Exams
STUDENT WELLBEING RESOURCES
Tests and examinations in school inform teachers, parents, and students themselves about their academic progress and potential future pathways. But like any situation in which a person’s performance is being evaluated, the outcomes may feel very significant: Examinations have the potential to be stressful.
It is perfectly normal to experience anxiety and, research shows, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Anxiety and stress cause the body to release adrenaline which can be helpful when responding to challenging situations. Stress will help students focus on preparing for, and then apply themselves during the examination itself.
The King Charles I School fully recognises its responsibilities for students with mental health and wellbeing needs. We want our students to:
- Learn in a calm and purposeful environment, where behaviour is exemplary and routines are established.
- Be mentally and physically fit to equip them for a successful adult life, be independent and ambitious.
- Be confident, happy and feel safe.
- Be friendly, respectful, caring and polite.
- Develop resilience.
Should you wish to discuss any concerns around wellbeing, please contact us at school.
Please find links to other useful documents and information below.
- Specific revision and exam techniques
- Coping with exam pressure – a guide for students
- Resources for managing assessment-related anxiety
- Exam Stress – A guide for young people
- Work to understand test anxiety
- A student’s perspective on feeling pressure about exams
- Ways school staff can help students who are feeling anxious
- Managing the time between finishing exams and results being issued
- What sort of things might help you prepare for exams
- A guide for students on coping with exam pressure, developed with specialists from Liverpool John Moores University.
- A collection of links to guides and advice published by other organisations and specialists
- A review of published literature on the topic of test anxiety which may be of interest to academics and practitioners working in the field.
ILLNESS
If you are unable to take an exam because you are ill, you must notify the School by telephone (01562 512880) as soon as possible. The Receptionist will let the exam staff know of your illness.
If you miss an external exam through illness you must complete the JCQ Form 14 and return it to school as soon as possible or by email to examsqueries@kingcharles1.worcs.sch.uk. Please note that without this completed form we cannot proceed with any special consideration request and it is possible that you may be charged the entry fee for the exam. If at all possible you should sit the exam – it may be possible to accommodate you in a small room rather than in the Sports Hall – this depends on staff availability.
If you have a contagious disease you should stay away from school, and, as long as you have completed Form 14, a request will be made on your behalf for special consideration for any exams you miss. If a candidate is taken ill during an exam, they will be escorted to the Medical Room by an invigilator, their exam script will be sent to be marked with the others and a special consideration request will be made.
POST EXAMS RESULTS SERVICES
Enquiry About Results (EAR) Services
Following the release of examination results, a candidate has the right to apply to the awarding body, through the school, for a review of their results if they believe an error has been made. This can take the form of a clerical check or a full re-mark of an examination paper or papers. This review is termed an Enquiry About Results (EAR) and is applied for by the school on behalf of the candidate. Candidates should be aware that this process may result in a lowering of the grade awarded. This procedure has a short deadline and therefore any requests must be carried out quickly and within the deadline stated. Candidates wishing to make an enquiry or appeal about results must complete a request and consent form.
If King Charles I School makes an enquiry about the result of the examination after the subject grade has been issued, there are three possible outcomes:
- The original mark is confirmed as correct, and there is no change to the grade
- The original mark is raised, so your final grade may be higher than the original grade received
- The original mark is lowered, so your final grade may be lower than the original grade received
We advise that any candidate who has concerns about a grade awarded for a subject to talk their concerns through with the subject lead (where possible) and examination officer before the dates shown later in this document. Following this discussion, the school will apply for a review if this is considered an appropriate course of action.
In order to proceed with the enquiry or appeal, you must complete and sign a request and consent form, available from the examination’s office or our website. This tells the headteacher that you have understood what the outcome might be, and that you give your consent to the enquiry or appeal being made.
Two services are available to candidates. These are summarised below:
- Service 1: A clerical re-check of the marks awarded.
- Service 2: A review of the marking, in accordance with the agreed mark scheme. A priority service is available for A-level candidates where a higher education place is dependent upon the outcome.
For Services 1 and 2, the written consent of the candidate must be obtained, as the candidate’s marks and subject grades may be lowered.
Deadline for receipt of application by the awarding bodies are:
Priority Service 2 22nd August 2024
Services 1, 2 (non-priority) and 3 26th September 2024
Access to Scripts (ATS) Services
- Service 1: Requesting priority scripts. This is available to AS/A level candidates only. Following receipt, a subsequent enquiry about results can be made, if required. The deadline for applications is 22nd August 2024. We will receive the priority scripts by 6th September 2024.
- Service 2: Requesting non-priority scripts. This is available for both GCSE and AS/A level. Receipt of the script by the candidate will be too late for any subsequent results enquiry to be made, but may be useful to support the candidate’s future learning. The deadline for applications is 26th September 2024. We will receive the scripts by 1st November 2024.
Fees
These differ slightly, according to examination board each year. The fees for the 2023/24 examination series are summarised below.
| OCR | OCR GCSE | AQA | AQA | WJEC | WJEC | PEARSON | PEARSON |
EAR | £10.75 | £10.75 | £9.05 | £9.05 | £11 | £11 | £12.50 | £12.50 |
EAR (Priority) | £75.75 | n/a | £57.85 | n/a | £55 | n/a | £51.10 | £61.60 |
EAR (Non-Priority) | £61.50 | £61.50 | £48.65 | £42.00 | £40 | £46 | £44.50 | £51.70 |
ATS Service 1 (Priority) | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
ATS Service 2 (Non-priority) | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Please note fees are subject to change, exam boards do not finalise their fees until 1st august 2024.
