You will no doubt be aware that the Government has announced that public examinations for GCSE and A Levels will not take place this summer. We appreciate that this is bitterly disappointing news for our pupils, teachers and parents. And now the attention turns to how the grades will be awarded. From the information received on Wednesday, we have been promised an algorithm-free “teacher-assessed” grading system with training and support for teachers and schools generally. However, we do not yet have any information about the way these grades will be calculated, what previous data and assessments can be used, or what future data may be required. Nevertheless I am confident that our approach to teaching and learning, which includes a thorough assessment and reporting process, will stand us in good stead, once we are provided with further clarification from the Department for Education (DfE).

In the meantime, we have decided to postpone the January mock exams. We will update pupils and parents with a rescheduled date for these mocks when we have further information from the DfE. All the hard work that pupils have put into studying over the Christmas holidays and before, will not have been in vain! Also, we are currently working on the assumption that we will be allowed to return physically to school in the Summer Term and we expect that the April mocks will go ahead as planned.

Please note that we follow the iGCSE curriculum for Maths, Geography and History and because these are international qualifications they do not fall within the jurisdiction of the DfE. We have been informed by the exam board for these exams that public examinations will go ahead for these subjects.

I urge all exam year pupils to continue to apply yourselves diligently to your studies as we finish the courses for all subjects. We will be inviting the parents of Year 11 and Year 13 pupils to Google Meet meetings over the next two weeks to discuss the situation and share the latest information that we have at the time of the meetings.