This page will be continually updated as soon as new information is available so that we can answer exam related questions. Year 11 parents and students will be alerted when there is an update.
Update to Y11 Parents and Students – 1st December 2021
The Department for Education (DfE) is intending that GCSE examinations will go ahead as planned in May and June 2022.
Paper copies of the summer exam timetable will be distributed to students and parents shortly.
A copy of the full examination timetable will shortly be available on the school website.
Some students are involved in Non-Examination Assessments (NEAs) and module examinations in the following subjects over the next two months.
Drama, Sports Studies & Engineering
A small number of students are taking Mathematics (Entry Level) & Number and Measure (Level 1).
Students and parents will receive a notification if they are involved.
Even though cancellation of the exams looks extremely unlikely, the DfE has recently updated their contingency plans, these plans will only be implemented if there is a cancellation of the planned GCSE exams.
Please remember that these contingency plans have been drawn up to ensure that schools are ready in the event of an exam’s cancellation. We are determined that the published contingency plans should not distract students from preparing for a full examination series in May and June 2022. It is, therefore, very important that students continue to prepare for the exams as usual. Students should be applying themselves to all the tasks they are being set and be ready to act upon the feedback given by teachers.
The DfE have advised that for most schools the scheduled school assessments should be used to provide most of the evidence, should a ‘Teacher Assessed Grades’ system be implemented. The DfE expects schools to use three assessment periods, this fits well with LSA’s current plans.
Late Autumn term (November 2021) – the results from the formal assessments which have taken place in classrooms, under test conditions can be used. However, these ‘classroom based’ tests only cover part of the subject content, and they are not designed to be as secure as an exam taken in the Sports Hall. The grades on the assessment 1 report will only form a small part of any final Teacher Assessed Grade.
Spring term (February 2022) – the results from the mocks examinations which will take place under exam conditions and start from Monday 21st February will form a major part of any final Teacher Assessed Grade if required.
Early Summer term (May 2022) – if the main examinations are cancelled then an additional third set of school assessments will then be scheduled in May. These assessments will form a major part of any final Teacher Assessed Grade.
Key Actions & Dates
Assessment 1 report – will be given to students in paper form and by email to parents around Friday 10th December
Please note that the grade for each subject shown on this report is the grade for the work recently assessed and that this is only a small part of the whole GCSE.
The grade is not a ‘Teacher Assessed Grade’ – schools haven’t received full instructions on this yet!
It is not a guarantee of a final GCSE exam grade or a guarantee of a final ‘Teacher Assessed Grade’!
Revision for mock examination – week commencing 7th February 2022 – revision in class will support revision at home
Mock examinations begin – starting Monday 21st February 2022 –– mock examinations are an important ‘marker’ and ‘steppingstone’ in the journey towards the final GCSE examinations.
It is essential students prepare properly so that teachers can provide effective feedback for improvements.
Reports distributed - Monday 21st March 2022 (approximately) – containing mock examination grades - on paper to students and by email to parents
Subject video consultation evening - Thursday 31st March 2022 –– with follow up contact as necessary
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Previous Updates
Update 1st October
Students – You have made a brilliant return to studies at start of Year 11. Please continue to work steadily on all your classwork and embedding learning tasks, making sure you ask for help when you need it and act upon the feedback you get from your teacher. Remember that as well as your subject teachers, your form tutor and the support team are here to help you.
Parents and carers - Thank you for your continued efforts in supporting learning. The engagement of Year 11 students continues to be overwhelmingly positive. This is in no small part to the role played by parents and carers in setting up a suitable working environment at home and encouraging good learning habits. Please contact school so we can promptly answer any further exam related queries or provide support.
On 30th September 2021 the Government’s Department for Education made the following announcements regarding the 2022 GCSE exams.
Key parts include:
It is the government’s policy that exams and assessments for GCSEs should go ahead in summer 2022 but with adjustments to the assessments themselves in some subjects and additional support. These measures are designed to mitigate some of the pressure on teaching time and the pressure that students experience when revising for and sitting exams.
There will be optional topics and content in GCSE English literature, history and geography. Students taking GCSE art and design will be assessed on their portfolio only. In all other subjects, exam boards will provide advance information about the focus of the content of the exams. This information is to support students’ revision and will be provided by 7 February 2022 at the latest. This will enable teachers to plan to adapt their teaching in the second half of the spring term if necessary.
Students will be given a formulae sheet for GCSE mathematics and a revised equation sheet (covering all the equations required) for GCSE physics and combined science. Exam boards will provide copies for use in teaching and to ensure that students are familiar with it prior to the exams. Clean copies of the equation sheet will be provided in the exams.
GCSE results day will take place on 25th August 2022.
The full information is available https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-the-assessment-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2022/outcome/decisions-proposed-changes-to-the-assessment-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2022
The information provided so far is somewhat generic, however as soon as more details are available these will be provided to LSA parents and this will include an opportunity to ask questions.
Whilst the expectation is that GCSE exams will take place as planned in May and June 2022, schools have been made aware that in the event of Covid-19 related disruption, the back-up plan would be that a ‘teacher assessed grades’ system would be put in place.
On the reasonable assumption that the 2022 system would be similar to the 2021 teacher assessed grades system, this would see designated assessments contribute to a ‘portfolio of evidence’ for each student in each subject.
Such assessments would always test content which has been taught in advance and for which the students had been well prepared to tackle using provided revision lists and resources. 2021 rules meant that there was some flexibility for schools to choose which assessments weighed most towards the final grade, thus reducing the pressure on students to perform well on every assessment.
Please remember that despite the potential need for ‘teacher assessed grade’ system, the main purpose of school assessment continues to be to provide students with the feedback they need to improve in that subject, irrespective of the final methods of assessment.
DFE information released on 16th June 2021 regarding Non-Exam Assessment
