MAS11 Info Bulletin 5.2

MAS11 Key Purpose: "Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle".

Dear Parents/Carers,

It is with great excitement that I am writing to you to that we have finally reached the Summer 2022 exam season. This is an opportunity for your child to demonstrate just how great they are and how hard they have been working. I also hope that you received my most recent letter explaining how the revision Masterclasses will operate this academic year. A copy of the letter can be found here. Below are some final and useful items of information that will guide you through the exam period.

Contingency arrangements

If the 2022 exams cannot go ahead due to further Covid disruption, grades will instead be determined by your teachers, using a Teacher Assessed Grade (TAG) approach. Ofqual has published decisions about this approach following a public consultation, which included students. This means that your teachers will gather evidence, through assessments, to help them determine Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs) if exams do not take place.

Adaptations

In recognition of the fact that students’ education has been disrupted by the pandemic, have been given extra help to prepare for their exams as follows, as confirmed following a joint DfE and Ofqual consultation:

• Students taking GCSEs in English literature, history, ancient history and geography will not need to cover the usual range of content in the exams – the exam boards have published information on their websites on how this will work for each of their specifications in these subjects.

• Students taking GCSEs in all other subjects will be given advance information about the focus of the content of the exams to support their revision and may have some choice of topic or content.

• Students taking GCSE mathematics will be given in their exams copies of formulae they would in other years have to memorise.

• Students taking GCSE physics and combined science will be given in their exams a sheet covering all the equations they might need to apply in the exams.

For more information see:

• student guide to exams and assessments in 2022

• postcard on this year’s changes

• subject-by-subject guide to the changes

Grading

When grading exams in 2022, Ofqual (the examinations regulator) will aim for a grading standard that reflects a midway point between 2021 and 2019. This means that exam boards will set the grade boundaries so that more students get higher grades in 2022 than before the pandemic. This will provide a safety net for those students who might otherwise just miss out on a higher grade. Ofqual have taken this decision to reflect the disruption that students in this cohort have experienced already in their courses. Grading is monitored by the experts every step of the way, who will review results for each subject before they are published to students.

Anxiety and mental health support

This has been a difficult time for students who have shown great resilience in the face of the challenges presented by the pandemic. Students should make sure they speak to somebody if they are feeling anxious or struggling with mental health. This might be a parent, carer or someone else they trust. Additionally this link will take you to the parent and students wellbeing section on the website.

Uniform

A polite reminder that all Yr11 students are expected to attend school in full school uniform and this includes when they sit their public exams. There is a non uniform day tomorrow but this does not include Yr11 students. Yr11 students will be expected to attend in full school uniform.

I look forward to writing to you all again very soon and wish your child the very best of luck for their exams.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Stamato

Assistant Principal & Deputy Head of Luther King College