Special Consideration Protocol - May 2021 examinations only

Purpose

The purpose of adopting an internal procedure for special consideration is to ensure that teacher assessed grades are awarded on as fair a basis as possible. We seek to ensure that a student’s academic potential is fully realised, and that due consideration is given to circumstances that are outside the control of the student which may have impacted on the student’s performance in the May examinations. 

As a result of a successful request for special consideration, we may make changes to the evidence base used for determining the teacher assessed grade to mitigate the impact of the extenuating circumstances.

Criteria

Please see Chapter 2 of the guidance for the full list of which circumstances may be grounds for submitting a request for special consideration. Please note that time away from school is not in itself a valid criterion: the guidance states that the circumstance must have affected the student’s performance at the time of the assessment. 

For our internal purposes, we will accept requests for special consideration that relate to circumstances that have affected students either during previous assessments that have been used to determine grades, such as mock examinations, or that have affected students in May 2021. 

Please include any supporting documentary evidence in the submission. 

Procedure

Students should notify the school of any requests for special consideration following the procedure outlined in this document. A request for special consideration must be made by Thursday 29th May - no requests will be accepted after this date. Students should access the special consideration form via Y11 or Y13 year group page on google classroom.

A panel of staff appointed by the Headteacher will then assess any requests for special consideration. The panel will assess the information provided in the submission, and take into consideration any supporting evidence that may be provided as part of the submission. The decision of the panel will be final. If it is determined that a student experienced adverse circumstances at the time of the assessment; an alternative piece of work completed by the student where he/she was unaffected by adverse circumstances will be selected. The student will be informed of this. If it is not possible to use an alternative piece of work, then the teacher may base their holistic judgement on the available evidence.

 

For further information on the process for awarding grades in 2021, please see this guide produced by Ofqual