Statement about how A – level and GCSE results were determined in 2020

Dear parent/carer/students                                                                                 
I wanted to take the opportunity to explain how your results were determined this year. As you know, this year’s GCSE results had to be awarded differently from usual, after exams were unable to go ahead due to Covid-19. Schools and colleges were asked to use their professional experience to make a fair and objective judgement of the grades they believed a student would have achieved had they sat their exams this year, and to submit these centre-assessed grades (CAGs) to the relevant exam board.

Groups of teachers and leaders in each subject worked together to discuss and agree the centre-assessed grade for each student. They took into account a wide range of available evidence, including class work, mock exams and other records of student performance.

The intention was that the exam boards would then moderate the CAGs, to check that schools and colleges had approached this task consistently, before providing students with their final calculated grades. Unfortunately, as you will no doubt be aware, the method they used to do this proved problematic, and was likely to lead to many grades being unfairly downgraded.

The government therefore made the decision that GCSE and A level students would be awarded whichever was higher for each subject – their CAG or their calculated grade. This is what the grades you’re receiving today/have received are based on.

If you’re unhappy with any of your results, I’d encourage you in the first instance to contact members of the year team/SLT. They will be able to discuss your concerns, and advise you on any next steps. You may also want to talk to the sixth form team here or staff at any alternative places you have applied for. They may well be flexible about their entry requirements. There will be an appeals process that you may wish to take advantage of however we are still waiting for details about how this will work to be published... read more here.