ROSELYN HOUSE SCHOOL/ THE RHISE SERVICE 

Exams Internal Appeals Policy 

1. Internal Assessment Appeals  

2. External Exam Results 

Policy written by K Willacy 

September 2022 

Review date: September 2023 

Internal Appeals Policy for External Qualification  

This policy on appeals is in three parts:  

1.) Policy on Internal Assessments for External Qualifications.  

2.) Policy on External Assessments for External Qualifications [Enquiries about Results].  

1a) Policy on Internal Assessments for External Qualifications  

Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service is committed to ensuring that:  

• Internal assessments are conducted by members of the teaching staff who have the appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills and who have been trained in this area.  

• Assessment evidence provided by the candidates is produced and authenticated according to the requirements of the Awarding Body for the subject concerned.  

• The consistency of internal assessment will be maintained by internal moderation and standardisation.  

• All student work being assessed by teaching staff for external qualifications is carried out fairly, consistently and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the specification relating to the qualification.  

“If you copy the words or ideas and show your sources in references and a bibliography, this will be considered as cheating or malpractice.” 

Teachers have the right to reject a student’s work on the grounds of malpractice if any of the above regulations are broken.  

The student, parent/carer has the right to appeal against any decisions to reject a candidate’s internally assessed work on the grounds of malpractice.  

Key staff involved in internal appeals procedures: 

1b.) Appeals against internal assessment decisions (centre assessed marks)  

This procedure confirms Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service compliance with JCQ’s General Regulations for Approved Centres 2022/23, Section 5.3 that the centre has in place “a written internal appeals procedure” This relates to internal assessment decisions and ensures that details of this procedure are communicated, made widely available and accessible to all candidates. It informs candidates of their centre assessed marks. A candidate is allowed to request a review of the centre’s marking before marks are submitted to the awarding body.  

Certain components of GCSE qualifications (GCSE controlled assessments, GCSE non-examination assessments, Entry Level and Functional Skills) that contribute to the final grade of the qualification are internally assessed (marked) by the subject teacher. The marks awarded (the internal assessment decisions) are then submitted by the deadline set by the awarding body for external moderation. Deadlines are set by the awarding bodies.  

Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service is committed to ensuring that whenever its staff mark candidates’ work this is done fairly, consistently and in accordance with the awarding body’s specification and subject-specific associated documents.  

Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service ensures that all centre staff follow a robust Non-Examination Assessment Policy for the management of Entry Level, Functional Skills and GCSE non-examination assessments, including the marking and quality assurance processes which relevant teaching staff are required to follow.  

Candidates’ work will be marked by staff who have appropriate knowledge, understanding and skill, and who have been trained in this activity. Heathfield is committed to ensuring that work produced by candidates is authenticated in line with the requirements of the awarding body. Where a number of subject teachers are involved in marking candidates’ work, internal moderation and standardisation will ensure consistency of marking.  

On being informed of their centre assessed marks, if a candidate believes that the above procedures were not followed in relation to the marking of they/his/her/ work, or that the assessor has not properly applied the mark scheme to they/his/her marking, then they/he/she may make use of this appeals procedure to consider whether to request a review of the centre’s marking.  

1. Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service will ensure that candidates are informed of their centre assessed marks so that they may request a review of the centre’s marking before marks are submitted to the awarding body.  

2. Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service will inform candidates that they may request copies of materials (for example, a copy of their marked work, the relevant specification, the mark scheme and any other associated subject-specific documents) to assist them in considering whether to request a review of the centre’s marking of the assessment.  

3. Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service will, having received a request for copies of materials, promptly make them available to the candidate within 5 calendar days.  

4. Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service will provide candidates with sufficient time in order to allow them to review copies of materials and reach a decision.  

5. Requests for reviews of marking must be made in writing within 5 calendar days of receiving copies of the requested materials by completing the internal appeals form – as stated on the chart. Requests will not be accepted after this deadline.  

6. Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service will allow 5 calendar days for the review to be carried out, to make any necessary changes to marks and to inform the candidate of the outcome, all before the awarding body’s deadline.  

7. Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service will ensure that the review of marking is carried out by an assessor who has appropriate competence, has had no previous involvement in the assessment of that candidate and has no personal interest in the review.  

8. Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service will instruct the reviewer to ensure that the candidate’s mark is consistent with the standard set by the centre.  

9. The candidate will be informed in writing of the outcome of the review of the centre’s marking.  

10. The outcome of the review of the centre’s marking will be made known to the head of centre and will be logged as a complaint on the complaint log form (see appendix B). A written record will be kept and made available to the awarding body upon request. After candidates’ work has been internally assessed, it is moderated by the awarding body to ensure consistency in marking between centres. The moderation process may lead to mark changes. This process is outside the control of Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service and is not covered by this procedure. The mark submitted to the awarding body is subject to change and should therefore be considered provisional.  

Important note:  

The moderation process carried out by the awarding bodies may result in a mark change, either upwards or downwards, even after an internal review. 

2.) External Exam Appeals  

Appeals against the centre’s decision not to support a clerical check, review of marking, a review of moderation or an appeal.  

This procedure confirms Roselyn House School/ the RHISE Service compliance with JCQ’s General Regulations for Approved Centres 2022-23, Section 5.3 that the centre has in place “a written internal appeals procedure”. This will manage disputes when a candidate disagrees with a centre decision not to support a clerical check, a review of marking, a review of moderation or an appeal.  

Following the issue of results awarding bodies make post-result services available. Full details of these services, internal deadlines for requesting a service and fees charged are provided by the Exams Officer and will be made available on request.  

