Exam appeals guidance released
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) this week published the appeals guidance for grades awarded this summer.
Please note: the information contained in this legal update is correct as of the original date of publication.
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) this week published the appeals guidance for grades awarded this summer. We will shortly be releasing further information on the appeals process and data protection considerations, as well as running a webinar on 7 July, but in advance of that, here are three key points to take away from the guidance.
Firstly, there are two stages to the appeals process. The stage one centre review is about checking that your centre’s procedures in arriving at the grade have been followed and that no administrative errors have occurred during the process (e.g. between two students with similar names). The second stage is where students who are still unhappy following the outcome of the stage one centre review, can request that the centre submits their appeal to the awarding organisation. It’s at this second stage that the awarding body will consider appeal arguments around academic judgement and mitigating circumstances.
Secondly, the timescales are tight. There is a deadline for students applying to higher education, who did not attain their first choice, of 16 August to make a centre review request and 23 August for a stage two (awarding organisation appeal) request to centres. There is more time for non-priority appeals with deadlines of 3 September and 17 September respectively for students. This does mean that centres are going to need to ensure their processes are robust and records are kept of students that are requesting reviews to ensure none are missed.
Finally, on stage two appeals that relate to the exercise of academic judgement, which can either be in the form of the evidence selected or the decision on the grade itself, the question for the awarding body will be whether the decision was unreasonable, not whether another proposed grade in the appeal was reasonable. This is a relatively high threshold and does mean that appeals on this basis will be difficult, albeit not impossible, for students to succeed on.
You can sign up to the webinar on 7 July here.
Contact
Philip Wood
Senior Associate
philip.wood@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)330 045 2274
You may be interested in...
Online Event
Wellbeing and financial considerations – practical solutions for challenging times
Legal Update
be connected - Spring 2023
Legal Update
Teacher strikes – lessons learnt so far
Opinion
Can toilet facilities amount to sex discrimination?
Legal Update
New support launched to manage school complaints
Legal Update
Cyber security and data breaches
Legal Update
#EdCon2023 virtual event hailed a success
Online Event
Flexible working in schools webinar
Legal Update
What does the new Provider Access Legislation mean for schools?
Legal Update
High Court dismisses Welsh RSE right to withdraw claim
Opinion
Term-time school worker entitled to national minimum wage for unworked basic hours
On-Demand
Industrial action essentials: what you need to know
Legal Update
Education Software Solutions Limited breaks against the CMA’s intervention: A victory for freedom and flexibility in contracting for MIS services
On-Demand
The Subsidy Control Act 2022. Putting the new regime into practice
Legal Update
Safeguarding at scale report published
Legal Update
Trade unions announce plans to re-ballot members
Legal Update
Widespread industrial action now confirmed for schools
Legal Update
Industrial action and minimum service levels within education
Opinion
Consultation on holiday entitlement – part-year and irregular workers
Guide
FAQs - converting to academy status
Guide
FAQs - becoming a sponsored academy
Guide
FAQs - becoming an academy sponsor
Guide
FAQs – single academy joining a MAT
Legal Update
EdCon2023 launch: Thursday 12 January
Legal Update
The importance of understanding the transitional provisions under the Electronic Communications Code
Legal Update
Biodiversity Net Gain: positive for nature and an opportunity for landowners
Legal Update
Discrimination comes of age
Legal Update
Protecting children and their data in the online environment
Guide
#EdCon2023: Access a range of expert guidance and resources at our FREE virtual conference
Legal Update
be prepared for the 2022-23 academic year
Legal Update
Teacher Pay Survey 2022
Legal Update
be connected newsletter for schools - Winter 2022
Guide
Good governance essential to avoid falling foul of the ESFA
There’s been little evidence of interventions or financial management reviews this year and it appears the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has re-focussed on financial delivery. It’s also telling that there were no discernible changes to the reporting of financial irregularities in the Academies Trust Handbook 2022.
Legal Update
Children's commissioner recommendations for SEND reform
The Children’s Commissioner, Rachel De Souza, has recently published a report “Beyond the labels: a SEND system which works for every child, every time”, which she intends to sit alongside the DfE’s SEND Review (2019) and SEND Green Paper (2022) and which she hopes will put children’s voices at the heart of the government’s review of SEND system.
Legal Update
Top three training topics 2022-23
As well as providing day-to-day support to help you focus on managing your settings, we also provide training and professional development on a range of topics to keep you and your staff up-to-date.
Legal Update
School complaint management - exploring a new way forward
There’s greater opportunity than ever for parents, carers and guardians to voice any concerns they have relating to their child’s education and for their concerns to be heard and to be taken seriously. While most staff in schools and academies are conscious of their legal duties relating to complaints management, many are struggling to cope with such a significant increase in the volume of complaints they must manage.
On-Demand
The UK's green agenda - the outcomes of COP27 and actions since COP26
Guide
Setting up a trading subsidiary – a guide for academy trusts
We’re pleased to collaborate with Lloyds Bank, who recently asked us and audit and risk specialists Crowe UK to offer guidance that academy trusts would find helpful when considering setting up a trading subsidiary.
Legal Update
DfE Trust Capacity Fund
The DfE has published new guidance and opened the application process for window two of the Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) for 2022/2023, with a fund of £86m in trust capacity funding focused particularly on education investment areas.
Guide
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse - A guide for schools and trusts
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established in March 2015. We now have its report. As you would expect with such a broad scope, the report is long and makes a number of far-reaching recommendations. In this article, Dai Durbridge highlights seven of the 20 recommendations, sets out how they could impact on schools and suggests what steps to take now.