Examinations Appeals Policy

Policy for Internal and External Appeals against Grading

As part of your GCSE course it is likely that you will have some part of your complete course grade assessed through a coursework mark and not just external public examinations. These coursework units are either assessed:

INTERNALLY by the subject teacher and department. (Even after the subject teacher has marked the work internally, the work will be sent to an external exam board moderator who will check the quality of the department's marking procedures. At this point the exam board can still over-ride the departmental marking and adjust marks up or down).

or

EXTERNALLY by an exam board appointed moderator. In this case your subject teacher will play no part in assessing your work.

It is important that you know how each unit will be assessed and what the procedures are if you are unhappy with the way in which your work has been assessed.

INTERNAL POLICY FOR MODERATION OF CENTRE ASSESSED WORK

• Subject teachers will advise students of internally set dates by which time they must have completed and handed in their coursework for marking. Students should be aware that failure to comply with these dates may mean that their work will not be marked and that they will lose all marks for this component. Requests for extensions to the set deadline must be made to the subject teacher in person not less than four days before the deadline. Extensions to this deadline are at the discretion of the subject teacher and their decision is final.

• All subject teachers will ensure that centre assessed work is subject to internal moderation. This means your subject teacher will discuss the work with a colleague who may also re-mark a sample of the work to ensure consistent marking standards are applied.

At this point the exam board will ask the school to send all or a sample of the marked work for further moderation. In this way a student's work may actually be marked three times to ensure all the marking is accurate, fair and consistent.

• Marks will be released to students once moderation has taken place. This is the first possible stage where a student can formally appeal against the marking of their work, and only then on the basis that when marks are released the student is aware that these are subject to external moderation and still may as a result be confirmed, raised or lowered.

To appeal against a mark at this stage you should follow procedure A.

PROCEDURE A

APPEALS PROCEDURE FOR STUDENTS FOLLOWING RELEASE OF CENTRE ASSESSED MARKS

Any student who is unhappy with a mark awarded from an internal assessment should follow the following procedure:-

Contact subject teacher IMMEDIATELY in person to discuss the mark and raise concerns.

Following above discussion if concerns cannot be resolved, the student should lodge an appeal in writing (within one week of the issue of marks) to the subject Head of Department (HOD) or the relevant Curriculum Leader. The appeal should state the full details of the complaint and the reasons for the appeal. It should be signed and dated by the student.

Upon receipt of a written appeal the HOD or Curriculum Leader will provide a copy of the appeal to the subject teacher who made the assessment and request a written response from them to the appeal. A copy of this will be sent to the student.

The HOD or Curriculum Leader will carry out a review of the assessment and respond in writing to the student. The response will be issued within one week of receipt of the written appeal.

If the student is not happy with the written response received, the appeal will be subject to a personal hearing. The student will be informed of the hearing date and will be able to present his/her own case before the panel. The panel will consist of a member of the SMT and a Governor who have not previously been involved with the appeal and the Exams Officer.

The decision from the hearing will be made in writing to the candidate within two days of the date of the hearing.

A written record of all appeals will be kept in school and maintained by the Exams Officer. The Exams Officer will inform the Awarding Examination Body if there is any change to internally assessed marks as a result of an appeal.

EXTERNALLY ASSESSED UNITS

Actual final marks will be known on results day.

Students who want to raise an enquiry about the result of any mark awarded following the release of results on results day should follow procedure B

ENQUIRIES ABOUT RESULTS.

Speak to the Exams Officer on results day who will advise on what options are available to query the mark and the costs involved. Contact the subject teacher as soon as possible (during the first week of term) to discuss mark, raise concerns and discuss the best way forward.

Students should be aware that Enquiries about Results (EARs) can result in marks being raised, confirmed or lowered. Students should sign a consent form to confirm that they understand the consequence of an enquiry.

If, after speaking to the subject teacher, the student wishes to proceed with an Enquiry about Results, the request must be made to the Exams Officer, before the published deadline for EARs, who will provide the necessary forms and process the application.

All costs involved must be paid by the student at the time the enquiry is made. If the enquiry is successful the costs will be refunded to the student

Outcomes following EARs will be sent in writing by the Exams Officer to the student as soon as they have been received from the Awarding Bodies.

If you are in any doubt or have any questions about this please talk to the school's Exam Officer.