Frequently Asked Questions - MFL GCSEs (9-1) Summer 2021 assessment arrangements Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Pearson ...
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MFL GCSEs (9-1)
Summer 2021 assessment
arrangements
Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Gujarati,
Italian, Japanese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian,
Spanish, Turkish, Urdu
Frequently Asked
Questions
© artwork: Mark Bolitho | Origami photography Pearson Education Ltd/Naki Kouyioumtzis
Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................... 3
Frequently Asked Questions .......................................................................... 4
2021 assessment arrangements .......................................................................................... 4
Do the teacher assessed grades have to be based on the full content of the
specification? .................................................................................................................... 4
What can count as evidence for a teacher assessed grade (TAG)? ................................. 4
What kind of assessment material will exam boards produce which can form part of
teachers’ evidence? .......................................................................................................... 5
What is the minimum amount of evidence on which teachers should base their
decisions?......................................................................................................................... 5
What level of evidence is required from each of the four skills to submit a teacher
assessed grade? How do we present evidence across the range of Assessment
Objectives (AOs)............................................................................................................... 5
How do we decide on a grade for listening and reading which have points based mark
schemes? ......................................................................................................................... 5
How do we decide on one grade from three different grade descriptors for listening,
reading and writing? ......................................................................................................... 6
Can I use the grade boundaries for 2018 and 2019 to decide on grades? ....................... 6
Can I give a grade 9 even though the grade descriptors only go up to grade 8?.............. 6
Do we have to use the same evidence for each student or can evidence vary from
student to student? ........................................................................................................... 6
How can I carry out moderation when I am a one person department?............................ 6
How do private candidates present evidence for a teacher assessed grade? .................. 7
Can teachers tell students the teacher assessed grade that they will submit to the exam
board? .............................................................................................................................. 7
When will teachers be expected to submit teacher assessed grades? ............................. 7
Will students be able to appeal their teacher assessed grade? ........................................ 7
When will GCSE results be published? ............................................................................ 8
Will there be an Autumn series in 2021? .......................................................................... 8
The Speaking Endorsement ............................................................................ 8
Will the speaking endorsement still go ahead for summer 2021? ..................................... 8
What is the speaking endorsement?................................................................................. 8
How will the speaking endorsement be ‘graded’? ............................................................. 8
When must the speaking endorsement take place? ......................................................... 9
Will the speaking endorsement be tiered? ........................................................................ 9
Is the speaking endorsement compulsory? What is the Centre declaration form? ........... 9
FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 2
Author: Qualifications Product Developer
Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager
21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public
Will you require recorded evidence to support schools’ judgements? .............................. 9
How will we assess large classes, particularly with social distancing? ........................... 10
How should we keep records of students’ performance? ............................................... 10
Can students use their notes or read prepared answers for their endorsement? ........... 10
Is it acceptable to use the foreign language assistant to assess some of the speaking
endorsement tasks? ....................................................................................................... 10
Can students be assessed via a one-off performance? .................................................. 11
How much speaking would need to be assessed in a one-off performance? ................. 11
Introduction
On 4 January 2021, the Prime Minister announced, in the context of new national restrictions,
that exams in summer 2021 could not go ahead as planned. On 13 January, the Secretary of
State asked Ofqual to jointly consult on alternative arrangements to award
grades. Ofqual and DfE have now published the outcomes of their consultation into the award of
grades in Summer 2021. The result of the consultation means that in summer 2021, awarding
organisations will ask centres to generate, for each subject, teacher assessed grades (TAGs) for
their students. These grades will be an overall grade for the qualification. Teachers will have
flexibility to only assess what has been taught. The grades should be based on a range of
evidence completed as part of the course, including evidence produced in the coming months,
which demonstrates the student’s performance on the subject content they have been
taught. The requirement for teachers to produce teacher assessed grades replaces all previous
assessment arrangements for 2021 which had originally been proposed following previous
government consultations (although the speaking endorsement will go ahead as planned).
FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 3
Author: Qualifications Product Developer
Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager
21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: PublicFrequently Asked Questions
The following FAQs have been compiled to help provide an understanding of the key
changes that will result as a consequence of the consultation on the awarding of grades for
2021 and will be updated as new information becomes available. These will affect all
languages in our GCSE languages portfolio (please see FAQs for our International
qualifications here).
2021 assessment arrangements
Will there be any formal exams in 2021?
No. Awarding organisations will ask centres to generate teacher assessed grades (TAGs) for
their students. These grades will be an overall grade for the qualification.
Do the teacher assessed grades have to be based on the full content of
the specification?
No. In recognition of the fact that teaching and learning has been disrupted during the
pandemic, teachers will only have to assess what they have taught.
What can count as evidence for a teacher assessed grade (TAG)?
The grades should be based on a range of evidence completed as part of the whole course,
including evidence produced in the coming months, which demonstrates the student’s
performance on the subject content they have been taught. The types of assessment evidence
may include:
• Student work produced in response to assessment materials provided by the exam board,
such as groups of questions, past papers or similar materials such as practice or sample
papers.
• Student work produced in centre-devised tasks that reflect the specification, that follow the
same format as exam board materials and have been marked in a way that reflects exam
board mark schemes. This can include substantial class or homework (including those
that took place during remote learning), internal tests taken by pupils and mock exams
taken over the course of study.
• Records of each student’s progress and performance over the course of study.
Teachers should determine the grades as late in the academic year as is practicable, and not
confined to a defined window, to enable teaching to continue for as long as possible.
Note: Speaking cannot be used as part of the evidence for the TAG as this is to be assessed
separately via a speaking endorsement (see details below). Speaking will not contribute to the
final grade for 2021.
FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 4
Author: Qualifications Product Developer
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21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: PublicWhat kind of assessment material will exam boards produce which can
form part of teachers’ evidence?
Pearson will make available on Exam Wizard 1 all past papers, sample assessment materials
and specimen papers for use as unseen assessments. These may be used flexibly as full
papers or sets of questions. These will all be available for centres by the end of March. Exam
boards will not produce new assessment materials.
What is the minimum amount of evidence on which teachers should base
their decisions?
There are no set requirements for the minimum amount of content to be assessed. However,
Heads of centres will have to confirm that students have been taught and therefore assessed
on sufficient content to allow progression to the next stage of their education; for example for
progressing from GCSE to A level. We have produced guidance setting out a list of those
sources and approaches to collecting evidence that are considered most effective in
determining grades, taking into account the need for these to be undertaken remotely, if
necessary. Please visit the section Summer 2021 assessment - commonly asked questions
for further information.
What level of evidence is required from each of the four skills to submit a
teacher assessed grade? How do we present evidence across the range of
Assessment Objectives (AOs)
• Speaking skills (AO2) must not be used to form a final teacher assessed grade as speaking
will be assessed separately via an endorsement (see FAQs below). Speaking will not
contribute to the final grade for 2021. Teachers will therefore need to base their grading
judgements on the best evidence they have across the remaining three skills (listening
(AO1), reading (AO3) and writing (AO4), accepting that this may not be equally weighted.
How do we decide on a grade for listening and reading which have points
based mark schemes?
Use the grade exemplification documents to gain help on how to decide on grades for
listening and reading, based on real student scripts (these documents also exist for writing).
The examiner commentaries give guidance on how to distinguish between aspects such as
being able to extract information across more complex and extended texts, being able to
identify opinions, draw conclusions and infer. These documents can be found in the above
link under the heading ‘Summer 2021 assessment materials for centres’.
1Pearson’s online resource containing a bank of past paper questions and support materials to help teachers create their own mock exams
and tests.
FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 5
Author: Qualifications Product Developer
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21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: PublicHow do we decide on one grade from three different grade descriptors for listening, reading and writing? If you find that evidence from each skill covers different grades (based on the individual grade descriptors for each skill), a ‘best-fit’ approach may be used in order to make a holistic judgement on the overall grade, e.g. evidence for a student displays mainly characteristics of Grade 6 for reading, mainly characteristics of Grade 5 for writing and mainly characteristics of Grade 4 for listening - a Grade 5 would be most appropriate. Remember that grades should be based on a holistic judgement. Can I use the grade boundaries for 2018 and 2019 to decide on grades? You should take a holistic approach to grading using the published grade descriptors and exemplification, only using grade boundaries to help give you confidence in the grade that's been assigned. For further guidance on the use of grade boundaries, please read Summer 2021 assessment - commonly asked questions. Can I give a grade 9 even though the grade descriptors only go up to grade 8? Yes. To achieve grade 9, students’ evidence will show that they have securely met all the statements within the grade 8 descriptor, with stronger performance in most or all aspects of the grade 8 statements. Do we have to use the same evidence for each student or can evidence vary from student to student? As far as possible, the sources of evidence should be consistent across a class or cohort of students, and centres should record the reasons for their selection. However, in cases where students have experienced significant disruption, some flexibility may be required. Each student must be made aware of the evidence that is going to be used. How can I carry out moderation when I am a one person department? There is no requirement for you to carry out moderation even if there is more than one person in a department. However, good practice would recommend moderation and you are advised to speak to your Head of centre about what your centre policy is on this. If you are not fully confident about the grades you have given, you could work with another local centre to help moderate your grades. FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 6 Author: Qualifications Product Developer Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager 21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public
Can we submit work that has our feedback written on it? Yes, you can use annotated student work as evidence, including if you are asked to submit it to the awarding organisation for sampling. How do private candidates present evidence for a teacher assessed grade? The Ofqual Consultation decisions document states that private candidates should work with a recognised exam centre to provide evidence in line with the sort of evidence that other students will produce and which is outlined above; for example taking the exam board provided assessment materials in a suitable form. Centres will be asked to assess candidates based on what they have studied and candidates will be allowed to conduct assessments remotely. Guidance has been produced to determine the evidence on which grades for private candidates will be based, taking into account their different circumstances. Private candidates will not need to pay higher entry fees if, as a result of this, they need to make their entry after the extended entry deadline. For further information on arrangements for private candidates, visit the Private candidates page on the Pearson website. How will teacher assessed grades be quality assured? There are 3 stages to the quality assurance process, click on the link for full details. Each centre will be required to put in place an internal quality assurance process, including internal standardisation of marking and grading judgements, which will be checked by exam boards. Exam boards will also check a sample of the evidence used to support teacher grades with more targeted scrutiny where they identify cause for concern. Heads of centre are required to confirm, when submitting their grades, that the exam board requirements have been met. Can teachers tell students the teacher assessed grade that they will submit to the exam board? Teachers will be able to share their students’ ‘working at’ grade but they must not share with the student the final grade they will submit to the exam board. When will teachers be expected to submit teacher assessed grades? Teachers will need to submit grades to exam boards by 18 June. Will students be able to appeal their teacher assessed grade? Yes. A student who is unhappy with their grade will first ask their centre to check whether an administrative or procedural error had been made. Where a centre does identify an error in the grade submitted to the exam board, it can submit a revised grade and a rationale for the board to consider. If the exam board is satisfied with the rationale, it will issue a revised FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 7 Author: Qualifications Product Developer Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager 21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public
