To: The Principals of post-primary Schools and Directors of Institutes of Further and Higher Education

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1 Circular S/IF/22/15 April/2015 To: The Principals of post-primary Schools and Directors of Institutes of Further and Higher Education For circulation to: Examinations Officers and Heads of Department GUIDANCE FOR CENTRES GCE AS/A LEVEL ENTRY, RE-SIT AND AGGREGATION RULES CANDIDATES BEGINNING COURSES IN SEPTEMBER 2013 OR AFTER* * NOTE: For candidates who began a GCE AS/A Level course prior to September 2013 existing rules still apply. Attached with this circular are two copies of CCEA GCE AS/A LEVEL ENTRY, RE-SIT AND AGGREGATION RULES FOR CANDIDATES BEGINNING COURSES IN SEPTEMBER 2013 OR AFTER GUIDANCE FOR CENTRES. These guidance notes outline changes to CCEA GCE AS/A Level entry, re-sit and aggregation procedures. These changes are to implement the Minister for Education s policy decisions for Northern Ireland GCE AS/A Level qualifications following a consultation exercise. The guidance notes should be read alongside the JCQ document GCE Examinations Entry, Aggregation and Certification Procedures (effective from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015) available on the JCQ website The main points are summarised below, however centres must ensure that all relevant staff have read and are familiar with all revised procedures: AVAILABILITY All AS and A2 units will be available in ONLY. No AS or A2 units will be available in January; RE-SITTING UNITS Students may re-sit an individual unit ONCE only. This applies to all AS and A2 units; RE-TAKING A QUALIFICATION (FRESH START) A qualification may be taken more than once. However if units have been attempted twice then candidates will have to re-enter all units and the appropriate cash-in(s). If you have any queries regarding the content of this circular please contact: Kevin Henderson at CCEA on: (028) ext: khenderson@ccea.org.uk

2 GCE AS/A Level Issued April 2015 Guidance Notes Re-sit and Aggregation Rules for Candidates Beginning Courses in September 2013 or After

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4 CCEA GCE AS/A LEVEL ENTRY, RE-SIT AND AGGREGATION RULES FOR CANDIDATES BEGINNING COURSES IN SEPTEMBER 2013 OR AFTER. Guidance Notes These guidance notes apply to CCEA AS and A Level specifications only. They are to be used with all CCEA GCE courses/specifications (including revised specifications being introduced for first teaching in September 2016) which began in September 2013 or after until further notice. This guide should be read alongside the JCQ document GCE Examinations Entry, Aggregation and Certification Procedures (effective from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015) available on the JCQ website CCEA s changes to existing rules are outlined below. GENERAL RULES 1. Availability All AS and A2 units will be available in ONLY. No AS or A2 units will be available in January; Subject level cash-ins for AS and A Level will be available in ONLY. 2. Re-sitting Units Students may re-sit an individual unit ONCE only. This applies to all AS and A2 units; The better uniform mark score from the two attempts will be used in calculating the final overall grade; Options within an assessment unit and optional units within a specification are treated as separate units with regard to re-sits. 3. Cashing In Cashing in is the term used when a student requests an overall qualification grade for a subject and Level. This will be arrived at by aggregating all eligible units for the subject and level and will result in a certification of that grade. GCE AS Students: may cash in on completion of all AS units usually at the end of year 13; may repeat one or more AS units in the following summer and request a revised AS cash-in; 1 CCEA/FO/2545/01

