Teacher views on the effects of the change from coursework to controlled assessment in GCSEs

Abstract

When General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs) were introduced in the late 1980s, coursework was included as a requirement in many subjects. Coursework was intended to help best represent students' attainments, but concerns about various issues (e.g., tasks becoming formulaic, authenticity of student work, workload) led to a review and ultimately to its replacement with “controlled assessments”. This research investigated the effects of this change. A questionnaire was completed by 346 teachers across 6 subjects. Most teachers felt the risks of plagiarism are similar or have reduced. Two thirds of teachers reported that the introduction of controlled assessment has affected the way they teach, and around 60% feel it has affected the nature of the knowledge and skills learnt by students. There are reportedly practical challenges relating to timetabling, student absence, and increased administration. However, over 70% of teachers consider it “important” or “very important” to have some form of internal assessment in their subject.

Keywords:

• controlled assessment
• GCSE
• educational assessment
• school-based assessment
• coursework

Notes on contributors

Victoria Crisp has a background in psychology and has been a researcher at Cambridge Assessment for 11 years, exploring a range of issues in relation to examinations and other assessments. Areas of research have included: issues in question difficulty and examination validity; investigating the effects of answer spaces on student responses; profiling the use and purpose of annotations in examination marking; and investigating the potential for new marking methods to reduce restrictions on the way questions are written. She has also been involved in providing training for examiners and assessment professionals on issues in question writing. Victoria completed her doctoral research regarding the judgement processes underpinning marking by teachers in the context of GCSE coursework in 2010.

Sylvia Green is Director of the Research Division, Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment. Within the division, research is carried out across a range of areas including: educational measurement and psychometrics; cognitive psychology; education and impact; e-assessment; comparability and standards. Sylvia was an English teacher for 15 years before joining Cambridge Assessment. She taught in primary, secondary, and adult education. Sylvia has also provided consultancy support for Cambridge International Examinations including projects in Malaysia, South Africa, and Namibia. She has presented at national and international conferences and has published extensively.

Notes

1. GCSEs are qualifications available in various subjects, taken by many students at age 16 years in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.