One thing to bear in mind when uploading Exam grades for qualifications that do not carry Attainment 8 points, is that you can only select Grade Methods set up with Attainment 8 points for the ‘KS4 Exams’ term within an EAP. Grade Methods for use in KS3/4 can be created via CONFIG. > Grade Methods > KS3/4 Methods.
There are two options for setting up Grade Methods for qualifications without Attainment 8 points.
Option 1 / Include a ‘dummy’ grade in your method containing points
When creating a Grade Method that uses Attainment 8 points, at least one grade must carry points. Therefore you could include a grade in your method that won’t be used but does have points. For example, below we have added an N/A grade and given this 1 point. This grade won’t be uploaded for any students, but it will appear as a column in the ‘Overview’ reports.
Option 2 / Enter points to 3 decimal places
The other option you could use is to give one grade the points of ‘0.001’, and as points are displayed to 2 decimal places in the reports, the actual points will display as 0.
For more information on how to create grade methods, see our dedicated article - KS3/4: Creating Grade Methods (Admin).
Before completing the Matching page, you will need to create an EAP using this new Grade Method. |
Matching Page
Once the Grade Method and the EAP are ready, the Matching page can be completed. It is crucial that the KS4 MEASURE column of the Matching page is set to Unapproved. This will ensure that the student ‘entries’ for these qualifications will not count towards school performance, in line with DfE guidance. An example of Entry Level English is shown below:
Note: If you have 'Use QN' enabled, you can type 'Unapproved [Subject]' in the QN Title column. For example, Unapproved English, Unapproved Religious Studies etc. to match them. This will ensure your Data Collaboration setup can be completed, if you are opted in. |
Residual Exclusion
These qualifications will impact your residuals. However, you can use the Residual Exclusion option in the reports to view residuals without these qualifications included. In the REPORT, click on the 'Residual Exclusion' tab and then click 'Add Exclusion'. You can then place a tick in the Exclude column for the qualification you want to exclude and then click 'Apply'.
Thanks for reading!