5 may make a fresh start if still wishing to improve AS qualification grade after all units have been re-sat once - see Section 4 Re-Taking A Qualification (Fresh Start) below. Units may only be re-sat ONCE. GCE A Level Students: may enter AS units, typically at the end of year 13, and either use these uniform marks towards A Level cash-in or resit one or more AS units in year 14 to try to improve their uniform mark(s); may enter A2 units, typically in year 14, and combine these with their highest UMS for AS units, from either year 13 or from year 14, if they have decided to re-sit these, and request an A Level cash-in; may, after cash-in, repeat one or more of A2 units once and combine these with their best AS uniform marks and request a revised A Level cash-in; may make a fresh start if still wishing to improve grade after all units have been resat once see Section 4 Re-Taking A Qualification (Fresh Start) below. Units may only be re-sat ONCE. 4. Re-taking a Qualification (Fresh Start) A qualification may be taken more than once. However if all units have been attempted twice then candidates will have to re-enter all units and the appropriate cash-in(s). NOTE: When re-taking a qualification, a student may have up to two attempts at each unit. However no results from units taken prior to the fresh start can be used in aggregating the new grade(s) (see Appendix 1 for a worked example). 5. Frequently Asked Questions What if the student is absent? It is the result of, not the entry for, an assessment unit that counts. A student who enters for a unit but is absent from the examination has not used up one of his/her two possible attempts. However, if a cash-in is requested, absence from an assessment unit will be treated as a result of zero marks for that unit to enable the award of a grade. How long will the individual unit results be valid? The unit results remain valid during the shelf life of the specification. However it must be noted that if a qualification is re-taken after cash-in, no results from units taken prior to the fresh start can be used in aggregating the new grade(s). Is there a terminal requirement as in GCSE unitised qualifications? No. There is no stipulation on when units are taken and/or cash-in requested. 2

6 Appendix 1 Worked Example Illustrating Rules Below is a summary of a candidate s progress through a specification over 3 years, beginning in summer 2014 and continuing to summer The specification illustrated has a total of 200 uniform marks (UMS) available for AS and a total of 400 UMS for A Level. Summer 2014 Candidate 1 enters units AS1 and AS2 in summer 2014, achieving the uniform mark scores (UMS) noted in Table A, and cashes in at AS subject level achieving grade B. Table A (red font represents unit results used for aggregation of grades) 2014 AS1 AS2 A21 A22 AS Cash-in A Level Cash-in 80 UMS 75 UMS 155 (B) Summer 2015 Candidate re-enters AS1 scoring a higher uniform mark than their previous attempt and so this is used in summer 2015 AS and A Level cash-ins. They also re-enter AS2 but score a lower uniform mark (74) than their previous attempt and so their previous higher uniform mark (75) from summer 2014 is used in the aggregation of AS and A Level subject grades. Table B illustrates this. Table B (red font represents unit results used for aggregation of grades) AS1 AS2 A21 A22 AS Cash-in A Level Cash-in 80 UMS 75 UMS 86 UMS 74 UMS 71 UMS 80 UMS 161 (A) 312 (B) After cashing in this candidate wishes to improve their A Level grade. They now have 2 options: Option 1 (shown in Table C) Re-sit units A21 and A22 only in summer 2016 this is permissible as these units have only been sat once previously and cash-in alongside existing best AS1 and AS2 results (as these AS units have already been re-sat, a second re-sit is not permissible here); 3

7 Table C (red font represents unit results used for aggregation of grades) AS1 AS2 A21 A22 AS Cash-in A Level Cash-in 80 UMS 75 UMS 86 UMS 74 UMS 71 UMS 80 UMS 161 (A) 312 (B) Cannot enter Cannot enter 84 UMS 79 UMS N/A 325 (A) Each unit has been re-taken once and the best result from the two attempts at each unit has been used in the aggregation of AS and A Level subject grades. Option 2 (Shown in Table D) Retake the entire qualification in summer 2016 (Fresh Start) by entering all units and cash-ins in doing so no previous results will be considered in the aggregation of AS and A Level subject grades. Table D - (red font represents unit results used for aggregation of grades) AS1 AS2 A21 A22 AS Cash-in A Level Cash-in 80 UMS 75 UMS 86 UMS 74 UMS 71 UMS 80 UMS FRESH START NO RESULTS ACHIEVED PREVIOUSLY MAY BE USED IN AGGREGATING GRADE UMS 76 UMS 84 UMS 79 UMS 159 (B) 322 (A) Candidate re-enters all units and cash-ins (a fresh start). This means we can only now consider summer 2016 results when aggregating AS and A Level subject grades. No previous results will be considered. Therefore even though the candidate has achieved higher uniform marks previously for units AS1 and A22 these cannot be used in the aggregation of subject grades in summer

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