Main switchboard 01932 574 900
Mrs Gemma Loates – Exams Officer
EXAM STUDY LEAVE
examsofficer@swps.org.uk 01932 574971
• Year 11 study leave begins on Friday 2 May 2025
• Year 13 study leave begins Friday 6 May 2025
Once study leave begins you only need to attend school when you have an examination, although there will be facilities available each day should you prefer to study in school. During this time, you must sign in and out at Reception when you are not in an exam so that we know who is in school in case of an emergency.
ASSEMBLY POINTS
• Students should assemble outside the exam room stated on their personalised timetable
• Students will begin entering the exam room at: 08:45 for the morning sessions 13:15 for the afternoon sessions
The Head of Year, Tutors, or a member of the Senior Leadership Team will be present and can direct you if you are unclear.
STARTING TIMES FOR PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS
09:00 for morning examinations
13:30 for afternoon examinations
EXAMINATION TIMETABLE
There is a copy of the full examination timetable on Firefly and a personalised timetable has been emailed to you.
PUBLIC EXAMINATION CLASHES
A clash occurs when two different subjects are scheduled to be examined at the same time. Where both examinations total more than 3 hours, one of the subjects will be moved to another examination session on the same day. If they total less than 3 hours you will be given a short break after the first exam and then begin the second exam.
Timings for clash exams will be confirmed on your personalised timetable. When a student has finished their first examination, they will be supervised until the second examination begins. This will include supervised access to toilets. If your second exam is due to take place in the afternoon exam session you will need to bring a packed lunch and / or snacks. You can also bring revision materials with you, however, these must be in paper form as no access to electronic devices or the internet will be permitted.
INSIDE THE EXAMINATION ROOM
Please note the following points:
EQUIPMENT
• Have spare pens available (BLACK INK ONLY)
• Pencils should be HB and only used for drawing. Have spares and a pencil sharpener.
• Make sure that you have an eraser Some subjects may require rulers, compasses,protractors, etc. The provision of these is the student’s responsibility.
• Pencil cases must be transparent (see-through). Transparent polythene bags are acceptable
• Calculators are permitted for all examinations unless it states on the exam paper that a calculator is not allowed Students are responsible for the calculator’s power supply; the calculator’s working condition and clearing anything stored in the calculator. Calculator cases are not permitted in the examination room.
MOBILE PHONES/ELECTRONIC DEVICES/WATCHES:
These must not be taken into the examination room as this is a breach of public examination regulations.
Any items which do not adhere to the JCQ regulations will be removed before a student is allowed to enter the examination venue.
BAGS
The main venue for the examinations will be the Sports Hall. It will not be possible for bags tobe placed inside the hall – they will have to be left outside or in the Sixth Form Centre. They will NOT be supervised.
In general, there is no need to bring to school anything other than examination materials. Nostudent will have access to their bags during the examination.
FOOD AND DRINK
Food must NOT be taken into the examination room unless prior permission has been granted via formal procedures relating to medical conditions and approved by JCQ.
Students are allowed to bring a bottle of water into the examination room; however this must be clear and free from any writing or branding, and any labels MUST be removed.
A water bottle like this which can be purchased from Ikea would be acceptable.
DRESS CODE
All students must wear appropriate clothing, please see Sixth Form Dress Code. No coats, hats, hoodies with the hood up. Please dress according to the weather and remember that it is sometimes cooler in the Sports Hall than it is outside.
NON-ELECTRIC EAR DEFENDERS / HEADPHONES
The school wil proivide Non-Electric Ear Defenders to students who have been granted this arrangement. Students are not permitted to wear their own. For Art exams, students are not allowed to listen to Music. This is considered to be malpratice.
JCQ DOCUMENTS
The JCQ document Information for Candidates - Written Exams also gives important information about the rules you need to follow. The Warning to Candidates Poster will be displayed outside every exam room, alongside the Unauthorised Items Poster. Further JCQdocuments can be found on Firefly and should be read before examinations begin.
MALPRACTICE
You will be disqualified if you:
• Attempt to communicate with another student by any method, including speaking,passing of notes etc.
