St Joseph's Academy – East Ayrshire

Dear Parents and Carers,

SQA Exams 2022

At the time of writing, it is still the intention of the SQA that exams will go ahead this year. The SQA will continue to monitor public health advice. The exam diet starts on Tuesday 26 April and finishes on Wednesday 1^st June. You can find the full SQA Exam timetable and details of the MyExams app and personal timetable builder here.

If your child is entitled to extra time during exams, they may have slightly different start and end times. These will be confirmed by our Support for Learning department. It is your child’s responsibility to ensure they know the start time and location of all SQA Exams.

Study Leave

S4 Pupils who have two or more National 5 Exams and all S5/6 Pupils will be granted Study Leave during the exam diet. However, we encourage all young people to continue to attend school to study in a quiet and structured environment. Class teachers will be available to pupils during the exam diet and school transport and catering will run as normal.

If your child is studying an internally assessed course from the list below, they may still have coursework to complete. This means they must continue to attend classes during Study Leave in order to complete the required assessments.

• National 3 or 4 courses
• Freestanding Units at National 5, Higher or Advanced Higher
• Group Awards and NPAs such as Cyber Security, Games Development, Sports & Recreation, Health Sector, Travel & Tourism, Creative Industries, Team Sports or Mental Health & Wellbeing.

Revision Support 2022

At the start of the 2021/22 session, the SQA made significant alterations to course assessments. This was to help reduce the volume of assessment for pupils. In some subjects, this involved the removal of certain topics or an assignment.

In March 2022, the SQA released a further programme of revision support for all subjects where sitting an exam is necessary. This information has been shared with pupils by class teachers. In some subjects, this extends to a list of topics that will not be assessed or relevant past paper questions. In others, the support resembles a guide on how to approach the final exam which some pupils may feel is similar to advice already shared by teachers. The school is not responsible for the content of the SQA Revision support.

You can find the revision support materials here and can access individual subject pages to read or print the revision guides.

Appeals Service 2022

In 2022, all learners will continue to have free direct access to the appeals service and a priority service will also be available for those applying to university, college, training or employment.

Learners will receive their SQA Results on Tuesday 9^th August. If they wish to appeal any of their grades they can do so, directly to the SQA. An appeal can only proceed if a learner achieves a lower grade than their teacher-submitted estimate. Learners will receive their estimated grades from the school in advance of the summer break, likely in mid-June.

This year’s appeals service will involve SQA appointees – practising teachers and lecturers – who will review alternative assessment evidence that learners have completed through the year.

Learners who have undergone consideration for the Exceptional Exam Circumstances Service will not be eligible for the Appeals service. This is because Exceptional Exam Circumstance consideration includes a review of the same alternative evidence that an appeal would consider.

Exam Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service 2022

The Examination Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service (EECCS) supports learners who are either:

• unable to attend the exam or prevented from completing the exam due to a personal circumstance outwith their control (such as a medical issue or testing positive for COVID-19 if self-isolation is still a public health requirement at the time of the Exam diet) or
• affected during the exam by a disruption, or other exam circumstance, reported by the chief invigilator

Learners are only eligible for EECCS consideration if:

• they have experienced a valid exam exceptional circumstance
• they have completed all the compulsory non-question paper components such as assignments and folios
• an estimate has been submitted for them
• alternative assessment evidence is available

The service is not available to learners who complete the exam, even if they feel they have underperformed due to a personal circumstance beyond their control. Learners who have underperformed relative to their estimate will be eligible for the 2022 appeals service.

You can find the answers to commonly asked questions about the Exceptional Circumstances Service 2022 provided by SQA here.

You can stay up to date with all information from the SQA on National Qualifications 2022 by accessing the parent & carer blog here.

Kind Regards,

Miss Quigley