[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-620947-105":59,"doc-detail-620947-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","assessing-comparability-of-optional-questions-summary-and-analyses","Assessing comparability of optional questions - Summary and analyses","","Optionality in examinations lets different students achieve the same qualification using different option sets, but the options must be equivalent in demand to avoid unfair disadvantage. When demand equivalence cannot be confirmed statistically, relative difficulty comparisons and more advanced analyses are required beyond comparing mean marks. The report demonstrates analyses on two example papers, showing unequal difficulty concentrated among low-ability students and highlighting that statistical assessment is not straightforward. It outlines regulatory expectations and future optionality analysis approaches.",{"@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/assessing-comparability-of-optional-questions-summary-and-analyses/620947/",{"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/assessing-comparability-of-optional-questions-summary-and-analyses/620947.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Taylor Morgan","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does optionality mean in an examination setting?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Optionality is a feature that allows students to achieve the same qualification without answering exactly the same set of questions. Options should be equivalent in demand so no group is unintentionally disadvantaged.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why is comparing mean scores of options not sufficient?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Options may appeal to different ability groups, so mean comparisons can miss inconsistent performance patterns across abilities. A more sophisticated approach is needed to evaluate relative difficulty fairly.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the report assess comparability using example papers?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It analyzes two example papers where students choose either set A or set B plus a compulsory section. The analyses compare total scores and indicate that one paper’s optional sets were not of equal difficulty, especially for low-ability students.","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},620947,1792525780,{"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":19,"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},1099523885336,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Centre for Education Research and Practice  \nAssessing comparability of optional questions  \nElizabeth Harrison  \nSummary  \nOptionality is any feature in an examination that allows different students to achieve the same qualification without responding to exactly the same set of questions. Where optionality is offered within an exam paper, it is intended that the options should be equivalent in demand. Since we cannot measure demand statistically, we instead consider the relative difficulty of the different options. However, as the options may have appealed to different ability groups , it is not sufficient to simply compare the mean marks of each option ; a more sophisticated analysis is needed. The Willmott-Nuttall index can be used to facilitate the comparison of the difficulty of optional questions but it does not assess whether any differences between options is consistent across the ability range.  \nThis report illustrates possible analyses using two example papers where optionality was offered in the form of a choice between two sets of questions. The various analyses indicate that the optional sets for one of the papers were not of equal difficulty. The difference in performance of these two options was much more noticeable for low-ability students than for very high-ability students , indicating that a simple adjustment to align the options could not easily be made. The analyses also show that this is not a straightforward problem to assess statistically.  \nTo meet regulatory requirements regarding optionality, awarding organisations need to ensure that no group of students is disadvantaged by any inconsistency in demand. It is suggested that, in future, where a qualification contains within-paper choices , specific optionality analysis could be performed. The possibility of awarding different grades for each route may need to be considered (i.e. treating each combination of options as if it were a separate optional paper) . This would ensure that the awarding committee assesses work at each judgemental grade boundary for all options in order to address any inconsistency.  \nIntroduction  \nOptionality is any feature in an examination that allows students to achieve a qualification without responding to exactly the same set of questions. Optionality should not unfairly disadvantage students who chose an option that was unintentionally more difficult than another option, or vice versa. When optionality is offered by using alternative papers , different grade boundaries are set for each paper, which addresses any lack of comparability. However, where optionality is offered within an exam paper, it is intended that the options should be equivalent in demand ; hence, only one set of grade boundaries is used. Ideally, careful test construction and marking standardisation mean that no adjustments need to be made to enable students to be compared fairly.  \nOfqual’s General Conditions of Recognition require that optional questions are of equal demand and should not result in any inconsistency that might disadvantage a group of students. If this does occur, it is expected that a reasonable alteration will be made and applied uniformly to the marking (i.e. any adjustment should be fair and should not alter the rank order of the students  \nwithin an option) . The current Ofqual (2016) guidelines pertinent to optionality are reproduced in the appendix.  \nExample data  \nTwo example papers are used here to illustrate possible analyses. Within both papers , optionality was offered in the form of a choice between two sets of questions. A student answers either all of set A or all of set B as well as a compulsory section. The structures , assessment objectives and the breakdown of marking are identical for both sets of questions. Ideally, each pair of alternative questions should provide an equal level of demand for students. However, it is more important that the sets of optional questions provide the same overall level of demand (it i","cbCaibqRIKPHLk4V","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibqRIKPHLk4V","pdf",638554,15,"English","# Summary\n# Introduction\n# Example data\n# Possible statistics to assess comparability\n# Willmott-Nuttall statistics","[{\"question\":\"What does optionality mean in an examination setting?\",\"answer\":\"Optionality is a feature that allows students to achieve the same qualification without answering exactly the same set of questions. Options should be equivalent in demand so no group is unintentionally disadvantaged.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is comparing mean scores of options not sufficient?\",\"answer\":\"Options may appeal to different ability groups, so mean comparisons can miss inconsistent performance patterns across abilities. A more sophisticated approach is needed to evaluate relative difficulty fairly.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the report assess comparability using example papers?\",\"answer\":\"It analyzes two example papers where students choose either set A or set B plus a compulsory section. The analyses compare total scores and indicate that one paper’s optional sets were not of equal difficulty, especially for low-ability students.\"}]","Assessing comparability of optional questions - Summary and analyses | PDF",1792464784,38]