• Attempt to look at another student’s work.
• Bring into the examination room a mobile phone, watch, books, notes and any other electronic device.
UNFORESEEN EVENTS
Listed below are some of the unforeseen events that could happen:
Late arrival
Should you be absent at the start of an exam, attempts will be made to contact you via all numbers provided on your personal records. We shall only use the telephone numbers in our records – please make sure we have your most upto-date contact details.
We will NOT delay the start of the examination – we have to be fair to the other students.
A student who arrives within one hour of the starting time of the examination may be allowed to enter the examination room and sit the exam. The examination board will be informed of the late arrival and the circumstances involved. You will be allowed the full time of the examination.
Should you arrive more than 1 hour after the start of the examination then you may not be allowed to sit the exam. If you do complete the exam, the examination board reserves the right not to accept the script.
Illness
If you become unwell during an examination, raise your hand and inform an invigilator. We will make any necessary arrangements to assist you.
The recommendation from all of the exam boards is that, even if you are feeling unwell you should come to school and sit your examination to the best of your ability. An application forspecial consideration may be applied for and we can make reasonable adjustments for your circumstances on the day.
Absence
If, in the unlikely circumstance you miss an examination entirely without a reasonable explanation, you CANNOT take the missed examination and it will be ungraded.
If you are too ill to come to school (i.e., if you require emergency medical care) you must of course put your health first. Should you be too unwell to sit an examination and you are at home, then you or your parent/carer must telephone the school and leave a message with the School Receptionist for the attention of Mrs Loates. This procedure applies to each individual examination.
If you miss an exam due to illness you must provide a Medical Certificate from your doctor stating explicitly that you were too unwell to attend school. The Medical Certificate must be forwarded to Mrs Loates in order for her to make a request for Special Consideration. The Medical Certificate will be used as evidence. This application must be received by the examining board no more than five days after the affected examination. JCQ reserve the right to grant or refuse the application.
COMMUNICATION
All communication about examinations will be done through your school email account, never your home email address. Please make sure you are able to log in to your account. If you have forgotten your password, please email IThelpdesk@swps.org.uk who will reset it for you. You will also need this for any post results services like reviews of marking or access to scripts, even if you have left the school. Please make sure your inbox is not full as you may miss important information.
EXAM RESULTS
Examination results will be emailed to students using school email accounts after 8:00am on:
A level - Thursday 14 August 2025
GCSE - Thursday 21 August 2025
ENQUIRIES ABOUT RESULTS
Listed below are the Post Results Services which will be available once you have received your exam results.
Clerical Re-Check
This is a re-check of all clerical procedures leading to the issue of a result.
A clerical check of a marked paper makes sure:
• All the pages were marked
• All the marks were counted
• The result matches the marks on the paper
The outcome of the clerical recheck will be reported along with a statement of the total marks awarded for each unit, or component, included in the enquiry.
Priority Review of Marking (A level qualifications only)
This is a Priority Review of the original marking to ensure that the mark scheme has been applied correctly for students whose place at a university, or other higher education institution, depends on the outcome.
Reviewers will not re-mark the script. They will only act to correct any errors identified in the original marking.
Review of marking
This is a Review of the original marking to ensure that the mark scheme has been applied correctly.
Reviewers will not re-mark the script. They will only act to correct any errors identified in the original marking
Copy of Reviewed Script – Post Review of Marking
This service is for students who would like to obtain a copy of their script following a Review of Marking.
**This service needs to be requested when you submit your paper for a review of marking.
Priority copy of script (A level qualification only)
This is a priority service to request a copy of your script to help decide if a review of marking should be applied for.
Photocopy of Script
Students may use this service if they would like a copy of their original script (usually emailed in PDF format) or if they have agreed to allow the school to use their script for Teaching and Learning purposes.
All students will be written to after the release of results to obtain their consent for Heads of Departments to access all of their scripts.
Further information about the fees for each service will be available on Firefly once they have been released.
If there are any problems during the examination period, please do not hesitate to speak to Mrs Loates in the exam’s office.
