Exam Information

Last updated Thursday 13th October 2022

Contact Information

For exam queries please contact:

Mr Kinvig
Examinations Officer

Tel: (01624) 648712 direct line
Email: bhsexams@sch.im

Policies & Procedures

Plagiarism

Students should be aware that their work must be their own, unaided effort. Copying from each other or from the internet or other information sources is plagiarism. Examination boards run sophisticated software to detect such infringements and will take action where plagiarism is proven to have taken place. Such action can result in the cancellation of the coursework component or, in sufficiently serious cases, cancellation of the entire subject grade.

Access Arrangements

Access Arrangements may be granted following a referral by teachers to our Learning Support Service, a request for assessment from a parent/carer, or a letter from a recognised medical/health service provider (eg CAMHS). Such arrangements include: access to a word processor or computer reader; an additional time allowance; and, rest breaks during an examination. Only students that have been assessed and found to meet stringent criteria may be confirmed as eligible for Access Arrangements in place. Please note, no Access Arrangements can be provided for cases that are pending at the time of an examination.

Must reflect a normal way of working as per exam board regulations. This means a history of making use of a facility will be required for it to be approved for use during examinations.

For specific details of how a scribe, reader or practical assistant may be used, please click on the relevant link found under the heading Forms, Regulations & other important documents

Coursework

Parents and carers are advised that some subjects require completion of coursework as part of their overall assessment criteria. This often involves a period of preparation time with a final submission deadline to meet. It is difficult to catch up missed coursework time, and a student is very likely to be disadvantaged as a result. It is therefore vitally important that students check with their teachers before any holidays or other reasons for absence are booked.

Students will be given advance notice of when coursework will be scheduled by their subject teacher.

Centre Defined Examinations

There are some subjects whose examinations are not timetabled by the examination boards and do not appear on published examination timetables. These mainly involve practical subjects such as Art, some DT subjects, Photography, Music and Drama, but also include language orals. BTEC subjects, such as Enterprise, Health & Social Care, Performing Arts, Sport and ICT(SQA) have examination windows scheduled during which examinations must be sat, though these will be during term time.

Students will be given advance notice of the date of such examinations by their subject teacher. As these dates are advised to the relevant examination board, and in some cases examiners and moderators attend, such dates are to be treated the same as for externally set examination dates. It is not possible for a student to sit such an examination once the date has passed. As with externally set examination dates, you should not book holidays or family events when these assessments are scheduled.

Mock Examinations

Mock examinations are designed to provide students with an experience as close to the real thing as it is possible to give. As such, all examination rules and procedures are in place and students are expected to fully comply with them.

Only those Access Arrangements already confirmed prior to the start of each set of mock examinations will be supported.

Mock Examination dates for the current academic year are:

Year 13 January 10-16, 2023
Year 11 January 17-23, 2023
Year 12 February 13-15, 2023 (Cambridge subjects only)
Year 10 June 26-30, 2023
Year 12 June 26-30, 2023 (non-Cambridge subjects only)

Statements of Entry

Statements of Entry are issued in early February, prior to the deadline for entries being submitted to examination boards. Students are required to check these statements and inform the Exams Officer of any errors or omissions. Errors may include the spelling of names, date of birth and other personal details, as well as the list of examination subjects displayed. Please note, Statements of Entry show external examination dates, where applicable, which can help in revision planning ahead of the issue of final student examination timetables.

External Examination Timetables 2022-2023

AQA - Exam Timetables

Cambridge - Exam Timetables

Pearson Exam Timetables

OCR - Exam Timetables

WJEC - Exam Timetables

LIBF - Exam Timetables

SQA - Exam Timetables

Student Examination Timetables

Examination timetables are issued once students have been allocated venues and seat numbers. Coursework and most practical assessments will not appear on this timetable. Students should seek advice from their subject teacher about the scheduling of these assessments.

The timetabling of external examinations cannot be amended by the school, except where an exam clash occurs. In cases where examinations clash, we must follow rules laid down by the exam boards but the Exams officer will advise students of any choice available to them in achieving a resolution.

In cases where an examination clash has to be resolved, it is usual practice for a student to be required to be kept under full centre supervision between AM and PM exams. In such cases, students should bring a packed lunch and revision materials, as they will be permitted to revise for their upcoming PM examination whilst under supervision. Where more than one student has the same clash, they may be able to sit and revise together under supervision.

Student Expectations

We expect students to attend for examinations in full school uniform, except during TT Week when non-uniform is permitted. Please note, hoodies (including Year11 leavers’ hoodies) are not permitted at any time. Some venues within school can be cool, even during summer. Except during TT Week, a plain school jumper only may be worn under the blazer.

