Year 11 Teacher Assessed Grades
Background
As per JCQ regulations for 2021, every centre is required to create a Centre Policy that reflects its individual circumstances. At the Bay Learning Trust, our schools have chosen to adopt the JCQ pre-populated template with minor amendments to reflect our own practices.
All academies in the Bay Learning Trust understand and are actively implementing the centre policy.
This policy takes into account the guidance provided in the document: JCQ Guidance on the determination of grades for A/AS Levels and GCSEs for summer 2021
How were my / my child’s grades arrived at the year?
Grades this summer were based on Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs). TAGs were submitted to the exam boards by the school as a holistic assessment of pupils’ performance in a subject. This followed a rigorous process of assessment, moderation and quality assurance. These grades will then be approved by the relevant exam board, following external quality assurance checks.
What do I do if I’m not happy with my / my child’s grade?
All pupils have the opportunity to appeal their grade if they meet the eligibility criteria (see below). It is important to note that an appeal may result in a grade being lowered, staying the same, or going up. So if a pupil puts in an appeal and their grade is lowered, they will receive the lower mark.
There is also the option to resit GCSEs in the autumn, which may be preferable to some pupils. The design, content and assessment of these papers will be the same as in a normal year.
What are the two stages of an appeal?
Stage one is the centre review. All appeals, on any of the grounds above, must first go through a centre review. At this stage, we will check for any administrative errors, and check that our policies and procedures were followed correctly. Our policy has already been approved by the exam boards, so we are only ensuring that we followed this properly. The outcome of the centre review will be communicated to pupils when made. At the centre review stage, if we find that a grade should go up or down, we will ask the exam board to change it. They will then consider this request.
Stage two is following the outcome of a centre review, pupils may still choose to pursue an awarding organisation appeal (further details on how to do this will be given in the centre review outcome letter) which we will then send on their behalf to the exam boards. Pupils and parents cannot send appeals directly to the exam board themselves – it must come from us. The outcome of the awarding organisation appeal will be communicated to pupils when made.
What are the grounds for a centre review?
Pupils may request a centre review on the following grounds, as dictated by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). They are:
- You think we have made an administrative error: an example of this would be putting the wrong information into a spreadsheet.
- You think we have made a procedural error: this means we haven’t properly followed our own process, as approved by the exam board.
- You think the academic judgement on the selection of evidence was unreasonable: you think the evidence used to grade you was not reasonable.
- You think the academic judgement on the grade you were given was unreasonable.
What does ‘unreasonable’ mean?
‘Unreasonable’ is a technical term in this context and means that no educational professional acting reasonably could have selected the same evidence or come up with the same grade. This means that just because other forms of evidence may have been equally valid to use, the selection of evidence is not unreasonable. Because of the flexibility of the approach this year, every school and college will have used different forms of evidence. It also means that the independent reviewers will not remark or grade pupils’ evidence. Instead, they will look to see whether any teacher acting reasonably could have arrived at the same grade.
Summary
Pupils who wish to request a centre review may do so at any time up to 3rd September using the online form ‘Stage one - Centre Review Request’.
These forms should be either printed and returned to the school by post, or completed electronically and emailed to centrereviews@lancasterhigh.lancs.sch.uk. Reviews will be carried out from this time and pupils will be notified of the outcome of the review by 10th September.
Year11_TAGs