grade. Where a centre does not believe an error had been made, a student can ask the centre to appeal to the exam board on their behalf. The centre will submit the student’s appeal to the exam board and provide the evidence on which its judgement had been made. The exam board will then consider whether, in its view, the grade reflects an appropriate exercise of academic judgement, based on reviewing all available evidence against the grade descriptors. If the exam board judges that it does not, the exam board will determine the grade that the evidence does support. The exam board will also check that the centre had followed its own process. When will GCSE results be published? Results will be published on 12 August 2021. Will there be an Autumn series in 2021? Yes, there will be an Autumn series in November 2021. The Speaking Endorsement Will the speaking endorsement still go ahead for summer 2021? Yes. Arrangements for the speaking endorsement remain unchanged and are set out in the FAQs below. What is the speaking endorsement? Although separate to the main qualification, which for summer 2021 only will be made up of teacher assessed grades based on the skills of listening, reading and writing, the teacher- assessed speaking endorsement will enable teachers to indicate the appropriate level that each of the students has achieved in target-language speaking. Teachers will draw on each student's overall speaking performance during normal speaking activities (however see the FAQ below for assessments based on a one-off performance). The proposed common assessment criteria have been published on pp 20-21 of Ofqual’s GCSE Subject Level Conditions and Requirements for Modern Foreign Languages (2021) document made available November 2020. How will the speaking endorsement be ‘graded’? The speaking assessment will not be graded 9-1 like the GCSE papers that are formally examined. Instead, teachers will provide an indication of their students’ level of target- language speaking according to Ofqual common criteria that links to a three-point scale: pass, merit and distinction. Any students that do not meet the requirements for ‘pass’ or do not have an endorsement level submitted will receive ‘not classified’. FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 8 Author: Qualifications Product Developer Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager 21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public
When must the speaking endorsement take place? There will be no prescribed assessment window. Teachers will submit each student’s level in target-language speaking based on their achievement during the course of study. The current deadline for the submission of levels to Pearson is 18 June, the same date as for the teacher assessed grades for the whole qualification. Will the speaking endorsement be tiered? The GCSE speaking endorsement will not be tiered so the same assessment criteria will apply to all candidates regardless of their tier of entry for the language qualification. Is the speaking endorsement compulsory? What is the Centre declaration form? Ofqual has stated that awarding organisations must require each centre to complete a ‘spoken language statement,’ confirming that it has taken reasonable steps to provide all learners with the opportunity to take an assessment of spoken language (the Centre declaration form - see FAQ below on what forms centres need to complete). The Centre declaration form is available on the website under the section, ‘Course materials-Forms and administration-Form,’ for each language. The link takes you to the French area of the website but the form is the same for all languages. A Learner who is not granted the opportunity for an assessment of spoken language will receive a result of ‘not classified.’ If a centre fails to provide a Centre declaration form to the awarding organisation when requested, it will be considered as malpractice. Once completed, centres must retain the signed Centre declaration form inhouse; when submitting endorsement levels through the Edexcel online portal, they must click the tickbox confirming that this has been done. This form must be completed even if, after all reasonable steps have been taken, it has not been possible to find a suitable assessor in a particular language. The form must be retained by the entering centre until after the appeals window is closed, in case of appeals or any quality assurance issues. The new Edexcel Online portal for submitting speaking endorsement levels was opened on 19 May. For help in how to submit levels please click on the link. Note: on the portal, the section for submitting levels for endorsements is referred to as ‘coursework.’ What moderation arrangements are planned for the speaking endorsement? There will be no Pearson-Edexcel moderation of the speaking endorsement. Will you require recorded evidence to support schools’ judgements? We will not be requiring evidence to support schools’ judgements and centres will not be required to submit recordings to Pearson Edexcel. However, teachers may find it useful to FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 9 Author: Qualifications Product Developer Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager 21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public
