Teacher Assessed Grades 2021

Appeals Process Guidance - Summer 2021

Please follow the links for further details regarding the appeals process. 

JCQ Appeal Guidance Summer 2021 Form.

JCQ Student Guide July 2021 Handout

JCQ Student Appeals Guide 2021

Appeals Letter

 

How will the students be graded this summer?

  • Teachers will decide on a Teacher Assessed Grade (TAG) that will assess the standard at which a student is performing in the absence of the usual exams process
  • TAGs will apply to all GCSEs, A Levels and Vocational courses.
  • The school will need to submit final grades to exam boards by 18th June 2021.
  • The school has written a Centre Policy which outlines our approach to TAGs and internal quality assurance processes that will take place – this document is a JCQ requirement: Centre Policy (PDF)
  • JCQ have released a guide for students and parents/carers – please click on this link for this useful document.

 

What pieces of evidence will teachers use to decide upon a TAG?

Teachers will draw on a broad range of evidence to make their final assessment.

This includes: 

  • Assessments, end of unit tests and mock exams taken over the course of study
  • Work produced in class or at home (including remote learning, where schools are confident it is the student’s own work). This work should be similar in format to exam board material and marked using exam board mark schemes
  • Work produced in response to the additional assessment materials (mini tests) provided by the exam board
  • Non-exam assessment (NEA) work, even if this has not been fully completed
  • Records of a student’s capability and performance over the course of study in performance-based subjects such as music, dance, drama and PE.
  • When determining a final grade, there won’t be a simple, calculated average; teachers will apply their professional judgement to allocate a grade that fairly represents the achievement of each student, supported by the portfolio of evidence.
  • For vocational qualifications, we will submit a grade to the awarding body based on the judgement of teachers, using evidence from what your child has achieved in the assessed work set during the year (TAG).
  • For BTEC qualifications where some exams may have been missed, teachers will make a judgement based on what has been taught and achievements in written assessments throughout the year. This is called a Qualification-level Teacher Assessed Grade (Q-TAG).
  • See linked PDF for lists of evidence for each subject for Year 11 and Year 13.

 

Will the student know their TAG before Results Day?

TAGs are confidential: teachers and schools are not able to share the grade they have submitted to the awarding body. This is because the grades we submit are provisional and need to be quality assured by the exam boards. Parents and students should not request their TAG from the school as we will be unable to share this.

 

Will exam boards check our TAG quality assurance process?

Yes. There are three stages to the external quality assurance conducted by exam boards:

  • Stage 1 – centre policy review – our centre policy will either be accepted, or exam boards may contact us where there are gaps in the policy or points of clarification required.
  • Stage 2 – virtual centre visits - online visits from an exam board where there are concerns about the centre policy, taking place in May and June.
  • Stage 3 – post submission sampling – a random and a risk-based sampling of subject-level evidence. Risk-based sampling includes significantly different results from previous years, and/or concerns raised in stages 1 and 2.

 

When are results days this year?

Results will be issued to students in August after internal quality assurance by schools and external quality assurance by all exam boards.

  • A Level Results Day will be on Tuesday 10th August
  • GCSE Results Day will be on Thursday 12th August

 

Further details about the collection of results will be sent to all students and parents before the end of the academic year.

 

Can students appeal their grade?

Yes. Final arrangements are being consulted on at the moment by Ofqual, but there will be an appeals process and you can find more information about this process here.

We have shared a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document (PDF) which we hope you find useful.

You can also follow this link from the DFE as it contains further questions with responses from the exams regulator.