Good afternoon,
As you may already be aware, yesterday the Secretary of State for Education announced that GCSE and A level examinations would not take place in the summer and would be replaced by grades submitted by teachers. We are awaiting further detail on what the process will look like but this will probably involve teachers assessing class and homework, reviewing trial exams and other relevant evidence. As a school, we successfully completed a similar process last year and we want to assure you that grades will be awarded based on objective evidence and in a fair and balanced way. Any grades set by teachers will be moderated carefully to ensure they are consistent within and across the school.
We appreciate that such a major change is very unsettling for our young people and many of them will be incredibly upset at not having the opportunity to show what they can do via their exams. We feel saddened that students will not be able to sit their final exams as we had been so impressed with the commitment and progress made by our students since the start of this academic year.
What is now absolutely crucial is that students continue to work hard and keep going with their studies. We know you and your children will be worried but we want to reassure you that students’ hard work will be recognised and none of the efforts shown so far will be wasted. Students will still be able to progress on to their intended destinations at the end of Year 11 and Year 13. The value of the A level, vocational and GCSE exams will not be diminished and students’ ambitions for the future will not be affected by this change to the way exams are awarded. Please ensure your son/ daughter remains engaged in their on line learning, logging on to lessons, following their normal school timetable.
Please do contact Mr Hitchin, Assistant Principal, for questions relating to Year 11 and Dr Delbridge, Assistant Principal and Head of Sixth Form, for questions relating to Year 13.
Kind regards,
Alison Brannick