Information on Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs)
Our ref: TSE/lti
14th May 2021
Dear Parent/Carer
As you are aware your child’s final GCSE grades this year will not be determined by exams but by Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs). These will be provided to the exam boards and will be the results your child receives in the summer.
The policy we have adopted for the Teacher Assessed Grades can be read here https://hanspriceacademy.clf.uk/policies/tag-centre-policy-2021/
This describes in detail the process that we are using within the academy to assess the grades that your child will receive this summer. It is based on the national Joint Council for Qualifications template policy for Teacher Assessed Grades. The Joint Council for Qualifications have produced a guide for parents and students, this can be read by clicking on this link.
Your child has been supported to understand the Teacher Assessed Grade process so that they know how their grades are being determined.
Your child’s subject teachers and leaders are working with each other within our academy and across the wider group of academies in the Trust, to assess the grades for each individual student in each subject. Our Teacher Assessed Grades policy explains how we are ensuring grades are determined fairly, consistently and free from bias. Awarding bodies (the exam boards) will also check the policy and where appropriate moderate the grades to ensure that our process meets the requirements.
We will base our assessments on what students have been taught across the course in each subject and this may include work that has been partially completed. Your child has also completed some assessments this term and last term. These will also be part of the evidence basket for your child that teachers will assess to determine an overall holistic grade. We have been careful to support you child appropriately with these assessments.
There is rigorous and appropriate standardisation and moderation that is taking place within our academy and across the wider Trust that is supporting all teachers to assess the grades for students based on quality conversations and the Centre Policy that is highlighted above. All teachers and leaders have also undergone internal and external (national) training to support their ability to judge fairly the most appropriate grade for each student.
Students will be informed by their teachers which pieces of work from the course will be used as evidence in a balanced way to inform their overall holistic grade for each subject. This will ensure that your child is able to show their attainment across as many different elements of the course as possible. Within each subject evidence used to assess the grades will be kept consistent.
It is important to be aware that teachers are not allowed to tell students the grades they will be submitting to the awarding bodies (exam boards). As with a normal year your child will know their grades in the summer on results day, which is the 12th August for GCSEs. Further information regarding results day will be share with you next term.
Where a student would have been eligible for an application for special consideration in previous years, we will apply those processes internally to ensure that they receive that support this year. Where necessary, alternative evidence will be used and your child will be told what evidence is being assessed.
As ever, I am extremely grateful for the support we have received from our parents in this year and its most unusual circumstances. Your children and their teachers have worked tirelessly to complete the work and get it assessed to ensure that your child achieves the very best grade we can justify, based on the evidence. We are looking forward to celebrating the end of their time with us in their upcoming leavers’ assembly and, for those attending, at prom.
Please be reassured that while the Teacher Assessed Grades process is different to normal years and uses teacher judgement not final exams we are working hard, committing significant time and careful thought to ensuring that the process is strong and fair for every student. We know your child well, their capabilities and the standard of their work over time. We are confident that we have an approach to the Teacher Assessed Grades that is supporting all teachers to follow closely the Teacher Assessed Grade policy, which is robust and comprehensive.
If you have any concerns about the Teacher Assessed Grade process, please do raise them at the earliest opportunity with your child’s tutor or subject leader.
The arrangements for awarding grades to students includes internal and external quality assurance measures, which will aim to ensure that on results day students are issued with fair and consistent grades that have been objectively reached through our Teacher Assessed Grades process. If you or your child have concerns, there will also be a nationally guided process through which grades may be appealed when results are issued and we will share that information with you before the summer.
Yours faithfully
Tony Searle
Principal (Head of Centre)
