Updates for Year 13 from academic year 2019-20

Students can contact the Exams Office if they need to collect their certificates: Ms McFarlane-Ryce, Examinations Secretary, at karen.mcfarlaneryce@claremont-high.org.uk

Due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions we are not able to organise an event to hand out A-level/vocational certificates.

_________________________________________________________

Some students from Year 13 (2019-20) were planning to sit A-levels during the summer of 2021. On 4th January 2021, the government cancelled summer A-level exams for 2021. On 6th January 2021, the government announced they would use teacher assessments to determine A-level grades. Ofqual and the JCQ issued instructions to schools in late March.

All queries regarding this from ex-Claremont students should be sent to the Exams Office: Ms McFarlane-Ryce, Examinations Secretary, at karen.mcfarlaneryce@claremont-high.org.uk

__________________________________________________________

This page contains all the letters and information sent to students and parents during the national school closures from March 2020 until September 2020:

Frequently asked questions:

Where can I get proof of my centre assessed grades? Please email the exams office - karen.mcfarlaneryce@claremont-high.org.uk - and they will be able to email you back with proof of your grades.

When does this year's UCAS process end? You can apply through Clearing until the 20th October so there is plenty of time to apply if you have changed your mind about going to university this year.

What do I do if I want to take exams in the autumn term? Please register for these exams by completing the form, scanning it and emailing it back to the school by the deadline of Wednesday 2nd September. See here: https://www.claremontacademy.org.uk/Year-13-Results/ You can find the dates of all the exams on the websites of the relevant exam boards. If you are taking autumn exams, please contact your teacher(s) to see if they can support you. Although you will not be able to come into school and we will not be running revision classes in person (due to the coronavirus restrictions), we can support you online. All teachers return to school on Tuesday 1st September.

What do I do if I want to take exams in the summer of 2021? You do not need to do anything until January 2021, but please send Mr Burns an email if you intend to take exams so he can ensure we contact you with details of the registration process. Please do this after 1st September even if you already expressed an intention earlier this summer. Please remember that you will need to pay to complete these exams.

What do I do if I want to apply to UCAS for a September 2021 start? You can apply through the school in the same way as last year. You will need to make a new account, but you can re-use your personal statement. Go to ucas.com and create account for UCAS 2021 using the buzzword CHSA2021. Please email Mr Burns after 1st September so I can support you.

What do I do if I want to appeal against my centre assessed grades? Please read the Ofqual document (above) and then follow the schools' appeals process. Please see here: https://www.claremontacademy.org.uk/Year-13-Results/ If you are not satisfied with the response, you can contact the relevant exam board directly.

________________________________________________________________________

21st August

- all universities received the updated centre assessed grades from UCAS

- the government and universities reached agreement where the government would provide extra funding and lift the cap on students numbers for courses such as medicine, whilst universities would agree to guarantee a place to all students who met the conditions of their offer

- Ofqual finalised the appeals' process for students

20th August - Please see this message from Mr Skordi regarding results:

"The exam boards have sent the school updated results which we have now uploaded into Go4Schools. Please log in to view any changes to your results. You will find the grade in the column called Final A-level/Vocational Result.

You will receive official confirmation of your new results in due course. If, in the meanwhile, you require official proof of your results now to support a university application, then please contact Ms Mcfarlane-Ryce in the exams office via the email karen.mcfarlaneryce@claremont-high.org.uk.

BTEC/CTEC students please note that the exam boards have now agreed to base your final grade along the same criteria as A-levels; either the centre assessed grade or the exam board's calculated grade - whichever is the higher. We have taken the decision to upload provisional updated BTEC/CTEC results into Go4Schools. Again log in to view the results but please be aware these will not be finalized until we receive the new grades from the exam boards."

Please see here for all the information regarding the appeals' process and autumn exams.

3rd August - Please click here for a guide from Ofqual for students about calculated grades and appeals. There is also a fact sheet about how grades have been standardised and a leaflet with important phone numbers and contact details. Explanatory videos can be found on Ofqual's youtube channel.

15th July - Please click here for the letter sent by Ms Ahimie which contains details about 'Results' Day on Thursday 13th August and who to email if you do not have access to Go 4 Schools.

10th July - The Joint Council for Qualifications have announced that A-level and AS exams in the autumn will take place between Monday 5th October and Friday 23rd October 2020. The national deadline to register will be Friday 4th September.

6th July - Click here for the letter sent to all Year 13 students and parents. Click here for information about calculated grades. Click here for information about taking exams in the autumn series or summer 2021 and the support Claremont can provide to students.

_______________________________________________________

Click here for the letter sent to all Year 13 students and parents on 1st June 2020. Click here for the Ofqual infographic.

Click here for the letter sent to all Year 13 students and parents on 20th April 2020.

On 16th April, the Department for Education announced that calculated grades (results) would be published on 13th August 2020 for Year 13 students.

Ofqual announced a two week consultation on the process for awarding grades this summer, appeals and autumn exams. See here to read or take part in the consultation which closes on 29th April 2020.

Ofqual published further guidance on vocational qualifications on 9th April. Click here for the full guidance. It states that Ofqual will award qualifications through a calculated grade. As the structure of vocational qualifications varies considerably depending on the type of qualification, further details will be sent to schools in the future about how the grades will be calculated for each qualification.

On 9th April, Ofqual published a blog with further information on how grades will be calculated this summer. There is also a video for students and teachers.

Click here for the statement from Ofqual on 3rd April 2020 regarding how grades will be calculated and how qualifications awarded this summer. Click here for a letter to students from the Head of Ofqual on 3rd April 2020 explaining the process of awarding qualifications. This guidance only covers GCSE and AS/A-levels.

Click here for a letter from the Universities Minister sent to all students applying to university on 3rd April 2020.

Please note that this guidance does not give any further information on either the appeals process or the arrangements for additional exams later this year.

______________________________________________________

Click here for the letter sent to Year 13 on Monday 23rd March.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions on cancellation of exams published on Department for Education website on 20th March. There is some very clear information here for students and parents.

Please click here for the letter sent to all Year 13 students on 21st March following the government's announcement regarding this summer's examinations. The full announcement can be found here.

Please click here for the letter sent to all Year 13 students and parents on 19th March 2020.