record students for their own purposes in terms of record-keeping, internal moderation or in case of appeals. How will we assess large classes, particularly with social distancing? If teachers are having difficulty assessing large classes, particularly because of Covid 19 restrictions, teachers can also arrange to assess their students on a one-to-one basis either in the centre or remotely. How should we keep records of students’ performance? This will be an internal decision for each centre to make as it will depend on how the centre wishes to monitor the application of the criteria and moderate this across cohorts or even centres, such as in an Academy trust. Can students use their notes or read prepared answers for their endorsement? Whilst it may be appropriate in some speaking tasks for students to use notes as an aide memoir, (as they do in the role-play and picture-based task which form part of the usual formal speaking assessment) it is important to remember that the assessment criteria for 2021 assesses students’ ability to communicate and interact accurately using a range of language and that it would only be possible to assess pronunciation and intonation of someone reading aloud. Is it acceptable to use the foreign language assistant to assess some of the speaking endorsement tasks? It is important to remember that the criteria are not a mark scheme, but provide an overall description of the students’ ability by the end of the course. A foreign language assistant conversant with the assessment criteria could contribute to the decision about a student’s level. It is the responsibility of the centre to confirm that the criteria has been applied correctly. Do we still have to cover the current GCSE themes? Yes the assessment must be based on the Themes that are set out in the specification, However, in recognition of the fact that teaching and learning has been disrupted during the pandemic, teachers are only expected to assess content that they have managed to cover in teaching and learning. Can we let students know the speaking endorsement level we have given them? FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 10 Author: Qualifications Product Developer Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager 21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public
Yes, teachers should tell students the final level they have been given. They can also share
students’ 'working at level’ with them, throughout the period of assessment, to enable
students to discuss, monitor and assess their own progress and to identify strengths and
areas for improvement.
Can students be assessed via a one-off performance?
Yes, the endorsement does allow for assessment via a one-off performance where this is
deemed to be the most appropriate, including via remote assessment by centres. In this
circumstance, teachers must ensure that any one-off assessment covers all of the
requirements of the assessment criteria (see the next FAQ for suggestions on how this can
be achieved). In addition, teachers should make themselves familiar with the requirements in
relation to spoken language assessments, included on pages 17 to 21 of Ofqual’s GCSE
Subject Level Conditions and Requirements for Modern Foreign Languages and Certificate
Requirements (2021).
How much speaking would need to be assessed in a one-off
performance?
We recognise that teachers have been seeking guidance on the amount of evidence needed
if the endorsement is to be awarded based on a one-off performance, rather than in a
teaching and learning context over a period of time. We therefore set out below some
guidance which will help centres and which are correct as arrangements currently stand. It is
important to say that there are no formal requirements or arrangements set down by Ofqual
or awarding organisations. The assessor can choose how they assess students’ speaking, as
long as students are given the opportunity to meet all the assessment criteria for speaking.
However as previously mentioned, in recognition of the fact that teaching and learning has
been disrupted during the pandemic, teachers are only expected to assess content that they
have managed to cover in teaching and learning. Please note that this is guidance only
and that the suggestions given are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive.
Ofqual’s requirements state that to be awarded a Pass, Merit or Distinction, learners must
take part in different tasks across a variety of themes and that the assessment criteria are
designed to be used across a range of … purposes …’. Whilst this will be easier to achieve
within a classroom situation where teachers can assess their learners on an ongoing basis
(the speaking endorsement was introduced to allow for students to be assessed during
normal classroom activities, in order to maximise time for teaching and learning which has
been disrupted because of Covid 19), we have set out below some guidance for teachers on
some of the terms used and what would constitute the minimum to satisfy the criteria:
• different tasks: our guidance is that different constitutes at least two different tasks
(see below for further guidance on tasks)
• variety of themes: our guidance is that a variety constitutes aspects of at least two
different topics each based on a different theme.
Note: themes and topics must be taken from those within the specification.
FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 11
Author: Qualifications Product Developer
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21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public• a range of … purposes …. : our guidance is that a range constitutes at least two of
the purposes suggested by Ofqual ie conversations, presentations, transactions,
formal and informal settings, descriptions and narrations (again, the suggestions given
are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive).
Possible one-off assessments could be as follows:
• A description/interview/narration based on a picture, photo* or object, (possibly even
brought in by the student themself), based on one theme plus a conversation covering
at least another different theme. The requirement to ask questions could be covered
in the picture/photo/object task or in the conversation. Teachers could decide to give
their students some preparation time if using stimulus materials for this task.
