Publication of GCSE and A level assessment arrangements for 2017
Assessment arrangements confirmed for GCSE, AS and A level subjects to be taught from September 2017.
Ofqual has today (4 February 2016) confirmed the assessment arrangements for a number of GCSE, AS and A level qualifications that will be taught from September 2017.
These decisions follow a consultation which ran from 10 September to 5 November 2015 and are for the following subjects:
| GCSE | AS and A level |
|---|---|
| Ancient history | Accounting |
| Classical civilisation | Ancient history |
| Electronics | Archaeology |
| Film studies | Classical civilisation |
| Media studies | Electronics |
| Statistics | Film studies |
| Law | |
| Media studies |
Although we consulted on assessment arrangements for AS and A level statistics we are not announcing our decisions for this subject today. This is because the Department for Education (DfE) is addressing issues raised by respondents in their consultation and has not yet published final subject content. We will consider the assessment arrangements for this subject in light of the final qualification content.
Our consultation proposals were for how much non-exam assessment we should require in each subject, whether GCSE subjects should use tiering in their assessment and what assessment objectives we should set for exam boards to use in their qualifications.
In making these decisions we have considered responses to the consultation as well as equality and regulatory impact assessments we undertook. These documents are available on the consultation page.
Our decisions also reflect the subject content requirements published by DfE.
We have set out our decisions and the reasons for them in full in ‘Confirmed assessment arrangements for reformed GCSE, AS and A level qualifications for first teaching in 2017’. The decisions we have taken are summarised below.
Non-exam assessment
We have decided not to change the weightings for non-exam assessment in these qualifications from those that we consulted on. We explain why in our decisions document. The weightings for non-exam assessment that we will require in reformed qualifications are set out below.
| Subject | GCSE - current weighting of non-exam assessment | GCSE - new weighting of non-exam assessment | AS level - current weighting of non-exam assessment | AS level - new weighting of non-exam assessment | A level - current weighting of non-exam assessment | A level - new weighting of non-exam assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting | N/A | N/A | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Ancient History | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Archaeology | N/A | N/A | 0% | 0% | 20% | 20% |
| Classical Civilisation | 25% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Electronics | 25% | 20% | 26 to 30% | 20% | 26% to 30% | 20% |
| Film Studies | 50% | 30% | 40 to 50% | 30% | 45 to 50% | 30% |
| Law | N/A | N/A | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Media Studies | 60% | 30% | 40 to 50% | 30% | 40 to 50% | 30% |
| Statistics | 25% | 0% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Tiering
In line with our consultation proposals, we have decided that the only GCSE from these subjects that should have a tiered assessment is GCSE statistics. In line with current practice, all reformed AS and A levels will be untiered.
Assessment Objectives
After considering the responses to our consultation and reviewing the changes the DfE has made to the content requirements following its consultation, we have finalised the assessment objectives for the subjects on which we consulted. The final versions for each subject are available and should be read alongside the published DfE content.
We will shortly be launching consultations on the conditions and guidance we need to put in place to implement our decisions and, where appropriate, set further detailed requirements needed to secure standards in a particular subject.