Dear parent and student,
Re: BTEC examinations
Thank you for the ongoing correspondence that many of you have had with the school with regard to the ever changing expectations surrounding the BTEC examinations that are taking place.
It is perhaps helpful to share an overview of how students have responded to date. All of the students sitting their Health and Social Care Examination on Monday attended and completed the exam. 60% of the Sports Studies students attended to complete their preparation for their exam scheduled for next week.
As you are aware the guidance given by the DFE has changed considerably in recent days. From an initial position of; “the exams will all still continue”, to then a position of “the exams can continue but they don’t have to, its up to your school to decide”. I have already shared with you the communication that I have forwarded to our MP Iain Duncan Smith and will not repeat the detail of that here but requested the following:
- National decision to be made, not a school by school position.
- Details about how the exam would be used to determine the final grade to be used.
- A guarantee that irrespective of the whether a student sits the exam or not, that they would not be disadvantaged by sitting the examination.
Sadly I do not think that either of the first two requests will be met in time to help inform any decision that either we as a school or you individually may make about participating in the exams. With regard to the third request the exam board Pearson have issued a statement that I provide a link to here, confirming that;
“you will not be disadvantaged whichever decision is made by your school or college regarding exams”
Additionally the Department for Education responded to requests that we and schools across the country were making and released the following statement, which does help to provide a little more certainty.
“- Students have worked hard for these exams and assessment, so it is fair that schools and colleges are given the option to run them, if they judge that to be the right decision.
- Schools and colleges have already implemented extensive protective measures to make them as safe as possible
- No student will be disadvantaged if they can’t take their exam or assessment or decide they don’t want to
- We will consult on how to ensure students get a fair grade, working closely with the regulator Ofqual and stakeholders like the Association of Colleges.”
So whilst they have not confirmed for us how they will ensure that students will not be disadvantaged whether they sit the exam or not both the DFE and the exam board have responded to our request to provide such an assurance.
I appreciate that this will be different for each school across the country but we at Highams Park school will continue to run the exams. We believe that we are able to provide a safe environment for the students to sit the exams in, and despite the disruption to learning that students have experienced over the last 11 months we believe that the process of sitting this exam is educationally helpful to each of the students. So we would encourage each student to attend school and complete the examination for which they have been preparing.
I would also want to assure you that we are fully appreciative that each students circumstances are very different. Some students may be unwell themselves, others may have family members who are displaying COVID symptoms while others may have family members who are clinically vulnerable. Thank you to those of you who have shared your personal circumstances with us already. Despite the schools decision to still run the exams, if there is a student who decides that they do not wish to sit the exam our guarantee of yesterday still stands. We will support your decision and will work tirelessly with Ofqual, the exam board to ensure that you are not disadvantaged in anyway from being awarded the grade that best reflects your abilities.
In conclusion it is perhaps helpful to rehearse a few hypothetical scenarios with you:
- “I have worked really hard for these exams. It has been difficult and far from ideal, but I have been working towards them since the start of this course.” = Sit the exam.
- “If I sit the exam and get a lower grade than I might have achieved in ideal circumstances, the fact that I have sat the exam might prevent my teachers being able to award a higher grade that they thought I was capable of getting.” = This is the wrong assumption or hope to hold. We do not know how the exam will be used or what element of teacher assessment will be permitted but it will be helpful to have your exam mark achieved in these difficult circumstances available. Sit the exam.
- “I or a member of my family have COVID symptoms and are awaiting test results.” = Do not sit the exam. Self-isolate.
- “I am really anxious about exposing myself to the virus, and by attending school I increase the risk of me contracting COVID. This is not a risk I am prepared to take. It may also put elderly or vulnerable members of your household at risk.” = Do not sit the exam. We will respect and support your decision.
We believe that within our BTEC cohort there will be students that fit into each of these four categories, indeed there will be other categories as well. To enforce one outcome upon all students is not in our view the right thing to do and we will continue to run the exam for all who wish to take it. We will also fully support every student, irrespective of whether they take the exam or not to be awarded the grade that best reflects their ability.
I hope that this is helpful to you in making your decision.
Yours sincerely
Phil Grundy
