We're sorry for exam date mix-up (From Messenger Newspapers)

We're sorry for exam date mix-up

9:57am Tuesday 23rd June 2009

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THE article headlined ‘High School Exams Fiasco’ on page 1 of SAM, June 18, is inaccurate on several counts.

The most serious - and simplistic - one is that all the students had already failed and that this was why they were retaking their GCSE.

In fact, for the Maths GCSE offered by Sale High School, all students take three modules over two years, and the module in question makes up just 18 per cent of the total marks. It is a module first taken in year 10, and all the students had achieved a grade D in this module when they took it then.

They are now in year 11, and have taken the two further modules that complete their maths GCSE (one worth 27 per cent and the final one worth 55 per cent of the total). The combined marks from all three modules form their final GCSE grade.

However, following assessment of their performance overall in March this year, tutors offered some students the chance to resit module 1 in order to try to improve their overall grade by a few points. This is the first time students have ever had the chance to resit module 1 after they have taken the final module in June, and it was offered to them as part of the school’s continuing commitment to raising standards.

The mistake over the date of the exam was discovered by 8am on the day of the exam, which was due to start at 1pm.

Staff immediately started trying to contact the students and 10 of them were able to attend the exam.

The school takes matters like this very seriously and is extremely sorry that the error occurred.

We have every sympathy with the students and their families over the stress this caused. If the students wish to retake this module again when it is next offered in November, we will give them every support in preparation for it.

All year 11 students are issued with a comprehensive individual exams timetable before the GCSEs start, but because these students were entered for this resit after the entries for other exams, the module did not appear on their timetables.

We are looking at ways of improving the information about the maths GCSE dates, but because there are three modules and several resit dates available for each module, we need to be sure that any extra information should not be confusing to individual students.

Finally, it is not true that the school declined an interview with the Messenger: I was contacted by the paper at a time when I was not available and rang the paper back later to inform them that the school would be responding through the local authority. This is the statement you received and printed from Mrs Woodhouse, the director of CYPS.

I repeat that the school is most upset that this mistake has occurred and that we apologise to those involved. The school only intended, in all good faith, to offer an extra opportunity to students who it felt would benefit from another chance to take this particular module, after they had taken the final exam in the series. This is not an opportunity many other schools offer, but despite the error this year, we will continue to make this chance available in future, in order to give our students as many opportunities to achieve their full potential as we possibly can.

Mark McLoughlin, Acting Headteacher, Sale High School

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