Exam Information

This information is important for all candidates & parents/carers. Below are a number of documents with regulations and guidance which students should read and be aware of for internal and external exams and coursework/controlled assessments

Exam Info & Guidance

Click here for Information for candidates documents

Click here  for JCQ Exams Posters

Click here to see the Exam boards we use for each subject

Click here for Results Day and Post Results information

Rules for Students

Below are the rules for students during exams. Students should also read the Exam Board Regulations

• Uniform is to be worn by all students (except 6th form) when attending school during examinations.

• Please ensure that you are outside the examination room 15 minutes before the start. Morning examinations start at 9.00am, and the afternoon examinations start at 1.30pm unless otherwise advised.

• Always bring the appropriate equipment with you: Black pens only for writing, pencil, ruler, eraser and any specialist equipment you are instructed to bring such as a calculator for Maths or Science, or coloured pencils for DT subjects. This is your responsibility and will not be supplied by the school. Highlighter pens can be used on question papers but not on answer sheets or scripts. Pencil cases must be transparent.

• Mobile phones or any technology/web enabled sources of information are NOT allowed in ANY examination room. Possession will lead to disqualification, whether they are switched on or off when found. They must be switched off and handed to the invigilator before entering the examination room. It is students responsibility to ensure they do not have these in their possession in the exam rooms.

• You will not be allowed to leave the examination room until the end of the examination unless you are ill or need to go to the toilet.

• To attract the attention of an invigilator during the examination, raise your arm and someone will come to you. Silence should be maintained in the exam room.

• Any student causing a disturbance will be removed from the examination, and their paper will be cancelled.

• If you are going to be late for an exam, phone the school as soon as possible. If you arrive late, you may or may not be allowed to take the examination.

• If you are ill on the day of the examination, you may need to obtain a doctor’s note.

• Students are allocated a Candidate number which will identify you for all exams until you leave Sponne.

Exam Timetables

Exam Preparation Timetables

Most GCSE and GCE examinations will take place in May/June. Throughout the year there will be mock exams run internally for Years 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 students. The mock exams are very important for students and will be run under exam conditions. Provisional exam dates are below:

Students will receive their statement of entries by the end of January and their individual candidate timetables detailing seating arrangements closer to the start of the exams.

If you have any queries about the exams please contact either the relevant subject teacher or the Exams Manager.

Common Examination Terms

Script

The official examination paper you have used to give your answers on. These are sent away to be marked by an examiner for external exams.

Mock Exams

These are exams the school plans and organises. These are for assessment of students’ progress and for practice in exam preparation, revision and sitting the exams under exam conditions.

Centre Number

This number identifies Sponne School,and you write it on all your scripts.

Candidate Number

This is the number that is given to you when you begin to take GCSE examinations, and you keep this number all the time at Sponne. You write it on your scripts, along with your name and Centre Number to identify your work when it leaves the school to be marked.

UCI Number

(Unique Candidate Identifier) This number is also given to you when you begin to take GCSE examinations, and is the only number that you will use for any public examinations you take. It will appear on your statement of entry and results publications

ULN Number

The Unique Learning Number is a 10-digit number that has been allocated to learners and it will appear on candidate statement of entry and results publications. It will be theirs for life and it will never be given to another learner. It has been designed to ensure that no additional meaning can be inferred from its structure, for example, geographical location or level of learning.Each learner will eventually have a ULN so that they and educational providers, government agencies and awarding bodies can follow their learning progress. The Skills Funding Agency Learning Records Service administers ULNs and uses them to identify Personal learning Record for all learners. For more information please see the Government website Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Statement of Entry

This is a sheet produced by the school about 8 weeks before your examinations in January or June that shows your name, Candidate no, and UCI Number. It also shows the code, subject, tier and date of each examination you are entered for. You must check this carefully to make sure that all the details on it are correct.

Timetable

For external examinations you will receive an individual timetable soon after you have checked your Statement of Entry,and this will show your name, form, Date of birth, Candidate no. and UCI number as well as the dates, times and duration of each of your examinations. This isan important document and must be kept safely until your examinations are finished.

For internal examinations - check the school calendar for exact dates - you will receive a general timetable showing the days and times of all the examinations. Individual timetables are not available.

Invigilators

People employed by the school to ensure that examination rules are followed and to help students if they have a question during the exam For example, you can ask them for more examination paper to write your answer on, but you cannot ask them to explain a question to you.

Examination Boards

These are organisations that create the teaching courses for schools,and produce your question papers. There are many of them, but Sponne School uses AQA, OCR, EDEXCEL, WJEC and CIE

Results and Certificates

Results of GCSE and GCE exams are issued in August; details of dates and times will be on the school website and sent to all relevant students. Results cannot be issued over the phone or by email. Any results not collected by 2pm on the day will be posted to the home address we hold on the system.

Certificates are sent to the school during the term following exams and can be collected from the Exams and Data Office, usually in November. Students still at Sponne will be notified when they are available, and a notice will be published on the school website for all other ex-students. Certificates must be signed for, and therefore cannot be posted. We will store certificates for 5 years before shredding them. After 5 years, it is possible to get copies of certificates from the exam boards for a fee: please see www.gov.uk/replacement-exam-certificate for advice.

Candidates can nominate another person to collect results or certificates on their behalf by providing written permission, either in a signed letter or by email. The nominated person must have either a copy of the letter/email or appropriate ID with them on collection.