Y11 Notices

Dear Parents,

We hope you are well and looking forward to the winter break coming soon. As you are aware, in December and January we traditionally hold key assessment sessions informally referred to as ‘mocks’ for our Year 11 and Year 13 students. 

The details and timing of these assessments can be found on the exams information page on our BSM website.

I would like to bring to your attention the following guidance as issued by the Department for Education UK and Ofqual (Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation) in November 2023 for students taking formal external examinations in summer 2024.

Ofqual and the DfE state:

• The 2-year transition to pre-pandemic grading is now complete. Normal grading arrangements will continue for GCSEs, AS, and A levels in 2024 

• The UK government does not expect there to be a situation where exams do not go ahead again, but it is sensible to have contingency plans in place, even for extremely unlikely scenarios

• It should be made clear to students that it is expected that external examinations and formal assessments will go ahead as planned. 

• Students sit ‘mock’ exams in exam conditions before their formal examinations, and that papers are retained. Centres should plan assessment opportunities to gather evidence of student performance in line with their usual assessment approaches.

• Total assessment time should not normally exceed the total time students would spend taking exams for the relevant qualification.

• Any internal assessment evidence collected and retained under this guidance would be used to determine grades only in the unlikely situation that exams and formal assessment could not go ahead. 

• Before taking any assessment, students are informed whether their performance in the assessment would be used as part of evidence to determine a grade for them if exams cannot go ahead as planned.

• Centres might choose to carry out other assessments across the year that are not for the purpose of evidence collection

In the unlikely event of any cancellation of formal examinations for Summer 2024, the internal assessments taking place in December (Year 11 students) and January (Year 13 students) may be used as part of the evidence needed to determine a grade. Ofqual has also produced a helpful student guide for Summer 2024 examinations.

If any further notifications or information are shared from the DfE/Ofqual that pertain to the Summer 2024 examinations, we will communicate this upon its release.

We want to say thank you for your continued support, and should you have any questions you wish to raise, please reach out to us via email at senioroffice@britishschoolmuscat.com.

Warm regards,

Mr D Comber

Deputy Head Teacher 

British School Muscat