GCSE Oral work - some changes

BSA Education Officer Cherry Hughes outlines some changes to the English and Welsh Examination Boards as from 2009 and 2010.

Subject specifications (i.e. exam syllabuses) are currently under review and will operate slightly differently from September 2009 in modern foreign languages, and in English from 2010. This will affect students completing their courses in 2011/12 respectively. The main changes relate to the introduction of more controlled assessments for written and speaking and listening coursework to address the government's concern that coursework assignments may not always be completed independently by students.

GCSE English oral tasks

All students will continue to take a component in speaking and listening in either the English or English language GCSE and these will continue to comprise 20% of the total mark. Thankfully for our young people this component will continue to be teacher assessed so that our pupils can benefit from establishing a good relationship with their teacher.

What is new, and still uncertain as to how it will work out, is that the tasks will be set under the new 'controlled assessment' procedure. In principle they will originate from the examination board and will be adapted and completed for assessment by the teacher in conditions that comply with the board's criteria for supervision. Teachers may set and mark as many controlled assessments as is appropriate and select the best three within the criteria for the final award.

GCSE Modern Foreign Languages

The current oral work assessment takes place in formal examination conditions during the period of the GCSE written examinations, with recording of the students' oral for assessment by the examination board. These were commented upon in a recent report for the Qualifications and Curriculum Association as causing considerable stress to pupils and being complex to administer for teachers. Accordingly a new syllabus has been available to schools from September 2009 that changes the oral work assessment procedure. From 2010 this form of assessment will replace the present assessment method in every syllabus.

This new format allows for students to be assessed by their teachers in two controlled oral tasks for moderation by the examination board. The teacher can hold as many of these controlled tasks as appears helpful and select the best mark to go to the examination board. The two tasks selected must be based on a dialogue and 30% of the total marks are awarded for this. This seems to be more helpful for our students than the present method. I do not know how many schools are taking advantage already of this new specification but from 2010 all courses will adopt that practice for certification in 2012.

My conclusion

It does appear that our students should not face any further problems from the process for oral work in English, and should be very much helped by the new provision in modern foreign languages. However, as so much depends on the individual teacher's capacity and willingness to use the flexibility allowed by the exam boards we will have to wait to see how it works out in practice. The BSA needs to be aware of whether teachers are using the flexibility allowed by the boards for these controlled assessments or setting them up in a formal manner with lengthy advance notice which could be detrimental to our students' confidence. I would be grateful for any feedback on the experiences of individual students as I would be able then to present evidence that the boards would find helpful, obviously the names of individual pupils would not be needed but I would need to know the name of the examination board in question.

How to help

My reading of the examination boards' oral work specifications for English and generally for all modern foreign languages specifications from September 2010 is that there is an awareness of the needs of children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). My direct contact with the major board has also been reassuring, as they are clear in their advice that any school that contacts them about a pupil with SLCN will be responded to on an individual basis, so that the specific needs of the pupil can be met. I think that at this time of change parents and therapists may wish to ask exactly how the teacher will be assessing the oral work in English and modern foreign languages and raise concerns early on, so the school may contact the examination board for further advice on the flexibility that teachers may exercise. The only pupils now who may need access arrangements for adaptations are those taking the GCSE specification in modern foreign languages where formal assessment is used for certification in 2011. If such an application is made it is helpful if the pupil has been placed on 'School Action'.

Cherry can be contacted on tel 01606 77374 or ch@stammering.org

From the Spring 2010 issue of Speaking Out, page 12.

See also: GCSE oral components, 2009