Assessment and Feedback

Assessment for and of learning lies at the heart of Exceptional learning, teaching and progress.

You will be assessed regularly throughout your course, so that both you and your teaching team are clear about the progress you are making and how you can continue to improve.

 We aim to provide you with Exceptional Feedback throughout your time at Suffolk New College.  This is what you can expect from us:

Target Grades

You will be set a target grade for each component of your study programme that has a qualification. Your target grade is based upon your prior achievement – i.e. what you have achieved at GCSE – and is set in line with other students nationally.

Your target grade is aspirational – it is the grade that you are capable of achieving provided you work hard and receive the teaching and support that you need to do this.  At Suffolk New College, we want you to achieve the best you can and will work with you to do this.

Throughout your course, you will be assessed in the following ways:

Informal assessments

Informal assessments are an important part of your development and progress.  We do not want you to be anxious about these assessments, but you should aim to try your best as it helps us to identify how to support you to make good progress.

At the start of your course we will assess your ‘starting point’ this helps us understand what you can already do and what areas we need to work with you on and that you need to develop. This ‘initial assessment’ will be carried out through activities or tasks during induction.  Your teacher(s) will assess your work and grade this.  They will feedback to you how you have performed at this early stage.  We will use this to identify the grade you are ‘working at’.

During your course, you will also be informally assessed in your class/workshop on a regular basis. This will include activities with teacher, peer and self-assessment. Feedback will be given during the session – usually verbally.

During the course, you will also be set mock assessments, tests and homework which will be marked and a grade given to you. Once every month a grade will be recorded and you will be able to see this via ProPortal. You will also receive written and/or verbal feedback from your tutor on what you have done well and how you can improve for your next piece of work. This will help you understand how you are making progress towards your target grade.  We will use this information to update your ‘working at grade’, which you can find on Proportal – via MySNC.

Formal assessments

At the start of your course, you will be given an assessment plan, which will tell you when your formal assessments points are across this year. This may include exam dates and/or assignment or assessment deadlines.

If your course includes formally assessed coursework, you will receive written feedback from your tutor within 14 days of submitting it. This will usually include a grade.

Feedback on your progress towards formal exams will be given through the assessment methods mentioned above – eg mocks.

 Tips for getting the most from feedback to enhance your learning experience

• Your teachers will be regularly feeding back to you in class - listen out for this feedback and use it to help improve your work. If you are not sure/unclear about anything, ask your teacher to explain it to you.

• Review your informal and formal assessment grades regularly via the link to your assessments in MySNC.

• Your Link Tutor will update your ‘working at grade’ every 6 weeks so you can see what progress you are making to your target grade.

• Your Progress Tutor will help you review your progress and work with you to find ways of studying and developing skills that will enable you to continue to improve.

Suffolk New College has 5 Steps to Exceptional Feedback.  Through implementing this model, we promise to provide you with feedback that is:

•  On time – within the timeframes promised to you

• Informative – tells you how you have done

• Constructive – tells you what you have done well and what could be better

• Identifies how to improve your work for the next time

• Helps to further improve your skills in SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar)

Things to avoid at all times:

Copying: All work submitted must be your own, there are penalties if you are found to have copied the work of others, including downloading and reproducing items from the internet.

Cheating: Cheating is where you seek to gain academic advantage in an assessment or exam e.g. through the use of hidden notes. If you are found to have cheated, the Awarding Body will be notified.

Where a course is assessed through examinations:

• All students will be notified of the time and place of their exams in advance. Students who receive support may be entitled to extra time, or a reader, or a writer, or a combination of these. Students should discuss their needs with their tutor, and access arrangements will be made through liaison with the exams team and Student Support.

• Any clashes of exams should be reported immediately to Student Support, who will advise a way forward.

• You must follow invigilators' instructions: failure to do so will result in reporting to the Awarding Body and you may be disqualified from the examination, receiving zero marks.

• If you are absent from an exam without good reason then you or your guardian/parents if you are under 19, will be invoiced for the exam re-sit.

For more information see the relevant policies on the college website.