GCSE Science: AQA & ITE - Support for your first years in teaching - Session overview - Key points for successful assessment design

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Logic

AQA training session overview explaining the structure of secondary assessment in England and the regulatory environment for GCSE Science. Covers Ofqual’s role in regulating awarding organisations, the Department for Education’s ownership of subject content, and how specifications connect DfE requirements to teaching and assessments. Includes guidance on successful assessment design, such as writing clear questions, avoiding double jeopardy, mapping question content to specifications, and aligning questions to mark schemes for validity and reliable marking. States assessment objectives AO1, AO2, and AO3 with percentage weightings.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPPTX

Pages52

Reading Time2 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Session overview

Structure of secondary assessment in England

Regulation and awarding organisations

What is a specification?

Our specification

Our Science papers and mark schemes

Key points for successful assessment design

GCSE Science: AQA & ITE: Support for your first years in teaching Peter Rupkus Spring 2019 Welcome Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 2 This meeting will be recorded Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. Exam boards have an Ofqual requirement to record event audio. Recordings are kept for the lifetime of the specification and not shared as an accompaniment to session resources. The recording will begin now. 3 Session overview Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. Structure of secondary assessment in England What is a specification? Our Science papers and mark schemes Recent reform of qualifications Progress/Attainment 8 Overview of awarding Our resources 4 Structure of secondary assessment in England Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 5 Secondary assessment in England Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. “The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England.” Independent of government and reports directly to Parliament. In October 2018, there were over 150 awarding organisations recognised by Ofqual. Which awarding organisations are involved with GCSE Science in England? 6 GCSE Awarding Organisations in England AQA Edexcel Eduqas OCR Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 7 Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) Umbrella organisation for all four English Awarding Organisations. Determines the general rules and regulations which are applied to the conduct of all assessments. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 8 Regulation Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. Department for Education (DfE) “…is responsible for children’s services and education, including higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and wider skills in England.” Overall responsibility for setting national policy with regard to education: national curriculum (KS1-4) types of qualifications (GCSE’s, A-levels, Tech Awards etc) including subjects. 9 Regulation Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 10 Ofqual Set criteria for qualifications (eg types and duration of assessment). Regulates the day-to-day activity of the Awarding Organisations: awarding and standards malpractice ensuring that what we are telling centres is fair and equitable conflicts of interest (eg examiners who write text books/teachers that write assessments). DfE subject content Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. Subject content is the minimum content that must be in a subject specification; for GCSE science this: considers overlaps with Science PoS (KS1-4) provides continuity and progression to AS/A-level. Subject content is owned by the DfE. New DfE subject content for GCSE and A-level Science was produced in consultation with Ofqual, all four AOs and key stakeholders (ASE, RSB, RSC, IOP etc). Version 3.0 11 DfE subject content Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. If any organisation wishes to produce a GCSE or A-level Science qualification which is recognised for performance table points, they must: use the DfE subject content be accredited by Ofqual (subject level guidance). Version 3.0 12 What is a specification? Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 13 What is a specification? Each Awarding Organisation creates its own unique subject specification. Specifications for a subject must be based on the DfE subject content. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 14 What is a specification? The specification outlines: details of the assessments subject content to be taught administration relating to the specification. Ofqual: accredit the specification for teaching in England regulate the operation of the specification. Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 15 Assessments Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 16 GCSE Biology GCSE Chemist

FAQs

What role does Ofqual play in GCSE Science assessment?

Ofqual sets criteria for qualifications and regulates day-to-day activity of awarding organisations, including awarding and standards, malpractice handling, fairness and equity, and conflicts of interest.

How do DfE subject content and specifications relate?

DfE subject content is the minimum content required in a subject specification. Awarding organisations must base their specifications on this DfE subject content and obtain accreditation from Ofqual for recognition.

What principles help design valid and reliable assessment questions?

Good mark schemes support validity and reliable marking. Questions should be distinct to avoid mark compression, avoid double jeopardy, map to the specification, align perfectly with mark schemes, and ensure students can access all available marks.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by Logic