IGCSE results update 12.8.20

Dear Y12 Students, Parents and Guardians

I hope you have been enjoying your Y12 induction programme and are excited to be embarking on your IB Diploma and Careers-related courses. It was wonderful to see all your faces today!

In this email, I would like to address the release of I/GCSE grades, both those that have been released this week, and for those that will be released next week.

Firstly, the grades awarded will have no impact on your diploma choices. If these grades differ from your expected grades, it will make no difference to both subject options or whether you study SL or HL in those subjects. The most important thing to remember is that you worked to the best of your ability throughout Y10 and Y11, and the knowledge and skills you have attained will serve you well as you engage with your IB studies.

You have likely read in the press that the grades awarded in Scotland have been challenged and subsequently overturned by the government. These were for ‘Highers’, which are the equivalent to A Levels, or our IB Diploma. We are now waiting to see if similar action will be taken in England/Wales, where our GCSE exam boards reside, and are governed. There is much talk of this in the press, and the situation is therefore ongoing. We have also been informed by our examination boards of criteria for appeal for grades awarded. As the exam boards did not request any student work for assessment, no individual student appeals are possible. However, it is possible to appeal subject grades for the whole cohort. However, this involves analysing the data and meeting a very prescribed set of criteria.

Therefore, we need to take a step back and wait in the coming days for further developments from the UK. We will use this time to further analyze our data and decide on the best course of action. This will not only involve a formal appeal but likely correspondence with our boards outlining our concerns, where warranted, of the process of awarding grades to Sha Tin College students.

Thank you to those students and parents who have reached out to subject teachers, heads of faculty, or to Ms Wan and myself. We want you to know that we hear you and are doing all we can to support you.

I will be in touch in the coming week once as the situation evolves.

Thank you always for your patience and support.

Best Regards,
Kellie Fagan
Vice Principal