KS4: Summer Exams Checklist 2024 (Admin)

We have produced a handy checklist with steps to work through on Results Day to ensure your Exam grades are uploaded and set up correctly.

1 / PREPARATION FOR SUMMER EXAMS CHECKLIST (HELP > Results Day & Exams > KS4 - Preparation for Summer Exams 2024)

• Ensure you have worked through and completed each step listed in the KS4 - Preparation for Summer Exams 2024 checklist and opted into Sisra's 23/24 Exams Data Collaboration in advance (steps covered in the preparation checklist linked above).
  
  
• Double check other grades data, such as targets, is up to date for all students to ensure useful comparisons.

2 / EXAM GRADES (DATA > KS3/4 and cohort > GRADES > Uploads > Exams)  

     a / BANKED EXAM GRADES

• Check you have uploaded your students’ banked Exams (e.g. early entries or offsite exams).
  
  
• Ensure the 'Exams Date' of each file reflects when these were sat (to determine first entry rules), or the results date on individual grades (where appropriate).

     b / SUMMER RESULTS

• Prepare your summer results file in Excel using the Sisra Analytics Excel Add-In (4 column list including Student ID, Student Name, Qualification, and Grade, saved as CSV (MS DOS) file).
  
  
• Upload Summer results into GRADES > Uploads > Exams.
  
  
• Set any new qualifications to ‘New’ on the Confirm Upload Qualification Names page.

Tip - You can use Find & Replace or filtering in Excel to rename your qualification names to match those on the Matching page, making the upload process smoother!

3 / ASSIGN QUALIFICATIONS TO CLASSES (STUDENTS > Classes)

• If you have uploaded grades for new qualifications, ensure they’re assigned to the correct set of classes.

4 / MATCHING (GRADES > Matching)

To amend the Matching page, click ‘Edit’. You should then have one row per qualification:       

• Ensure all appropriate qualifications are set to Yes in the Include column.
  
  
• For access to the Data Collaboration (once released), ensure all qualifications listed underneath current have ‘Use QN’ enabled and are matched to the correct QN or qualification in the QN Title column.
  
  If any of your KS4 qualifications are not returned when entering the QN, this suggests they are unapproved. Enter ‘Unapproved [Subject]’ into the QN Title column, e.g. ‘Unapproved Maths’ or ‘Unapproved None’ to match them. For more information on unapproved qualifications, click here.

  If you have any KS3 subjects listed under current which you do not have QN codes for, you can set these to No in the Current column (last column on the right), to ensure they do not stop your access to the collaborative data.
  
  

• Once saved, check and resolve (if applicable) qualifications displaying in the DC Exams Check column.
  
  This icon suggests a mismatch between the Grade Method setup in use (in the KS4 Exams term of your EAP), compared to the expected method based on the QN entered. Click on the icon for a helpful pop out comparison.

  If the points differ for official grades, you must resolve this for your figures to be accurate. For help with this, see our article here. Note – a Level 1 Pass (L1P) is worth different points in a BTEC First Award (1.75) than a BTEC Tech Award (1.25). Please ensure your L1 grades are setup with the correct points for the qualification!

• Students taking Combined Science? Ensure this is set up as ONE row on your Matching page, set to an EAP using a split/double grade method and link it to the correct Combined Science QN.

• Students taking GCSEs and AS Levels in the same subject area? Ensure the AS is set up as a separate qualification to the GCSE, and link the AS qualification to its correct QN.

If you have any new qualifications (not yet set up on your Matching page for the cohort), see our dedicated article here for a quick overview on how to set them up.

5 / GRADES MANAGEMENT (GRADES > Grades Management > Exams)

• Ensure the grade counts and grade methods are correct for each qualification. 

• Address any setup issues flagged by warning icons, e.g. Missing Student Data, Missing Class Data, Grade Not In Method, and Subgrades Not Valid In This Dataset.

You will not be able to publish the Exams data set until all issues are resolved!

6 / PUBLISH REPORTS (STUDENTS, KS2 / EAP and GRADES menus)

• Publish STUDENTS
  
  
• Publish KS2 / EAP
  
  
• In the GRADES menu, publish the Exams data set, with the latest DfE Rules (‘2022’), and recommended '2023' A8 and VA Estimates (until the '2024 Collab - Exams' estimates are released at a later date).
  
  
• Double check your other data sets and assessments have been published with the same rules/estimates, for consistent comparisons.

Important - Analytics will temporarily place your Exams report for Current Y11 (23/24) under Embargo upon publishing from 12am on Wednesday 21st August 2024, until 8am the following day! This will LOCK the report so only staff with ‘View Embargo Reports’ enabled will have access during this time (by default, this will be ‘Admins’).

7 / CHECK YOUR FIGURES (REPORTS > KS3/4 > Y11 (23/24) > Year 11 Data > Exams > Whole Cohort)

• Check for unexpected or blank figures in the Headlines area (e.g. Cohort, Pupils included, etc.) and resolve these.

Looking for a handy overview of the KS3/4 Reports for you and your colleagues? We’ve produced a series of articles which summarise key functionality (Exam proformas, headline measures, comparing to Teacher-assessed grades, grade ranges, etc.), which may be useful when analysing your KS4 Exams!

Thanks for reading!