All students of compulsory school age have a right to access Examination Courses or other forms of assessment.

Each student will be assessed on his or her own merits and situation in order to plan which course or courses to follow. Pupil Referral Service staff, however, will endeavour to maximise life chances for each student so that they progress educationally and achieve success.

Types of qualification offered by the Pupil Referral Service

GCSE

GCSE is the main qualification taken by students of the end of Keystage 4 (14-16 year old students). A subject based qualification, grades A* to G are available. In most subjects tiered papers are provided with a limited grade range available dependent on the level entered.

As well as full time courses, there are short courses, which are half the content of the full course.

This subject based Entry Level Qualification is targeted at students normally, but not exclusively, at Keystage 4 who are working at a level below that required from GCSE Grade G.

Unit Award Scheme

The AQA Unit Award Scheme and Asdan Awards are a way of recognising the achievement of students, not only in traditional areas of the curriculum but also in areas such as key skills, enrichment activities, personal development and PSHCE. The scheme is based on a unit or modular approach with courses of study being presented by students as a series of individual units of work. Each unit is a valued educational study in itself and can be linked to other units, either in the same subject area or across the curriculum. As students successfully complete a unit, their achievement is recognised through the issuing of a Unit Award Statement. The scheme can be used across the full ability range.

Diploma and Foundation Skills Qualifications.

The PRS staff are aware of the Diploma Qualification and all it’s component parts. The PRS will not be offering the Diploma as part of the selection of qualifications offered. However, in the event of a pupil who is following a Diploma course and is referred to the PRS then an alternative venue (school or otherwise) will be investigates so that that Young persons learning journey can continue. If this is not possible then an alternative similar course will be investigated.

The PRS is registered with AQA for Diploma Aggregation should the need arise.

The PRS offers many component parts to the FSQ – a wide range of academic qualifications, quality vocational courses and good quality work placements. Primarily FSQ’s are offered at Level 1 but very occasionally they may be offered at Level 2 but care must be taken to offer genuine progression and not to give false ideals to the learner

J. Goldring (Assistant Headteacher & Examinations Officer)