When external examinations are scheduled during a school emergency closure, every effort will be made for the examinations to go ahead.
Due to potential difficulties with travel arrangements it may be necessary to start the morning examination later than the time previously specified, and the afternoon examination to start earlier. The morning examinations will therefore start as close to 9.00am as possible (but no later than 9.30am) and 12.30pm (instead of 1.30pm) for afternoon examinations.
Students should in the first instance meet in the Portland Block where they will be registered. The decision on whether a student attends school will be at the discretion of the parents/guardians. Parents/guardians in this circumstance will be responsible for bringing and collecting students from school before and after the examination. Please be aware that school buses do not run on emergency closure days.
The awarding bodies do not allow schools the flexibility to change the times and date of specific examinations. If students therefore are unable to get to school safely to sit their examinations, it will be necessary for them to wait until the summer examinations series to do so.
A student who arrives late for the examination as a result of poor travelling conditions may be allowed the full time for the examination. However, in the case of a student who arrives more than one hour after the awarding body’s published starting time for an examination, the awarding body is unlikely to accept the work for marking.
In some rare circumstances the school could close during the course of the day, when only small numbers of exams and students are likely to be impacted. The school will remain partially open until examinations are completed. The decision of when to leave the school premises can be taken by the student. However, school buses will probably have left the school before the end of the examination and students will need to make appropriate arrangements for leaving the school site with their parents/guardians.
The Awarding Bodies will not refund the fees paid for any examination that is missed by students.