Exams
Exam Results Dates - 'A' Level Thu 19th August, GCSE Tue 24th August
Also read General Results Day Information and details regarding GCSE resits and GCE resits
NEW - Get an A*Grade at A Level
There are many useful sites on the Web that you can go to for advice about exams. Over time we hope to be able to collect together some of those that may be useful to both pupils and parents.
Please follow the links for advice:
Timetables
Once entries have been made all pupils will receive a personal timetable. This A4 page must be checked for accuracy and any faults brought to the attention of the examination officer immediately. Keep the form in a safe place and bring it with you to the exams. Make sure that you are familiar with the dates and times for exams – if you are late for an exam you cannot be allowed to sit it.
Cross-reference your timetable(s) with the school edition. Print off a copy of the overall timetable and personalise it if you wish
Summer 2010 Exam Timetable - Excel or weeks 1-6 pdf and miscellaneous pdf- Final version
Note - There are minor amendments in these files - 24th May 2010
Regulations
You will be provided with a personal copy of the exam regulations when you are issued with your exam timetable. Further copies are posted both inside and outside the exam room.
Please note that you are not allowed to sit the exam if you are more than half an hour late after the Exam Boards official start times – 9.00a.m. and 1.30p.m. The Schools’ starting times are 9.00a.m. and 1.00p.m. – please arrive 15 minutes beforehand so that you can be sat down.
Make sure you know your candidate number (it’s on your exam timetable and is the same for all Exam Boards) and before you enter the hall take your seat number off the seating plan posted outside.
As you enter the hall leave any mobile phone in the box provided and make sure it is switched off. Your exam will be cancelled if you are found with a phone in your possession, even if it is switched off. For the duration of the exam period label your phone with your name. Ideally do not bring mobiles phones into school.
You are also reminded that you must not bring pencil cases (other than transparent) or calculator cases into the exam. Do not bring correcting fluids into the exam and do not use red, green or blue ink/ball pens in your answers. The regulations state you must use BLACK ink/ball pen.
You may bring in a still drink (preferably water) and a small supply of sweets that do not have wrappers on so that you do not disturb others.
Exam Boards
We use five Exam Boards. The main ones for GCSE and GCE exams are AQA, Edexcel and OCR. Their pages contain useful material, but it must be stressed that any contact with them concerning the exams should be made through the schools’ examinations officer.
Results Days
1. Publication dates for results
2. At what time can I collect my results?
3. Can I have my results posted home?
4. Can I phone in for results or send a friend?
5. What happens if my results are not good enough?
6. I think I’ve been marked unfairly – What do I do?
8. When do I get my certificates?
All pupils are expected to have read the advice given here, and in the case of the sixth form, their handbook as well.
The dates on which results are available to pupils are:
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November Modules |
14 January 2010 |
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January Modules |
11 March 2010 |
March Modules |
15 April 2010 |
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May/June A level |
19 August 2010 |
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May/June GCSE |
24 August 2010 |
Some results days occur during normal School term time. Results will be made available to pupils as soon as possible during the day. Normally this will involve the results slips being handed to pupils individually by their form tutors during afternoon registration.
The main results days during summer can be quite tense. The staff do appreciate that pupils will be nervous and will want to collect their results as soon as possible. However, it does take time to process and organise the results from the different Exam Boards. We will aim to have the results available for collection between 9.30 and 10.00 a.m. on each of the appropriate days. Pupils may arrive a little earlier if they wish and in the unlikely (!) event of poor weather a room will be opened whilst they wait.
Arrangements can be made with the Examinations Office for results to be posted to a home address. Pupils are expected to provide the Exam Officer with £1 to cover admin costs.
The results are confidential and it is regretted that we cannot give details out over the telephone. The office staff are always very busy dealing with the press and preparing records for the different newspapers, each of which has a different system. Please do not ring the office unless it is urgent. For the same reasons of confidentiality we cannot allow another person to take results away on behalf of a pupil without prior written consent. A parent, known to the senior staff, will be allowed to take results home.
All pupils will be expected to confirm (to the best of their knowledge) their future destinations.
