive a mark. There will be no further opportunity to complete this work for an improved mark.
  12. Normally there will be no extension of a coursework deadline if a student is absent for a day or two during the period that the coursework is being completed.
  13. If there are any special circumstances e.g. a prolonged absence covered by a medical certificate, there is a possibility of an extension but this must be negotiated with the appropriate Head of Department.

 

Internal Appeals Procedure

 

  1. The grounds for appeal relate only to the procedures used in arriving at internal assessment decisions or the production of externally assessed work and do not apply to the judgement themselves.
  2. The appeal must be made in writing to the School’s Examinations Officer by 31 May of the year that the coursework was assessed. The grounds for the appeal must be clearly stated. The candidate can be supported in the presentation of their case by a parent/carer/friend.
  3. The Headteacher will nominate a member of staff, normally the Examinations Officer (EO), to lead the enquiry provided that the EO has played no part in the original assessment process. An experienced Head of Department or School Governor to act as an independent member will also be on the panel.
  4. The panel will examine the evidence for the procedures used in the assessment, decide upon their appropriateness and that the procedures have been properly followed as required by the Awarding Body concerned. The enquiry will be completed by the end of June of that examination series.
  5. The panel’s findings will be formally reported back to the candidate/parent/carer at the beginning of July.
  6. Records of the request for the appeal, the evidence, deliberations of the panel and the result will be kept by the Examinations Officer and made available to the Awarding Body if required.

 


Heather McClung
Examinations Officer
February 2007