Uniform, Equipment and Water Bottles

You must wear your full, normal school uniform for all your examinations.

The Link Academy provides all the equipment needed for the examinations. Learners should not be bringing their own equipment into the examination. If they do, this will be checked over by our invigilators to make sure it meets examination requirements.

Only clear plastic water bottles are allowed in the examinations room.  Labels should be removed.

Mobile phones and other electronic devices

The use or possession of: mobile phones, watches, music players, headphones or any other type of electronic communication or storage device is strictly not allowed in examination rooms or isolation rooms. These are not permitted under any circumstances, even if turned off and in a bag. If a learner is discovered with a mobile phone or other device, even if it is turned off, they will be reported and will usually face disqualification.

Notes and markings

If you have any revision notes or other pieces of paper on you (e.g. in your pockets) ensure you hand these in or put them in your bag before the examination. Make sure you have no markings on your hands, arms, clothing or equipment. All such markings, notes and messages discovered after the start of the examination will be reported to the examination board and you will usually face disqualification.

Being late

It is very important that you are not late for your examinations as your paper might be disqualified. If you are going to be late you should telephone the school and make your way in as quickly as possible. You are strongly advised that you remain under the supervision of your parent/carer until you are handed over to a member of the school’s staff. You might be allowed to start your examination late, but this will be at the discretion of the school. If you are very late for your examination then you will usually be disqualified.

Missing an examination

You must attend all the examinations that are shown on your individual candidate timetable. Missing an examination for any reason will usually result in being awarded a zero mark (and possibly a charge).

If you have severe illness you should telephone the school as soon as possible of the morning on the examination. You will usually need to provide a doctor’s note/medical letter and the school will explain when this is required. In some cases the school may be willing to apply for special consideration (see below).

Special consideration

If something has seriously affected your performance in an examination (i.e. a death in the family), or has caused you to miss an entire examination then, in some cases, the school may apply for special consideration. It is important to let the school know quickly about any such occurrence and evidence will be required.