If the centre or a candidate (or they/his/her parent/carer) has a concern and believes a result may not be accurate, an enquiry about the result may be requested.  

Enquiries about results (EARs) offers three services:  

• Service 1 – clerical re-check.  

• Service 2 – review of marking.  

• Service 3 – review of moderation (this service is not available to an individual candidate).  

Written candidate consent (informed consent via candidate email is acceptable) is required in all cases before a request for an EAR service 1 or 2 is submitted to the awarding body as with these services candidates’ marks and subject grades may be lowered. Candidate consent can only be collected after the publication of results.  

3.) Policy on External Assessments for External Qualifications (Enquiries about Results – EARs)  

Any student who wants to query a mark/grade awarded by an Awarding Body upon issue of results should follow the following procedure:  

• Contact the Examinations Officer or Deputy Headteacher as soon as possible (but at least 5 working days before the published deadline for EARs) to discuss mark/grade.  

• The Examination Officer will advise on the options available to query the mark/grade and the costs involved, if any. 

• Students should be aware that EARs can result in marks/grades being raised, confirmed or lowered. Students must sign a consent form to confirm that they understand the consequence of an EAR. Consent forms will be issued by the Examination Officer.  

• The exam’s officer and subject teacher will review the students’ marks/grades and agree appropriate action. They will examine the breakdown of marks, the grade boundaries and the students’ predicted grades.  

If the Department agrees to support the EAR:  

The request, together with the students consent form, should be made in writing/email to the Examination Officer, before the published deadline for EARs. The cost of the enquiry will be met by the examination budget.  

If the Department does not agree to support the EAR:  

a. A student may appeal against not to support an EAR. Appeals should be made in writing to the Examination Officer, at least 5 days before the published deadline for EARs. The appeal should state, in detail, the reason(s) for the appeal. This appeal should be signed and dated and should include the daytime contact telephone number of the student, parent/ carer. The appeal information will be reviewed by the Examination Officer and another member of the Senior Leadership team; the outcome of the appeal will be communicated by telephone and letter within 24 hours of receipt. This decision is final.  

b. If the centre does not support the EAR the student may still proceed with the EAR but all cost involved may be paid by the student at the time the EAR is made. Requests must be made in person to the Examination Officer before the published deadline for EARs. 

c. Outcomes following EARs will be forwarded by the Examinations Officer to the student/subject teacher as soon as they have been received from the Awarding Bodies.  

Following the EAR outcome, an external appeals process is available if the head of centre remains dissatisfied with the outcome and believes there are grounds for appeal. The JCQ publications Post-Results and JCQ Appeals Booklet (A guide to awarding bodies’ appeals processes) will be consulted to determine the acceptable grounds for a preliminary appeal.  

Where the head of centre is satisfied after receiving the EAR outcome, but the candidate (or their/his/her parent/carer) believes there are grounds for a preliminary appeal to the awarding body, a further internal appeal may be made to the head of centre. Following this, the head of centre’s decision as to whether to proceed with a preliminary appeal will be based upon the acceptable grounds as detailed in the JCQ Appeals Booklet. Candidates or parents/carers are not permitted to make direct representations to an awarding body.  

The internal appeals form (Appendix A) should be completed and submitted to the centre within 5 calendar days of the notification of the outcome of the EAR. Subject to the head of centre’s decision, this will allow the centre to process the preliminary appeal and submit to the awarding body within the required 30 calendar days of receiving the outcome of the enquiry about results process. If applicable, awarding body fees which may be charged for the preliminary appeal must be paid to the centre by the appellant before the preliminary appeal is submitted to the awarding body (fees are available from the exams officer). If the appeal is upheld by the awarding body, this fee will be refunded by the awarding body and repaid to the appellant by the centre. 

Further guidance to inform and implement appeals procedures  

JCQ publications  

□ General Regulations for Approved Centres https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/general-regulations  

□ Post-Results Services  

https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/post-results-services  

□ JCQ Appeals Booklet  

https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/appeals  

□ Notice to Centres - Reviews of marking (centre assessed marks)  

https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/coursework  

https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/non-examination-assessments 

□ Notice to Centres – informing candidates of their centre assessed marks https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/non-examination-assessments  

Ofqual publications  

□ GCSE (9 to 1) qualification-level conditions and requirements https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-9-to-1-qualification-level-conditions 

Internal Appeals form Appendix A 

Appeal against an internal assessment decision and/ or request for a review of results 

Appeal against the centre’s decision not to support a clerical re-check, a review of results, a review of moderation or an appeal 

This form must be signed, dated and returned to the exam’s officer (kirsty@roselynhouseschool.co.uk) to the timescale indicated in the relevant appeals procedure. 

Complaints and appeals log Appendix B 

On receipt, all complaints/ appeals are assigned a reference number and logged. Outcome and outcome date is also recorded. 

The outcome of any reviews of the centre’s marking will be made known to the head of centre. 

A written record of the review will be kept and logged as an appeal, so information can be easily made available to an awarding body upon request. The awarding body will be informed if the centre does not accept the outcome of the review- this will be noted on this log. 

The following forms are available from the exam’s officer or by the following link 

Appendix A – Clerical rechecks, reviews of marking and appeals  

– Candidate consent form 

Appendix B – Access to Scripts  

– Candidate consent form for access to and use of examination scripts 

Post-Results-Service_June22_FINAL-1.pdf (jcq.org.uk) 

Appendix C: