[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-618980-105":59,"doc-detail-618980-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","ase-annual-conference-why-questions-are-not-graded-9-1-session-overview","ASE Annual Conference - Why questions are not graded 9-1 - Session overview","","Session explains why exam boards do not assign graded question labels within science papers, using AQA’s demand-level framework. It clarifies that questions target a broad level of demand covering ranges of grades, with four demand levels and different marking patterns across tiers. The talk details how marks-and-grades operate through cumulative item choices, why performance can be “spikey,” and how paper balance must meet Ofqual percentages across assessment objectives, demand, maths, practical skills, and question types. Examples from Combined Science Trilogy 2019 show multiple ways to reach a Grade 4.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ase-annual-conference-why-questions-are-not-graded-9-1-session-overview/618980/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/ase-annual-conference-why-questions-are-not-graded-9-1-session-overview/618980.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Logic","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation","2026-10-30","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why are questions not written as individually graded 9-1 questions within the papers?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Questions target a broad level of demand rather than a specific grade. The science assessment spans a continuum of content and skills, so there is no clear cut-off where one grade can do something that the next cannot. Student performance also varies across items, creating “spikey” outcomes.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does a level of demand relate to grades?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Each demand level targets a range of grades, and there are four levels of demand. The grade outcome depends on how many marks a student achieves across items that collectively assess the specification at that level of demand.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does “balance of the papers” mean in this context?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"An experienced examiner team constructs papers to meet Ofqual requirements for the percentage of marks assigned to assessment objectives and demand levels, including maths and practical skills. Papers must also balance open/closed questions and extended response questions.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},618980,1792502448,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1099513958762,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1000023916a998db790?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1784791008015729253","ASE Annual Conference:Why questions are not graded 9-1\nElise Reece\nJanuary 2020\nWelcome\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\n2\nThis meeting will be recorded\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\nExam boards have an Ofqual requirement to record event audio.\nRecordings are kept for the lifetime of the specification and not shared as an accompaniment to session resources.\nThe recording will begin now.\n3\nOutline for the session\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\nLevel of demand\nWhy we don’t write graded questions\nMarks and grades\nBalance of the papers\nWhat is different about the different levels of demand\nGrades within a level of demand\nImpact on teaching and learning\nSchool monitoring systems\n4\nLevels of demand\nQuestions are written to target a broad level of demand, not a specific grade.\nEach level of demand targets a range of grades.\nThere are four levels of demand.\n5\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\nLevel of demand\nTarget grades\n% marks Foundation Tier\n% marks Higher Tier\nLow\n1-3\n60%\nStandard\n4-5\n40%\n40%\nStandard/High\n6-7\n60%\nHigh\n8-9\nWhy we don’t write graded questions\nScience curriculum and assessment covers:\ndiverse and large amount of content\nwide range of maths skills\nwide range of practical skills that include apparatus and techniques (ATs) and working scientifically\nrange of question styles.\nQuestions are made up of a number of items assessing different assessment skills and parts of the specification.\nTo perform equally well and at the same level in all these is rare.\n6\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\nWhy we don’t write graded questions\nThe range and breadth of skills and knowledge required in science means there isn’t a clear cut-off where you can say ‘this, a Grade 5 can do but a Grade 4 can’t’.\nRather, it is a continuum, evidenced by the total number of marks across the specification.\nIf questions were graded we would expect all students who achieve a Grade 4 to get the questions targeting Grade 4 (and below) correct, but not any targeting higher grades. This isn’t what happens.\nStudent performance across the assessments is ‘spikey’, depending on their strengths and weaknesses.\n7\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\nWhy we don’t write graded questions\nExample – Combined Science Trilogy 2019\nAcross the six Trilogy papers 249 items provided the 420 marks available for the specification.\nStudents needed 200 out of the 420 marks to achieve a Grade 4.\nAny combination of marks from the 249 items that will total 200 marks will ensure a Grade 4.\nThere is therefore an almost infinite number of ways a student can achieve their Grade 4.\n8\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\nMarks and grades\nThere are a total of 420 marks on Trilogy Combined and a total of 400 marks on Synergy Combined at each tier\nTrilogy Combined:252 marks = 60% Low Demand\n168 marks = 40% Standard Demand\n9\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\n2018\n2019\nMarks needed\nGrade\nMarks needed\nGrade\n253\n5-5\n243\n5-5\n235\n5-4\n221\n5-4\n218\n4-4\n200\n4-4\n193\n4-3\n173\n4-3\nMarks and grades\nSeparates 200 marks 120 = 60%  80 = 40%\n10\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\n2018\n2019\nMarks needed\nGrade\nMarks needed\nGrade\n121     127     123\n5\n133    129\n5\n109     107\n4\n115     111\n4\n80        80       80\n3\n83       83      80\n3\nMarks and grades\nStudents achieve a proportion of the marks available.\nStudents pick up marks across the paper. A grade 5 student doesn’t get all the low demand questions right and then move on to the standard demand marks.\n11\nCopyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.\nBalance of the papers\nAn experienced team of examiners write and construct the papers.\nPapers have to be balanced to meet Ofqual regulations on the percentage of marks assigned to each of the following:\nassessment objectives\nthe levels of demand\nmaths\npractical skills\nopen and closed questions and extended","cbCaidff3xrcTnrD","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidff3xrcTnrD","pptx",2693244,25,"English","# Outline for the session\n## Level of demand\n## Why we don’t write graded questions\n## Marks and grades\n## Balance of the papers\n## Grades within a level of demand\n## Impact on teaching and learning\n## School monitoring systems\n# Levels of demand\n## Target grades and tier breakdown\n# Marks and grades\n## Trilogy vs Synergy combined marks\n## Marks needed and grade outcomes\n# Balance of the papers\n## Ofqual regulations and paper composition\n# Characteristics by demand level\n## Low demand\n## Standard demand\n## High demand","[{\"question\":\"Why are questions not written as individually graded 9-1 questions within the papers?\",\"answer\":\"Questions target a broad level of demand rather than a specific grade. The science assessment spans a continuum of content and skills, so there is no clear cut-off where one grade can do something that the next cannot. Student performance also varies across items, creating “spikey” outcomes.\"},{\"question\":\"How does a level of demand relate to grades?\",\"answer\":\"Each demand level targets a range of grades, and there are four levels of demand. The grade outcome depends on how many marks a student achieves across items that collectively assess the specification at that level of demand.\"},{\"question\":\"What does “balance of the papers” mean in this context?\",\"answer\":\"An experienced examiner team constructs papers to meet Ofqual requirements for the percentage of marks assigned to assessment objectives and demand levels, including maths and practical skills. Papers must also balance open/closed questions and extended response questions.\"}]","ASE Annual Conference - Why questions are not graded 9-1 - Session overview | PPTX",1792462189,63]