Every year there are pupils who do not obtain the summer results they were expecting. For some pupils this may be a shortfall for re-entry into Ermysted’s whilst for others it may be for a further education course. The Head Master together with a number of senior staff are always present during results day to give advice. Senior members of staff will already have analysed the results of all boys and will be expecting to talk to those pupils who have not reached their targets. Where possible staff from the employment advisory service will also be present. Computers will be on for pupils to use the Internet to access any appropriate information. We strongly recommend that pupils bring in mobile phones should they own one in order to ring up universities. They should bring the phone numbers for their first choice and insurance places. School phones will also be available.
Complaining about results is your right if you think you have been unfairly marked. Confidence in the Examining Boards may take some time to repair – they do get it wrong, but don’t assume that they always get it wrong!
You must first talk to senior staff who will have access to a breakdown of your marks. They will be able to find out if you are close to a grade boundary. They will also have access to your predicted grade to see if your request has any real basis. They will then make a recommendation to you.
The procedure depends upon the urgency, but basically you will be asking for a re-mark. It is wise for all pupils to bring a chequebook or some cash just in case. Costs are typically between £40 and £45 (per module for A-Level courses). See the examinations officer in order to fill in the appropriate forms. As marks (and grades) can go down as well as up you will have to sign a form to indicate that you appreciate
A priority re-mark can be undertaken if the outcome of the re-mark is to assist in securing a university place. This must be set in motion on the results day itself. Not all universities will hold your place whilst the re-mark is conducted, however if you are eventually successful they may have to offer you something. Phone the university to check their policy on this. If your re-mark results in the overall exam grade going up then the Exam Board will refund your costs. No guarantee can be made as to how long the process will take, but it is likely to take about three weeks. You will be informed by telephone of the result and confirmation will then arrive in the post.
In most cases at AS level and GCSE level the result is not urgent. It is possible to set the remark in motion within the first few days once you have come back to School. We strongly advise that you talk to your subject teacher before you consider a re-mark. There is a scheme whereby you can pay for a photocopy of your work together with a mark scheme in order to assess whether or not a re-mark might be successful. The charge is around £10 per paper/module.
It is not possible for an individual pupil to ask for any coursework to be remarked or re-moderated. Once a member of staff has marked the work, a sample is sent off (often of all pupils if the group size is small) for a moderator to check the marking schemes have been correctly applied. Adjustments cannot be made within this system for an individual pupil. If a member of staff thinks the moderation process needs to be questioned then the entire pupil sample will be reassessed – a costly process which may involve marks going up or down for all pupils. Such re-marking is performed after all other re-marking is completed and it is often about five months before any results are known.
Rather than re-marking work it may be better to re-sit a paper. At GCSE level Maths and English are essential for higher education. In order to embark on a sixth form course at Ermysted’s you will be asked to re-take your qualification if you failed to achieve at least a grade C. At AS/A2 standard the modular system is particularly well suited to re-sitting parts of the exam.
Note that you will have made your application to university based upon the AS results you have actually achieved in summer. You will not get the results of the January exams in time to influence any place you may be offered.
You can still re-sit the modules in order to improve the overall mark that you get for your A2 qualification. Most pupils re-sit the exams in January. The best mark from each module will count towards the final A2 grade award. It is actually possible to re-sit a module a third time in the summer.
Re-sitting exams must not be taken on lightly. You will be working on the harder A2 modules whilst trying to keep up with your revision for the re-sit. In some subjects such as Biology, Economics and Maths you will be taking one of the A2 modules for the first time, which can add to the overall pressure in January for some pupils.
Once you have completed your exams, certificates will be sent to School. We will collect together the certificates from the different Exam Boards before passing them on to you. During term-time you will be asked to collect them from the office and you will be expected to sign for them individually. If your are unable to collect your certificates personally please provide the exam office with an admin fee of £1.50 to cover the posting of your certificates to your home address by recorded delivery". It is your responsibility to ensure that the School always has your latest home address including postcode.
Revision Advice
There are many different opinions about how revision for exams should be undertaken. All would agree that there is a period of learning work some months in advance of the exam coupled with practicing as many questions as possible. In the days just before each exam “last minute revision” is then done in which all your work is quickly read through to remind you of what you have already spent time learning.
