Examinations – Entry & Process
For External Candidates please click here
Introduction
David Game College has been a recognised examination centre as long as the College has been in existence – since 1974. We are a centre for
• Edexcel
• AQA ( Assessment and Qualifications Alliance)
• OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations)
• WJEC (Welsh Joint Education Committee)
• CIE (Cambridge International Examinations).
Mike Kahn, the Academic Vice Principal, is also the Examinations Officer and has over 20 years’ experience of the role. He has encountered every conceivable problem a prospective candidate might encounter, and will almost always be able to come up with an instant answer. He maintains a very sharp focus on the vital link between what students are studying and tutors are teaching in relation to the specification being followed and the examinations taken both during and at the end of the course. Mike believes in guiding each student carefully and patiently through every stage of the examination entry process, to ensure that
• correct unit/subject/option codes are used, and that each entry is for a valid
combination of units.
• Statements of Entry are annotated to cover timetable clashes, to show 100%
correct information (subject and personal details), and to be distributed to students
well ahead of the examinations they relate to.
• every piece of coursework has the correct frontsheet and authentication statement,
and that work is marked by teachers and collated in good time to meet the
submission deadlines set by the awarding bodies
• students receive an efficient results and follow-up service meaning full and
unambiguous explanation of the declined grades procedure, enabling correct and
informed decisions to be made.
• applications for Access Arrangements (where relevant) are dealt with tactfully
and professionally
Key facts and process of entry
Our own students have to register for examinations by the following deadlines
November GCSE and IGCSE: by 25th September 2007.
January GCE AS/A Level: by 12th October 2007. Please note that if a grade from the previous June examination needs to be declined, this must be done no later than 20th September 2007.
June GCSE and IGCSE: by 14th February 2008.
June GCE AS/A Level: by 1st March 2008 for units which have not been taken in the previous
January session. Where students are waiting for results of January unit tests to be issued, they will be given until 19th March 2008 to decide whether or not to retake the unit in June..
Examination practice
All teachers at David Game College are expected to set regular timed tests, which in practice means approximately every fortnight throughout the term. In addition, full scale trial examinations are set at appropriate times of the academic year in relation to the dates of the real examinations. In both cases – tests and trial examinations – genuine past paper questions make up 100% of the material wherever possible.
Use of past papers
It is a standard feature of teaching at David Game College that use of relevant, recent past paper questions forms an integral part of the teaching, and is not an after-thought or panic response to the calendar after Easter, which happens in so many schools. We use these questions from September to the end of May as exemplar material, as homework assignments, and most importantly as the basis of regular timed tests and full scale trial examinations as described above. Evidence shows that the use of past papers is the most effective form of preparation for the final examinations.