We expect students to study their timetable carefully and arrive on time for each examination and with the equipment required in a transparent case. Besides examination stationary, students are only permitted to bring a water bottle. This must be completely transparent, with all labels removed.

Students are not permitted mobile phones or wrist-watches of any sort inside the examination venue. Introduction of such materials into the examination venue constitutes a breach of security and will be reported to the relevant examination board.

Under no circumstance should a student attempt to make contact with another student within an examination venue. Any student suspected of communicating in any way with another student will be reported to the relevant examination board.

We are grateful for the vast majority of our students abide by our expectations and who, like us, are keen only to get examinations underway in a timely fashion.

BHS Examination Start Times

It is expected that students will be seated in their places ten minutes before the scheduled start of the examination, ready for final instructions and information.

From January 2023, examination start times will be:

All AM exams 09.15am

GCSE PM exams 13.00pm

A/AS PM exams 13.30pm

We aim, wherever possible, for GCSE examinations to be completed in time for the buses. Please note, however, all students are required to remain for the entire duration of each examination paper and where a student is eligible for an additional time allowance, some longer examinations may require making alternative arrangements for getting home.

Examination Stationary

Students need to bring the necessary equipment: a black biro, pencil, ruler, and rubber, as well as more specific items such as a calculator, protractor and compasses when appropriate. Parents and carers are asked to check that students have the right equipment ready for each examination session. Failure to come properly equipped causes delays and upset to other candidates. The school is not responsible for providing examination stationary.

Contingency Days

All examination boards have Contingency Days in case of unforeseen interruptions to the scheduling of their examinations. If any external examination has to be postponed for any reason, the day specified for such a contingency will be the one on which the rescheduled examination will take place.

This academic year, there are two provisionally set Contingency Days – June 8 and June 28, 2023.

Holidays and other events preventing students from attending for a postponed examination will not be accepted as reasons for special consideration. If a student misses a rescheduled examination they will be awarded an X result for that paper/component.

Special Consideration

Where a student is unable for medical reasons to attend, or presents on the day of an examination with an impediment that would prevent them from completing their examination to the best of their ability, we can make a Special Consideration claim to the relevant examination board. In most circumstances, students should turn up for an examination, though norovirus and coronavirus are good reasons why a student should not attend. For example, in case of a damaged writing hand/arm we will always strive to facilitate a means of allowing the student to complete their examination in a suitable fashion. Prior knowledge of any other ailment helps us to make a claim for special consideration should the ailment develop into something that impedes a student’s efforts.

Special Consideration claims are not guaranteed to be successful. Those that are accepted result in the relevant exam board applying a small adjustment to the overall mark/grade achieved in the subject in regard to the paper or component affected.

Enquiries about Results (EAR)

If a student wishes to challenge a grade, this must be done through the school. A non-refundable administration fee of £5 must be paid to school for each EAR request. Additionally, examination boards charge different fees for EARs according to level and subject.

Details of the different exam board EAR services available can be found by clicking the links below:

AQA - Enquiries about results

Cambridge - Enquiries about results

Pearson - Enquiries about results

OCR - Enquiries about results

WJEC - Enquiries about results

LIBF - Enquiries about results

SQA - Enquiries about results

Please obtain a form from the Examinations Officer. Pay the fee at the foyer and get a receipt. Return the form and the receipt to the Examinations Officer for forwarding to the relevant exam board, by the deadline printed on the form.

The review process may result in marks going down or remaining as they are, as well as being raised. Should a re-mark request result in an increased grade, the examination board concerned will refund the cost of the re-mark.

Please note, BHS has no control over the turn-around times for EARs. Those submitted as ‘priority’ are usually completed within a week or two. Other EARs often take considerably longer. There is no guarantee that an EAR request will be completed before the date of a scheduled examination resit.

Examination Resit Fees

Where a student asks to re-sit an examination, a non-refundable administration fee of £5.00 is charged by BHS in addition to the fee charged by the examination board for the subject itself. For students requesting to resit an exam within a year of leaving, we reserve the right to charge invigilation fees where no other examination is otherwise scheduled.

Current exam board fees can be found at the following links:

AQA - Exam Fees

Cambridge - Exam Fees

Certificate Collection

Examination Certificates are received in school from mid-November. We must await arrival of all examination board certificates before assembling them in packs according to each individual student. For this reason, certificates are usually not ready for collection before the start of the Spring Term.

Examination board regulations state that examination certificates can only be held in Centre for 12 months. Failure to collect within that time may result in the school having to destroy them, as required.

Replacement certificates are costly to obtain and as such we will require that they be signed for at the point of collection. Should a student wish a representative to collect certificates on their behalf, the form below must be submitted or alternatively an email sent from the students school email address confirming the person designated who must provide personal identification when collecting.