St Bede's College

Examination Boards

AS Resit Boards January 2009 Legacy Specification
A2 and AS Resit Examination Boards Summer 2009 Legacy Specification
AS Examination Boards 2009 New Specification
GCSE Boards Summer 2009

Examinations Appeals Policy

In accordance with Section 2, paragraph 21 (ix) of the Code of Practice produced by QCA, each centre is required to have a published appeals policy relating to examinations.

There are three areas in which an appeal might be appropriate:
• internal assessment for external qualifications
• entry and level of entry for external qualifications
• provision of arrangements for examinations.

All three areas apply to students at St. Bede’s College. Only the third area is applicable to external candidates.

Any such appeals will be dealt with according in the following manner.

1. Internal assessment for external qualifications
This appeal provision relates only to the assessment procedure and not to the judgements arrived at as a result of that procedure. Therefore, the approved procedure is outlined first, followed by the appeal process.
Procedure
• All internal assessment will be conducted to conform with the published requirements of the Awarding Body and the “Code of Practice”.
• Assessment will be conducted by staff who have the appropriate knowledge and training.
• To this end, at least one member of the assessment team will attend training meetings as required by the Awarding Body.
• It is part of the procedure to ensure that the assessment evidence supplied by the candidate has been produced and authenticated according to the requirements of the specification.
• Consistency of internal assessment will be ensured through internal standardisation as required.
Appeals Process
• The appeal must be made in writing to the Examinations Officer, at least two weeks before the date of the last externally assessed paper of that examination series.
• The appeal must state which aspect of the assessment procedure the appellant considers to have been deficient.
• The enquiry into the internal process will be conducted by the Examinations Officer and the Director of Studies. If either of these has been involved in the original assessment process, they shall be replaced by another member of the Senior Management Team.
• The enquiry will consider whether the assessment procedure, as outlined above, has been carried out effectively.
• The appellant will be informed in writing of the results of the enquiry within two weeks of the appeal request being received.
• All evidence examined will be retained.

All internal assessment is further moderated by the Awarding Body. An appeals procedure exists concerning this moderation process but not its judgements. A re-moderation may be requested, but only for the whole cohort, not for individuals.

2. Entry and level of entry for external qualifications
The decisions as to whether a student is entered for a particular examination, and which level of entry is appropriate, will normally be agreed between the student, parents, teaching staff and relevant pastoral staff of the College. Where a decision is taken with which the student and parents do not agree, they have the right of appeal.
Appeals Process
• The appeal must be made in writing to the Director of Studies, at least two weeks before the date of the first externally assessed paper of that examination series.
• The appeal must state the alternative entry which is requested.
• The enquiry will be conducted by the Deputy Head (Pastoral) and the Director of Studies. If either of these has been involved in the original assessment process, they shall be replaced by another member of the Senior Management Team.
• The enquiry may conclude that the alternative entry should be made, but may stipulate that this entry must be paid for by the parents.
• The appellant will be informed in writing of the results of the enquiry within two weeks of the appeal request being received.
• All evidence examined will be retained.

3. Provision of arrangements for examinations.
The Examinations Officers are responsible for all arrangements for the examinations, including location, timing and provision of individual access arrangements. Where a candidate has a difficulty with any of these arrangements, the matter must be discussed with the Examinations Officers as soon as possible. After this, if a candidate still does not agree with a decision, they have the right of appeal.
Appeals Process
• The appeal must be made in writing to the Examinations Officer, within two weeks of the decision being communicated to the candidate.
• The appeal must state the alternative arrangement the appellant considers to be appropriate.
• The enquiry into the internal process will be conducted by the Bursar and the Director of Studies. They shall give consideration to the request of the candidate, and determine what are reasonable arrangements, bearing in mind the requirements of other candidates, Examining Body regulations, and also cost and Health and Safety implications.
• The appellant will be informed in writing of the results of the enquiry within two weeks of the appeal request being received.
• All evidence examined will be retained.