• Role play task* on one theme plus a conversation covering at least another different
theme. The requirement to ask questions could be covered in the role-play or the
conversation. Teachers could decide to give their students some preparation time if
using stimulus materials for the role-play.
• Presentation and discussion on one theme plus a conversation on at least another
different theme. The requirement to ask questions could be covered in the
presentation and discussion task or in the conversation. Teachers could allow
students to prepare a presentation in advance.
• A description/interview/narration based on a book or a film of the student’s choice
(based on one of the themes) plus a conversation on at least another different theme.
The requirement to ask questions could be covered in the book/film task or the
conversation.
• A mixture of any of these tasks or any other task the teacher feels is appropriate, as
long as the assessment covers as a minimum two different themes, two different
tasks, and two different purposes.
*The photo/role-play tasks could be based on materials that have formed part of previous
formal assessments produced by the awarding organisation or any other kinds of materials.
Is the speaking endorsement a permanent change?
No, the speaking endorsement is a temporary change for summer 2021 only.
Will the separate speaking endorsement level appear on the GCSE
certificates?
Yes, the spoken endorsement level will feature on each candidate’s GCSE certificate
alongside their teacher assessed grade (TAG) based on evidence gathered around the other
three skills. It must also be noted that, if no speaking endorsement level is provided for a
student, the endorsement will be reported as ‘not classified’ on the GCSE certificate. As
speaking is a core language skill and forms part of the programme of study, a separate
speaking endorsement opportunity must be offered wherever possible.
FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 12
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21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: PublicDo these changes affect all languages? Yes. These changes affect all of Pearson’s GCSE qualifications in Arabic (1AA0), Chinese (1CN0), French (1FR0), German (1GN0), Greek (1GK0), Gujarati (1GU0), Italian (1IN0), Japanese (1JA0), Persian (1PN0), Portuguese (1PG0), Russian (1RU0), Spanish (1SP0), Turkish (1TU0) and Urdu (1UR0). Please see FAQs here for the list of International qualifications. Can the speaking endorsement be undertaken for (a) language(s) not taught at my centre? Yes, a speaking endorsement may be submitted for a candidate studying a language that is not taught at your school or college. Centres entering private candidates (as for all candidates) must provide a ‘spoken language statement’ to awarding bodies, confirming that they have taken reasonable steps to ensure that there is an opportunity for candidates to receive an assessment in the spoken language (the Centre declaration form - see FAQ below on what forms centres need to submit). They must therefore take reasonable steps to find external tutors or other specialist language trainers to assess the candidate. A candidate who is not granted the opportunity for an assessment of spoken language will receive a result of ‘not classified’. Please see the additional FAQs for entering private and non-taught learners. Do native speakers still have to get an endorsement? Yes, all students are required to be assessed by an appropriate assessor. As for all candidates, the centre is required to submit a spoken language statement confirming that all learners for which it is entering the qualifications, have had the opportunity to receive an assessment in the spoken language. What forms do centres need to complete? Centre declaration form (all centres for all candidates) See description of the Centre declaration form under the FAQ above, ‘Is the speaking endorsement compulsory? What is the Centre declaration form?’ Assessor declaration form (for private/non-taught candidates only) NB: The link in the title takes you to the French area of the site but the form is the same for all languages. This form must be completed by assessors who are not members of the school/college’s teaching staff, confirming that they are fully familiar with the common assessment criteria for assessing Speaking in 2021 and declaring where there is any prior knowledge of the candidate(s). This form must be submitted to the candidates’ entering centre along with the recommended endorsement grade(s). This form must be retained by the entering centre until after results day. FAQs GCSE MFLSummer 2021 support 13 Author: Qualifications Product Developer Authorised by Senior Qualifications Manager 21 May 2021 version 1.5 DCL 1: Public
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