INTERNAL APPEALS POLICY ON CENTRE ASSESSMENTS FOR EXTERNAL QUALIFICATIONS

In accordance with the Code of Practice for the conduct of external qualifications produced by QDCA, The Netherhall School is committed to ensuring that:

internal assessments are conducted by staff who have the appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills;

assessment evidence provided by candidates has been produced and authenticated according to the requirements of the specification;

the consistency of the internal assessment is secured through internal standardisation as necessary;

staff responsible for internal standardisation attend any compulsory training sessions.

Written Appeals Procedure

Each awarding body publishes its arrangements for appeals against its decisions.  In addition, an appeal can be made to the School concerning internal assessment:

• the appeal applies only to the procedures used in arriving at internal assessment decisions and does not apply to the judgement themselves; you cannot appeal against the mark or grade only the procedures used;
• the parent or guardian must make the appeal in writing to the School’s Examinations Officer: appeals should normally be made by 30 April for examinations in the summer series.  This deadline may be extended in exceptional circumstances in situations where the coursework marking and moderation schedule extends beyond this time;

• the enquiry into the internal process will normally be led by the Examinations Officer, the KS4 Manager and the Head of Sixth Form, provided that neither has played any part in the original internal assessment process;
• the teacher making the assessment will be able to respond to the appeal in writing, and a copy will be sent to the appellant;

• the enquiry will consider whether the procedures used for the internal assessment were in conformity with the published requirements of the Awarding Body and the ‘Code of Practice’.

The appellant will be informed in writing of the outcome of the appeal, including:

relevant communications with the Awarding Body;

any steps taken to further protect the interest of the candidates.

If the appellant is unhappy about the response in writing, he/she can ask for a personal hearing, where the panel will consist of two persons not previously involved, normally the Head Teacher and a member of the Governing body.

Enquiries About Results (Re-marks)

In cases of Enquiries About Results, where the School does not uphold a request for such an enquiry, the student may normally pay to have an enquiry carried out.

Students must submit a request in writing and complete a Candidate Consent Form (available from the JCQ website – www.jcq.org.uk – or the School’s Examinations Officer).  Completed forms must be returned to the School’s Examinations Officer by post or handed personally to the School’s Examinations Officer.  Current students may place their request in the Examination Officer’s postbox.  Please note that requests by e-mail are not acceptable.  All requests for a re-mark will be acknowledged within 48 hours of receipt.  The Awarding Bodies operate strict deadlines and no late requests will be accepted.

Where the student wishes to challenge the decision not to hold an enquiry or consequent appeal, a similar procedure to that mentioned above will be carried out.

Note:

Each awarding body specifies detailed criteria for the internal assessment of work.  In addition, the awarding body must moderate the assessment and the final judgement on marks awarded is that of the awarding body.  Appeals against matters outside the School’s control will not be considered in the School’s appeals procedure.