e.

Summer 2020 qualification results information

Important update from Ofqual  26.08.20 available here.

Summary guidance on appeals, malpractice and maladministration complaints for GCSE, AS and A level grades in England.

 

Important update 20.8.20

Centre-Assessed Grades (CAGs) and appeals

Your CAG is a grade calculated that used your performance at college, including key assessments, assignments/coursework, mock results.  Your CAG also took into account any exceptional circumstances that would normally have been submitted to exam boards as special consideration requests.  Please be reassured that the whole CAG process was undertaken within a framework of integrity.

Each CAG for every student was moderated by the relevant department’s leadership team and by the senior leadership team.  The moderation process was robust and carefully followed the compulsory guidance provided by the government.

Although our teachers made a very important contribution to this process, CAGs are not teacher grades, they are centre grades.  It is, therefore, essential that you do not contact teachers about your CAG as they are unable to discuss it.

What if I am unhappy with my CAG? 

An appeal can only be made by the student.  It is your grade and only you can appeal.  If you wish to appeal, you need to complete an appeals form, which can be found on our website.

It is important to know that:

  • you cannot challenge the college under the appeals process on the centre assessed grades (CAGs) we submitted or your rank order positions
  • you cannot appeal the grade you receive on the basis of your mock exam results, as they were taken into account in deciding your centre assessed grade
  • you can only appeal your grade if you have evidence of an administrative error or if you have evidence of bias, discrimination or wrongdoing in the determination of your centre assessed grade (CAG).  You will need to show us evidence of this.  Examples can be found in the Ofqual guidance.

If you wish to sit the examinations in the autumn term (October 2020), you need to let us know by 28th August 2020.  Please be aware that we are unable to provide any teaching to prepare you for these exams, however, students will be able to access the teaching resources from last year (2019-20) for each subject until the end of the autumn examination series.

Please note that Ofqual’s appeals guidance was only republished/updated firstly on Wednesday 19th August in the evening and then again on the morning of Thursday 20th August 2020.  If there are any updates to this guidance from the government, we will update you as soon as possible.  We are updating our guidance and our website as government guidance changes; please bear with us as we endeavour to keep everything up-to-date.

 

Ofqual, the qualifications authority, has published a student guide for those receiving qualification results in England this summer. This guide is intended to help students and their parents and carers understand how results have been awarded this year and where to find more information.

You can access both the student guide and the letter to schools and colleges here.

Here are some awarding body links to their infographics sharing how the 2020 results have been calculated

Final grades

On student results slips and certificates, final grades will be reported in the same way as in previous years.

Final grades will be issued on results day(s) in August as follows:

Level 3 Results day is Thursday 13th August 2020 for the following:

  • A Level
  • Level 3 BTEC
  • Level 3 ifs
  • Certificate Sports Leadership and Higher Sports Leadership

1920 U6 students will be sent their results slips to their college email account from 08:00 onwards. The results will also be available from the Student Portal from 11:00 on 13h August 2020.

A small cohort of 1920 L6 students will also be sent results slips to their college email account from 08:00 onwards for Year 1 Level 3 vocational qualifications. These results will also be available from the Student Portal from 11:00 on 13th August 2020.

Level 2 results day is Thursday 20th August 2020 for the following:

  • GCSE
  • Level 2 BTEC

1920 results slips for the above qualifications will be sent to students via their college email account from 08:00 onwards and the information will be available on the Student Portal from 11:00 on 20th August 2020.

Queries about your results, appeals, resits or progression

Because of the current COVID 19 pandemic situation the college is not open to visitors in the traditional manner of results day but we realise you may wish to speak to a member of the college staff for a variety of reasons in connection with your results, appeals, resits or progression. We are asking students to request the opportunity to speak to a member of staff via a google form where you are asked to record your contact details and the reason you would like to speak to someone. The form is being managed from 08:00 on the morning of results day and you will be contacted by a member of the college staff most appropriate to deal with your query.

The form is available from this link

Arrangements for appeals

The arrangements for awarding qualifications in Summer 2020 state:

Students can appeal their grades through their centre if they feel the process this summer was not followed correctly in their case. Students cannot appeal directly themselves.

A student can:

  • ask their centre to appeal on their behalf to an awarding body if there is evidence that leads a candidate to believe:

                            the centre made an error when submitting a centre assessment grade or rank order information

                             an awarding body made a mistake when calculating, assigning or communicating a grade

  • appeal against the centre’s decision

                            not to seek any information the awarding body holds that would be needed for an appeal; and/or

                             not to appeal to the awarding body

Students cannot:

  • appeal against their centre assessment grades and position in the rank order
  • appeal in respect of the process or procedure used by The Blackpool Sixth Form College in calculating your centre assessment grades and position in the rank order
  • appeal directly in any respect to the awarding body (unless a private candidate)

 

Details about the process are still being finalised by the awarding bodies and more information will be available from the college.

If the college makes the decision not to submit an appeal on behalf of a student there is an Internal Appeals procedure available to them.

