AQE update - P6 parents - AQE delayed by 2 weeks & registration process now begins...

P6 parents - please see extract from the CEO of AQE.

The Board of AQE has been closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and the real difficulties and uncertainty it has posed for parents, pupils and schools alike over recent weeks, particularly in relation to home schooling and pressures of work. To allow this year’s cohort of P6 pupils the opportunity to catch up with direct curriculum teaching, and after consultation with some Primary and Post Primary Principals, the Board wrote to the Minister of Education on 17thApril proposing to postpone the usual November AQE assessment until January 2021. I, along with the Chairman, Mr Ian Noad, engaged with officials of the Department on 24thApril and 1stMay, and with the Minister and officials on 5thMay, to explore the possibility of accommodating such a delay within the time frame of the official Transfer process. AQE acknowledges the Minister’s firm support for academic selection and both parties examined in good faith a number of differing options. However, for logistical reasons, it was reluctantly recognised that such an accommodation would not be possible and the Department was unable to accede to AQE’s proposal.It would be clearly unacceptable to stage the assessment during the immediate period leading up to Christmas, which would also involve prolonging it after the holidays into early January 2021. Therefore, the Board has decided to re-schedule the AQE assessment for the Saturdays of 21st and 28th November, and 12th December 2020. This will provide pupils with an extra two weeks of preparation compared to the original dates planned before the onslaught of coronavirus. 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 experienceduniquelydisadvantageous circumstances in the lead up to, or during, the test period.

REGISTRATION PROCESS - 

Due to this year’s unusual circumstances, we will be using an online Registration Form for the first time. The form is accessible from the website (www.aqe.org.uk). Registration opens on Thursday 14thMay 2020, where an online form can be completed together with payment of the fee - £55.00   An electronic version of the pupil’s photograph and a scanned copy of the original birth certificate can be uploaded to the online form.  On completion of the form parents 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.

Please note - the PPTC have also confirmed that the GL assessment will take place on Saturday 5th December 2020 - this Assessment Test, along with the AQE is accepted for Slemish College in Ballymena. (The AQE assessment result is needed for entry into Ballymena Academy and Cambridge House - both these schools do not accept the GL assessment result however Slemish College accepts both AQE & GL results - and will take the higher outcome of the two.)