Students prepare to receive standardised A and AS level results for 2020

Students and pupils in Bridgend County Borough will find out what their standardised A and AS level results are tomorrow (Thursday 13 August).

Schools have already contacted parents, guardians, carers and learners with details of how they will receive their results, which have been calculated by the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC) exam board using a standardisation process following the cancellation of examinations due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The standardisation process works in several stages and is designed to provide the most likely grade that might have been achieved under normal non-pandemic circumstances.

In the first stage, schools and colleges work out rank orders and estimated grades for each learner. They base this on a wide range of information which includes coursework, mock exams, classroom work, homework, practical work and teacher assessments.

Once this has been completed, the estimated grades for each learner are sent to the WJEC for the next stage of the process. The WJEC takes all of this information and applies a standardisation procedure which ensures consistency across grades while avoiding extreme under or over-estimations.

The last step in the process sees the WJEC using the rank orders provided by schools and colleges to allocate a final grade to each learner.

Because of the unusual arrangements for 2020, exam marking cannot be reviewed in the normal way for anyone who may be dissatisfied with their standardised grades.

Instead, learners will be able to ask their school or college to check that there were no errors in the submission of their data, and schools and colleges will be able to appeal to the WJEC on the learner’s behalf.

I’d like to wish all of our pupils and students the very best of luck for their results tomorrow.

The cancellation of formal exams and the WJEC’s use of the standardisation process are a direct result of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, and Bridgend County Borough Council will continue to do all that it can to support our local schools and learners.

Councillor Charles Smith, Cabinet Member for Education and Regeneration

If you would like further details, the Qualifications Wales website features a set of frequently asked questions, details on the appeals process and more.