 

Internal appeals procedure

The Blackpool Sixth Form College will:

  • inform students of the arrangements for appeals prior to the issue of results and the accessibility of senior members of centre staff immediately after the publication of results by signposting students to the college website and email communications.
  • appeal to an awarding body on a students behalf if it believes the centre itself made an error when submitting a centre assessment grade or rank order information or if it believes an awarding body made a mistake when calculating, assigning or communicating a grade
  • ask the student to provide written informed consent (informed consent via student email is acceptable) before an appeal is submitted to the awarding body as the appeal could result in the final grade being lower than, higher than, or the same as the grade which was originally awarded
  • only collect consent after the publication of results.
  • where relevant, advise an affected candidate to inform any third party (such as a university or college) that an appeal has been submitted to an awarding body

The college will not:

  • seek any information the awarding body holds that would be needed for an appeal if it does not believe an awarding body made a mistake when calculating, assigning or communicating a grade
  • appeal to an awarding body on a students behalf if it does not believe the centre itself made an error when submitting a centre assessment grade or rank order information or if it does not believe an awarding body made a mistake when calculating, assigning or communicating a grade

An internal appeal can be submitted to the college where a student believes there are grounds to appeal against the centre’s decision:

  • not to seek any information the awarding body holds that would be needed for an appeal

and/or

  • not to appeal to the awarding body

An appeal should be discussed in the first instance with the subject Head of Department and if still required 

  • by completing and submitting an 2020 Results Internal Appeals form by 3rd September 2020 to the Examinations department exams@blackpoolsxith.ac.uk
  • The appellant will be informed of the outcome of the appeal by 10th September

If the internal appeal is upheld the college will submit the appeal on the students behalf to the awarding body.

Autumn 2020 examinations series

An additional examination series is being planned by the awarding bodies for Autumn 2020 for students who wish to enter.

A Level 

Monday 5 to Friday 23rd October (last week of exams is during college half term break) entry deadline 4th September 2020

GCSE English and mathematics 

Monday 2 to Monday 23rd November – entry deadline 4 October 2020

 

Published Autumn timetable information.

Please email exams@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk to ask for an entry form. A full time table is available here.

2020 Autumn examination series results days

A Level results will be released to students Thursday 17th December 2020

GCSE English and mathematics results will be released to students Thursday 14th January 2021

 

2020 Leavers certificates

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic the plans for releasing certificates to 2020 leavers are still being discussed.

2019 Leavers certificates are still available for collection by appointment only.

 

2020 – 2021 Key Exam Dates

This information is subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summer 2021 examination season is from Friday 14th May to Monday 28th June 2021. The examination contingency day is Tuesday 29th June 2021.

Summer 2021 Level 3 results day is Thursday 19th August 2021

Summer 2021 GCSE/Level 2 results day is Thursday 26th August 2021

 

2020 – 2021 examinations schedule information

A-Level language oral examinations during May 2020.

Individual student timetables will be released via email to students during the latter part of the Spring term 2021.

A Level examinations 2021

  • Monday 11th May to Monday 28th June 2021.
  • There are no examinations during the Whit half term holiday, Monday 31st May to Friday 4th June 2021.
  • The A-Level summer 2021 examinations timetable will be released soon.

Individual Summer 2021 student examination timetables will be released to students during the latter part of the Spring term 2021.  

Cambridge Technicals Level 3 examinations 2020 – 2021

  • The Cambridge Technicals January and Summer season examinations timetable will be released soon.

GCSE examination schedule 2020 – 2021

  • The GCSE November 2020 examination timetable is here.  (Students will be advised if they are re-sitting GCSEs in November)  
  • The full GCSE/Level 2 Summer 2020 examinations timetable will be released later in the academic year.

Individual Summer 2020 student examination timetables will be released to students during the latter part of the Spring term 2021.    

BTEC L2 external assessments during the 2020 –  2021 academic year.

Level 2 Public Services, Creative Media, Health & Social Care and Applied Science courses sit an external examination as part of the course and the examination information will be released soon.

Examination team contact details

If you have any queries then please contact a member of the Examinations Team on 01253 307093 or email on exams@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk. The Examinations Office is situated on the ground floor Brock Building, B014. Please contact the Exams Department prior to collection and report to Reception on arrival. Alternatively, write to Examinations Department, The Blackpool Sixth Form College, Blackpool Old Road, Blackpool, FY3 7LR.

Examination office opening hours (term and holiday time) – We are open Monday to Friday 09:00am – 16:00pm. *The office is unavailable during the Christmas break and bank holidays. To see all the academic dates, please click here.

The examinations office is the department to contact for any queries to do with examinations held at Blackpool Sixth.

  • Advice on examination issues
  • Examination entries
  • Special consideration
  • Examination timetables
  • Access to scripts
  • Re-marking of Scripts
  • Certificates
  • Liaison with examination boards
  • Subject/candidate transfers

Here is information on the college’s policy on the review of centre-assessed marks (GCSE controlled assessments, GCE coursework, GCE and GCSE non-examination assessments and Project qualifications).