General GCSE/A Level
Most schools and colleges offer a whole range of general qualifications – from GCSEs and A Levels through to BTECs, OCR Nationals and vocational awards such as Applied GCEs.
Key Stage Four General subjects
All of the compulsory subjects at Key Stage 4 will be drawn from this type of qualification, and your school will have information about which awarding bodies (the exam board in your subject) you are taking in a particular subject such as English and Maths.
If you take Options at your school, they too, might be general qualifications – say a BTEC in Catering, A GCSE History or a OCR National in IT. It doesn’t really matter who the awarding body is, and the decision is made by your school. It’s your choice of subjects which is important and making sure you have the right balance and mix. Your Connexions PA, form tutor and careers teachers in school will help you here.
Existing GCSEs and other qualifications are going through a lot of change, but in general they all have:
· controlled assessment in place of coursework
· examination papers with a broad range of question styles
· applied and general pathways within the same qualification where possible and appropriate to make courses more relevant and bring real-life into the classroom
· functional skills incorporated into GCSEs in English, ICT and mathematics for first teaching from September 2010
A Levels
Changes are happening to A Levels as well!
· The changes to A level content, assessment and grading from September 2008 are designed to make A levels more motivating and challenging for students and to better prepare them for higher education and employment.
· Most A levels now have four units but small entry languages (e.g. Arabic) have two and Chinese has three while music, mathematics, sciences and applied A levels remain at six units.
· The changes to assessment include the scaling back of coursework and setting a broader range of question types to ensure that a wide range of skills is assessed. The extended writing requirement varies in amount depending on the subject but is designed to help assess students’ deep knowledge and understanding.
· The purpose of synoptic assessment at A2 is to probe students’ understanding of the subject as a whole and their ability to make links between different parts of the subject.
· The introduction of the A* grade is to reward exceptional students. It will An A* be awarded for the first time in 2010 to students who achieve a grade A overall at A level and also achieve 90% or more across their A2 units.