Virtual GCSE results to cause real drama?

Members with GCSE students are reminded to read the document Delivery of GCSE Results - June 2010 from the Joint Council on Qualifications (JCQ), which informs centres of changes to the publication dates of GCSE results in August 2010.

For this year only, electronic results will be supplied to centres on Monday, 23 August and can be issued to candidates on Tuesday, 24 August. Hard copy results will not arrive until 26 August and centres will need to decide whether to open again to hand out hard copies to students or whether to post them, if students need them before the beginning of term and are not returning to school.

Electronic copies printed by the centre are as valid as hard copies and should be accepted by employers and colleges but it might be useful for schools to check acceptance of these with local colleges before the summer.

ASCL has been involved in discussions with JCQ, DCSF and others to ensure that this situation is not repeated in future years. If you have any queries or comments please contact Sue Kirkham at sue.kirkham@ascl.org.uk The document can be found at www.jcq.org.uk/exams_office/results and was sent to exam offices in the JCQ mailing. The publication also states that awarding bodies, with effect from the GCSE November 2010 examination series, intend to issue results only in electronic format.

JCQ has emphasised that there is no distinction between a consolidated results slip, generated from a centre's MIS system, and an individual awarding body's candidate statement of provisional results.

Both documents have the same status: they are interim and provisional documents. It is the candidate's certificates which are the final and definite record of their achievements.