Students’ practical skills in A level science courses are now assessed in two ways: indirectly using questions in written examinations and directly through teacher observation and assessment. The latter results in a ‘practical endorsement’ grade for each student (Pass/Unclassified) that …
In just over a week’s time, the summer exams start for GCSEs, AS and A levels. Over a million students will sit thousands of different exams in schools and colleges around the country. Around 60,000 examiners and moderators will then …
Earlier this year we announced changes to the assessment arrangements for the new GCSE in computer science. We found that the confidentiality of some of the assessment tasks had been compromised, and some students would have had an unfair advantage …
When asked to think of examiners marking scripts, many people still tend to think of them sitting at a desk with a pile of envelopes from schools and colleges, gradually working through each one in turn. In some subjects, that …
The new GCSE science qualifications can be taken in different ways – students can take single GCSEs in one or more of biology, chemistry and physics, or they can take a double GCSE in combined science. Students who take combined …
This summer we will see the first awards of the new A level maths qualifications. These were available for schools to teach from September 2017, so they would not normally be available to enter after only one year. When we …
This week we’re addressing some of the common questions and concerns posted in response to our recent Facebook updates and blogs. ‘New GCSEs are very hard’ We have seen quite a few comments about new GCSEs being ‘too hard’, or …
If you have children taking GCSEs this year, many of their results will be reported on the new grade scale which runs from 9 (the highest grade) to 1 (the lowest grade). Here’s a brief guide to what that means.
Ahead of this summer’s exams, we’ve asked GCSE maths teachers about their tier entry choices for 2018.
Among the new GCSEs being awarded for the first time this year are French, German and Spanish. These qualifications are different from the previous versions in several ways, which I’ll discuss first. Qualification structure In line with many reformed GCSEs, …