The Commonweal School
Examinations Appeals Procedures Policy
- Rationale The Commonweal School is committed to ensuring that assessment of students’ work for external qualification is undertaken fairly, consistently and in accordance with the specifications laid done by the Examination boards.
- Guidelines
2.1 Assessments should be undertaken by staff who have appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills, and who have been trained in this area. Students’ work should be produced and authenticated according to the requirements of the examinations board. Where a set of work is divided between staff, consistency should be assured by internal moderation and standardisation.
2.2 If a student feels this has not happened in relation to their work, their parents may make use of this appeals procedure. Note that appeals may only be made against the process that led to the assessment and not against the mark or grade. It also means that there is no need to issue internal assessment marks before external moderation.
2.3 The existence of this procedure is made known to parents of any student being entered for any external examinations via the school newsletter and it can be viewed on the schools website in the exams section (http://www.commonweal.co.uk). Copies are also available from School Business Manager.
- Procedure
3.1 Appeals should be made as soon as possible, and must be made at least two weeks before the end of the last externally assessed paper in the examination series (e.g. for the summer series the appeal must be made before a date in mid-June as presently timetabled)
3.2 Appeals should be made in writing to the Examinations Officer, who will investigate the appeal. If the Examinations Officer is not able to conduct the investigation for some reason, the Headteacher will appoint another member of staff of similar or greater seniority.
3.3 The Examinations Officer or other member of staff will decide whether the process used for the internal assessment conformed to the requirements of the Awarding Body and the Examinations Code of Practice of the QCA. This will be done before the end of the examinations series (e.g. the end of June for the summer series)
3.4 The outcome of the appeal will be communicated in writing, including any correspondence with the board, any changes made to the assessment of the work and any changes made to improve matters in future.
3.5 The outcome of the appeal will be made known to the Head teacher and will be logged as a complaint under the Complaints Policy. A written record of the appeal will be kept and made available to the Awarding Body at their request. Should the appeal bring any significant irregularity to light, the Awarding Body will be informed.
3.6 After work has been assessed internally it is moderated by the Awarding Body, to ensure consistency between centres. Such moderation can change the marks awarded for internally assessed work. That is outside the control of Commonweal School and is not covered by this procedure. If you have any concerns about this, please ask the exam officer for a copy of the appeals procedure of the relevant examinations board or log onto their website.
4. Monitoring and Review
4.1 The Curriculum Committee will monitor this policy on a biannual basis and review in September 2008.