All applications for Enquiries about Results (EAR) and Access to Scripts (ATS) services must be made through the examination officer (Mrs Paternoster). Applications can be made by contacting: jpaternoster@kingcharles1.worcs.sch.uk
COLLECTION OF 2023 GCSE AND A LEVEL CERTIFICATES
All GCSE and A Level certificates will be posted home during December 2023. This does not apply to students currently on roll with us in Year 12.
Certificates will be sent via recorded delivery to the postal address we have on record last year. If your address has changed or you do not want the certificates posted, please contact the examinations officer via email: examqueries@kingcharles1.worcs.sch.uk.
As per the JCQ guidelines, any examination certificates that have been returned to us will be kept by King Charles I School for 12 months until December 2024.
If students wish to claim their examination certificate following this date, students will need to contact the awarding bodies themselves for replacement certificates. Please note that not all examination boards offer a replacement certificate service. If this is the case a ‘Certifying Statement of Results’ will be issued.
COURSEWORK AND NON-EXAMINATION ASSESSMENT
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Exam codes and Boards
JCQ Information for Candidates
- Coursework
- Non-examination Assessments
- On Screen Tests
- Social Media
- Warning to Candidates
- Warning to Candidates – Written Examinations
- Restrictions on Electronic Devices
- Privacy Notice – General and Vocational Qualifications
Exam Support
- Examinations Access Arrangements Policy
- Exam advice and guidance
- Ofqual: Students guide to examinations
Mobile Phones in Examinations
JCQ Video – No mobiles in exams
How To Be Successful In Exams
Assessment, mock and final exams can be very stressful for students. As a school we have identified 5 key areas that when in place significantly reduce anxiety linked to exam pressure and increases a student’s chance of being successful in their exams. These areas are:
- Good attendance
- Use of effective revision strategies
- Good organisation
- Work during the holiday
- Awareness of common revision mistakes
Please click on the tabs below to find out more information about each of the 5 key areas. We have also created a booklet for both parents and students with extra information and links to support our students during their exams.
Please click here for the student advice booklet.
Please click here for the Year 11 parent advice booklet.
Attendance is crucial to ensure that students not only has as much teaching contact with their teachers as possible, but also to ensure they are privy to essential exam practice. There is a strong link correlation between attendance and success in final exams. The table below shows the attendance of two Year 13 students last year and their final grades.
| Overall attendance | Subject | Subject attendance | Final grades |
Student 1 | 72.5% | Business Maths Physics | 76% 64% 71% | C U U |
Student 2 | 98.4% | Biology Chemistry Maths | 94% 96% 97% | B A A* |
It is clear that low attendance has a significant impact on final grades as missed lessons creates knowledge gaps. These gaps in knowledge become quickly apparent to students and puts students under even more pressure to catch up. By February on Year 13, all courses are completed and your son/daughter will follow a programme of revision during their lessons. The lessons will contain essential exam practice in preparation for the final exams.
Throughout their time at King Charles I School, students are taught what constitutes effective and ineffective revision strategies. Often the easiest strategies prove to be the most ineffective. The following have all been proven by research to have little or no impact on learning:
Rereading
Copying notes
Summarising
Highlighting key words
The two most effective revision strategies are testing and spacing coupled with good motivation and organisation. Research shows that students who test themselves regularly remember significantly more information and are less likely to suffer from the negative effects of stress associated with exams. Students have been told that although testing and spacing out their testing may feel uncomfortable and more difficult than other strategies, they are the most effective. Please click here for further information on these strategies.
As a school we are fully aware of the link between disorganisation and anxiety and during the run up to the mocks and final exams, students need to be calm and in control. At the start of term we give students time to plan out their directed study and create a plan of what their days would look like to ensure that they have time to complete the work set. Having a plan reduces the anxiety of not knowing and ensures that students are in control of their own day. During directed study we are encouraging students to plan out their time to ensure that they are as effective as possible. All teachers when setting homework provide time limits for the different tasks. This is to ensure that students to not spend a disproportionate amount of time on one task and then become anxious and rush to complete the other tasks. Please speak with your son/daughter about these timings and support them to keep within the time limits set.
The courses that you follow, whether it be GCSEs, BTECs or A levels, are extensive and as such require students to be working at a high level over the full 18 months of the course. Cramming for a GCSE, A level or a BTEC exam is not possible due to the amount of knowledge required. The homework tasks that you are set incorporates topics that you have covered from the start of your course. This enables you to revise throughout the course and again reduces the anxiety and stress linked to exams. Due to the fact that your GCSE, A level or BTEC courses are studied over a period of 18 months, it is expected that you will spend time during the holidays on the work set by their teachers. All work set over the holidays will be targeted preparation for the exams, preparation for new topics or consolidation of already taught topics. We understand that this may be unpopular, however, this preparatory work completed over the holidays will ensure that the exams and assessments pass without increased stress caused by lack of revision and preparation.
Finally, the link below highlights the most common mistakes that students make during their studies and when revising for exams. We regularly discuss these with students and we would urge you to do the same to ensure they don’t fall into the same traps.
Feeling anxious – where to get help!
Tests and exams are an important way of finding out what you know and don’t know and what you can and can’t do. Without this information, teachers would not be able to adapt their plans and fill in gaps that you may have. Like any situation in which a person’s performance is being evaluated, the outcomes may feel very significant. We understand that exams have the potential to be stressful.
It is perfectly normal to experience anxiety and, research shows, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Anxiety and stress cause the body to release adrenalin which can be helpful when responding to challenging situations. Stress will help students focus on preparing for, and then apply themselves during, the exam itself.
If you are feeling worried about exams, check out webpage below by clicking the link. On this page you will find lots of support and contact details of people who can help:
http://thefourstonesmat.co.uk/index.php/health-and-wellbeing
