Dear Learner,

As we communicated to you in September it was announced that examinations in summer 2022 would go ahead, with some adaptations made to specifications to account for the loss of face to face teaching you have experienced during the pandemic.

That is still the case, and your lecturers are working hard to prepare you for these exams. However, in October 2021, further guidance was released to schools and colleges outlining contingency arrangements for GCSEs, AS and A levels which will be applied, should the decision be made to cancel the 2022 exam series because of changes to the public health situation.

Following that message, the college has now come up with a plan which will make sure that you are prepared for exams but that you are also assessed sufficiently in college, should we need to award you a centre determined grade.  Details of the plans are outlined in this letter, but if you have any questions or queries, please speak to your lecturers or tutors.

The contingency arrangements should “not detract from the current policy position for exams to go ahead in summer 2022”, but that colleges should, as part of their usual teaching and learning, also incorporate assessments that could be used to “inform centre determined grades, should they be needed”.  The guidance from Qualifications Wales is available to view in full

The assessments that will be used to inform a centre determined grade will:

• Be “a few pieces of substantial, high quality, authentic evidence”, and
• The time spent on these assessments, as a guide, will be around the total assessment time you would complete in a standard exam series, and
• Subject to internal quality assurance requirements so that marking is consistent and in line with examination board standards.

In line with this guidance, Gower College Swansea have planned the following, should the contingency need to be triggered if examinations are cancelled:

1. You will complete three significant assessments throughout the year. The nature of these assessments will vary depending on the usual means of assessment in that subject – for example, if the subject usually has coursework, practical elements or portfolio work, then this will form part of the contingency plan.
2. Each A level and GCSE subject has prepared individual Subject Specific Assessment Plans, which will be available to view on Parent Zone, the Student Portal and on individual subject’s Teams pages. These plans contain broad details of the significant assessments and when they will take place. Lecturers will provide more information about these assessments during lectures so that you are aware of the assessments that could contribute to a centre determined grade.

As you are being prepared for examinations, you will complete other assessments aside from those outlined on the assessment plan.  This is crucial to preparing you for examinations as we are acutely aware that because of the unprecedented disruption the pandemic has caused, many of you need the practice of exam style questions. The marks for these additional pieces of work will be made available on your e-ILP Markbooks.  These assessments could also contribute to the awarding of a holistic centre determined grade, should you miss a significant assessment because of illness.

For subjects that are not following WJEC specifications and are following English exam boards, the guidance in England is closely aligned to the guidance that was released by Wales and so the same contingency plan applies to those that are following English exam boards and linear A levels.

We will update you further when more guidance is released from the exams regulators, but should you have any queries in the meantime, please speak to your lecturers or tutor in the first instance.