Spec changes... CCEA are changing their subject specifications
Controlled Assessment
Regulators’ new rules on controlled assessment have allowed us to preserve the positive aspects of internal assessment while also addressing teachers’ concerns about the authenticity and validity of coursework:
- GCSE English Language, ICT and Gaeilge specifications have 60% controlled assessment.
- GCSE English Literature has 25% controlled assessment.
- GCSE Mathematics specification has no controlled assessment.
Benefits for You
- helping to address issues of authenticity and plagiarism;
- introducing consistency of process and demand across awarding bodies’ specifications for a subject;
- assessing skills and knowledge that cannot be assessed by examination; and
- providing an opportunity for you (or your learners) to choose from a range of tasks that we set and/or to contextualise a task to your particular situation.
Benefits for Your Learners
- ‘fairer’ – everyone producing work under the same conditions for each subject;
- creating a more even assessment that is based on performance;
- reducing the burden on students through the new structure of assessment, e.g. no pressure to draft and redraft work; and
- continuing to allow students to study an area in depth and to take responsibility for their own learning.
Feedback from customers
Feedback has told us that teachers have concerns over the introduction of controlled assessment. Questions have included:
- Why was controlled assessment introduced by the regulators?
- What do the levels of control mean for me?
- What else do I need to know about (for example drafting and re-drafting, re-sits, absentees and keeping students’ work)?
Our response
We have taken the following steps to provide advice and guidance and to answer your questions in relation to controlled assessment:
- The GCSE Support Events in spring 2009 focussed on providing information on controlled assessment.
- The new Controlled Assessment Guide arrived in centres in June 2009. This contained general and subject specific information and answers to your questions. We have also launched our Controlled Assessment Microsite.
- Bespoke subject specific guidance were made available on your subject microsite from the end of September 2009.
More Information
- To find out about the regulators’ review of coursework, go to the QCA website
- To access an electronic copy of the specification and specimen assessment materials for your subject, visit CCEA Specifications
- For further information on support available for your subject, go to your microsite by selecting it from the Microsite Quickfind menu on CCEA Homepage
