Update on exam evidence requirements, from The Exams Office
Here is an article from The Exams Office that describes in more detail how teachers will produce grades. It mentions Private Candidates and says the process will be similar to the school students and will be affordable!
Here is an article from The Exams Office that describes in more detail how teachers will produce grades. It mentions Private Candidates and says the process will be similar to the school students and will be affordable!
Teachers will be required to make a holistic judgement of each student’s performance on a range of evidence relating to the subject content that has been delivered by their teacher (either in the classroom or via remote learning). Additional information/guidance includes:
• Teachers must assess their students’ performance, only on what content has been delivered to them by their teachers, to determine the grade each student should receive.
• Teachers can use evidence of a student’s performance from throughout the course to inform their judgement.
• Teachers should determine the grades as late in the academic year as is practicable, and not confined to a defined window, to enable teaching to continue for as long as possible.
• Schools and colleges will be required to use a broad range of evidence across the taught content to determine the grades before submitting the grades to the exam boards.
• Heads of centres will have to confirm that students have been taught sufficient content to allow progression to the next stage of their education, although we will not set requirements about the minimum amount of content that students must have been taught.
• Students should continue to work on their non-exam assessment (NEA), including for Project qualifications. NEA will be marked by teachers and will contribute to the overall grade, whether or not is has been completed.
• Teachers should mark the NEA according to the normal mark scheme (in whole or in part, depending on whether students have been able to complete their NEA. • Exam boards will not be required to moderate teachers’ marking of NEA this year.
• In GCSE, AS and A level art and design, the student’s grade must be based on the portfolio only, whether or not it has been completed. students will not be penalised if, due to circumstances beyond their control, they were unable to complete their portfolio.
• In GCSE English language, GCSE modern foreign languages and A level sciences (biology, chemistry, physics and geology), centres will be required to determine and submit a separate grade or result for the endorsement. This result or grade will be based on work that has been completed towards the endorsement. No recordings or separate evidence of performance will be required.
• Private candidates should work with a centre to provide evidence in line with the sort of evidence that other students will produce
• Overall, it will be no easier or harder for a student to achieve a particular grade this year compared to previous years.
Private Candidates
Private candidates will be assessed in a similar way to other students, by a recognised exam centre using a range of evidence. DfE is exploring ways to make sure there are affordable opportunities for private candidates to work with centres, and to encourage centres to work with private candidates.