AQE information

Dear Parents,

I have received the following communication from AQE who wish to inform parents of the new updated procedures and timeline for Transfer Test Procedures.

The Board of AQE has decided to re-schedule the AQE assessment for the Saturdays of 21st and 28th November, and 12th December 2020.

Important points to note are highlighted below:

Procedure:

Parents and pupils will be encouraged to know that the three paper AQE assessment, with only the best two papers contributing to a candidate’s score, is designed to allow pupils to have an “off day”. In addition, the Age Standardisation procedure will take into account a lower overall level of performance, thus enabling a lower individual mark to achieve a standardised score of 100. The Special Circumstances procedure will also continue to apply for those pupils who have not performed to the expected standard and have experienced uniquely disadvantageous circumstances in the lead up to, or during, the test period.

Registration:

Registration has now moved to online registrations for candidates. AQE will be using an online Registration Form for the first time. The form is accessible from the website (www.aqe.org.uk). After registration opens on Thursday 14th May 2020, parents can complete an online form together with payment of the fee(£55).  An electronic version of the pupil’s photograph and a scanned copy of the original birth certificate can be uploaded to the online form. Please be patient when completing the form as this is the first time AQE have used it and there may be access issues in the early days of registration.

On completion of the form you will receive a confirmation email. Please note that special access arrangement documentation should not be uploaded to the online form, this can be sent in hard copy to the AQE Office. Whilst we strongly advise parents to register using the online form, a version of the form will be available on the AQE website which can be printed and completed by hand. The form can then be posted to the AQE Office. Please note that due to the lockdown conditions, paper forms received by the AQE Office will take much longer to process than the online forms.

Registration will now close on Friday 25th September 2020.

Places available in assessment centres:

Parents or guardians can choose in which of the participating schools they would prefer their child to sit the CEA. This does not need to be the school to which they intend to apply later for a place. The earlier children apply the more certain they can be of securing their first choice centre. If they leave their application until August or September, it becomes increasingly difficult to place them as centres fill up. It is essential, therefore, that parents place four centres in order of preference on the registration form. Places are particularly tight in urban areas and parents who have circumstances which make travelling difficult should submit a Registration Form early to prevent difficulties.

Late Registration:

A late entry fee will be imposed and AQE will process only registration forms and special access applications where the lateness can be justified by extenuating circumstances.  

Access Arrangements:

The Access Arrangements application form (ACC/20) can be downloaded from the AQE website along with the relevant Guidance Notes. These documents can also be obtained from the AQE Office when it reopens after lockdown. More information can be found in the Key Information Document and there are also FAQs specific to Access Arrangements available on our website, under the section ‘Access Arrangements’.

Cost and online payment:

The fee to sit the Assessment this year is £55 of which £35 is non-refundable if the CEA tests were to be, unfortunately, cancelled due to coronavirus.

Given the current situation, AQE strongly recommend that parents pay the registration fee online; further details can be found on the ‘Registration’ section of our website.

There will be no fee for children on Free School Meals when they provide confirmation of their entitlement from the Education Authority.

AQE cannot accept confirmation of Tax Credits as evidence, nor can we accept copies of the application copy sent by parents to the Education Authority.

Where the letter from the Education Authority is unavailable, and if you are happy to do so, we will accept a letter from your school confirming a child is currently on the Free School Meals register as proof of entitlement.

Results:

The results will be published on Saturday 30th January 2021.

GDPR compliance:

Due to GDPR compliance parents will have to ‘opt-in’ to allow AQE to send your child’s results to their Primary School. The Education Authority may be ready with an online admissions process for 2020/21 which would require pupil scores to be attached to the online form. For this reason, parents will also be asked to provide consent for the final scores and pupil details to be sent to the Education Authority. This information is only sent to schools and the Education Authority if parental consent has been provided. The opportunities to ‘opt-in’ can be found on the Registration Form.

If there are any further updates I will forward the information to you.

Kind Regards,

Suzann McCafferty

6. Results

The results will be published on Saturday 30th January 2021. We hope that the opportunity to receive the results directly by post at your home and by email, as well as at the School, has proved helpful. Some Principals have expressed a preference for receiving the results at a different time than Friday evening, so in order to gauge opinion I will email you separately at a later date offering different options (it will only be possible to send the results out at the same time to all Principals) with a simple majority vote accepted. I need to stress that the scores must not be divulged to candidates in advance of the postal delivery.

7. GDPR compliance

Due to GDPR compliance parents will have to ‘opt-in’ to allow us to send their child’s results to their Primary School. The Education Authority may be ready with an online admissions process for 2020/21 which would require pupil scores to be attached to the online form. For this reason, parents will also be asked to provide consent for the final scores and pupil details to be sent to the Education Authority. This information is only sent to schools and the Education Authority if parental consent has been provided. The opportunities to ‘opt-in’ can be found on the Registration Form.

Association for Quality Education Limited

Registered in N.I. Company No. NI070281