When revising, set a regular time to one side. Make sure you are comfortable and have a good light to revise by. Some people swear by revising to music, others in silence – you hopefully know what works for you by now. Build regular rest breaks into your work – 50 minutes work, 10 minutes rest would be good. Get up and walk about so that your eyes can focus on distant objects for a change – go and make a drink and keep your liquid intake up. Don’t work continuously over weekends or when you are on study leave – have a day off if necessary and don’t work more than three three-hour shifts in any one day.
Revise using all the facilities at your disposal. Your notes and a specification (syllabus) will give you a good idea of what you should be learning. Past paper questions help further and give you an idea of the level of answer required. Revision books will give you a good all-round knowledge of the very basics whilst textbooks will give you a greater understanding. Use textbooks wisely as they contain background information that you do not need to learn and they may be covering the specifications of other Examining Boards too.
Try these two more extensive sites for further ideas about revision.
There are many sites devoted to particular subjects that may help you with revision. Take care that you use them wisely as a part of a structured revision program. Don’t use them simply because it’s an excuse to go on line. When you visit a site – can you trust it? Try to stick with reliable sites chosen by the staff or those that are widely recognised such as the BBC.
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This web site has everything you need to help you prepare for your National Curriculum tests. Revision Bites and Test Bites have been designed to help you check what you know and understand. |
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All main GCSE subjects are catered for. There are links to many other subject based sites for further revision. Well worth a visit! |
Exam Entries
The exam officer will enter you for your main subjects and Heads of Departments will check these through. If you wish to re-sit an exam then you must obtain a form from the exam office (or print one off from below), complete the necessary details and hand it in together with the appropriate payment (see exam notice Board). You will be informed of the appropriate times for each series of exams.
You may be allowed to sit other exams at the discretion of the Head Master and providing you pay for the appropriate entry
Books
You should find that your notes, exam papers and the textbooks that you are issued with are sufficient. However if you are struggling to sort out the basic information from some of the in depth work and are losing confidence then try a good revision book. These often present the information in a very concise form for simple fact learning exercises. Once you have re-built your confidence you may be able to leave these books behind. These days revision books are quite closely linked in with particular specifications (syllabuses) so make sure you know which Exam Board your exam is with and which version you are following (often A or B).
Try to support your local bookshops as much as possible – they will usually order books for you. Or use the Ermysted's directory.
Specifications
The specification or syllabus for a subject provides a rough guide as to what material should be taught at a particular level. A teacher has a huge amount of experience in interpreting these and therefore you must be careful that you do not read too much into any of the statements. Some departments may already have supplied a specification to you; others regard it as not being useful or perhaps even a hindrance! Copies can be obtained from Exam Boards either by ordering or by downloading from their sites, for which an Acrobat reader will be needed.
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KS3 |
GCSE |
GCE |
AEA |
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English |
Art (AQA) |
Art (AQA) |
Maths (Edexcel) |
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Maths |
Biology (AQA) |
Biology (AQA) |
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Science |
Chemistry (AQA) |
Chemistry (AQA) |
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D & T |
Design & Tech (AQA) |
Classical Civilisation(OCR) |
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ICT |
English Language (AQA) |
Design & Tech (AQA) |
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History |
English Literature (AQA) |
Economics (AQA) |
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Geography |
French (AQA) |
English Language (AQA) |
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MFL |
Geography (Edexcel) |
English Literature (OCR) |
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Art & Des |
German (AQA) |
French (AQA) |
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Music |
History (AQA) |
General Studies (AQA) |
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P.E. |
I.T. (OCR) |
Geography (AQA) |
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R.E. |
Latin (OCR) |
German (AQA) |
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Citizenship |
Maths (AQA) |
Government & Politics(AQA) |
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Music (AQA) |
History (Edexcel) |
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P.E. (AQA) |
I.T. (WJEC) |
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Physics (AQA) |
Latin (OCR) |
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Religious Studies (OCR) |
Maths (Edexcel) |
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Music (AQA) |
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P.E. (OCR) |
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Physics (AQA) |
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Religious Studies (OCR) |
Refer to the national curriculum site for further
QCDA / NC
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
have an overview on the expected content and assessment
methods for all Exam Boards and try to maintain appropriate
standards.
A vast resource of advice on the curriculum.
It is particularly useful for the specifications of the
Key Stage 3 subjects
Stress Management
Relax!
Try this site for advice in general.