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Always Learning

GCSE from 2010 | Controlled assessment - Units 2 and 4

Your guide to controlled assessment

Controlled assessment has replaced coursework in the new GCSE ICT specification. The single and double awards both have a balance of 40% written examination and 60% controlled assessment.

This page has been designed to help you find everything you need to help you plan, deliver and mark controlled assessment with confidence.

expand Podcasts

Download the controlled assessment podcast 


ICT Subject Advisor, Gareth Byrne, explains what controlled assessment will mean for you and introduces the processes involved. 
 
Download the controlled assessment podcast for GCSE ICT

expand Training

Training from Edexcel

  

Standardisation training
After listening to your feedback, we're pleased to confirm that standardisation training will now be free to all centres. To book on to an event in your area, visit our training page. 

Coming soon! Can't make it to a face-to-face event? An online podcast of our free standardisation training event with FAQS will be available shortly.

expand Support

Need help with controlled assessment? Our experts are on hand to support you...

Subject-specific controlled assessment support 
 
 

Ask the Expert, our free email service, puts you in direct contact with a senior examiner who will help answer any subject-specific questions concerning the teaching of ICT. They will email you within two working days of receiving your question.

 

You may also find Gareth’s recent controlled assessment update useful.

expand Forms, guidance and other documents

Controlled assessment documents  

The following links will direct you to all the key information and documents you need for GCSE ICT controlled assessment:

Unit 2: Using Digital Tools

Unit 4: Creating Digital Products

You should also refer to the JCQ controlled assessment guidance document.
 
Frequently asked questions
 
expand How do we download the CAB?

- The Controlled Assessment Brief (CAB) for unit 2 and unit 4 will be made available via secure download from the Edexcel website in May of each year.
  
- Once it has been downloaded, centres must store the CAB on a secure network or a restricted access drive.
expand How we're helping students to achieve their best

- The context for each CAB will be sufficiently open-ended to allow students to carry out research and develop outcomes that interest them. 
  
- Each CAB will include supporting files and reminders to help students maximise achievement. 
  
- Each CAB will be issued with a set of detailed support notes to clarify the specific requirements of the task. 
   
- Examples of student work with commentaries will be available to help students and teachers understand what standards are required.
expand Can students resit the controlled assessment?

Student will need to resit the whole controlled assessment. They cannot just add or amend previous submissions.
expand How will I assess the controlled assessment?

The assessment grids for the controlled assessments are included in the unit 2 and unit 4 content. The assessment uses a 'best fit' approach, matching students' work to the statements in the grids. The statements in the grids assume that students are working independently; you can therefore reflect the amount of guidance you have given to each student when you are awarding the marks. We will provide you with plenty of help:
  
- General notes on the use of the controlled assessment tasks
  
- More specific advice will be provided with each task. This will include samples to make sure you can clearly see the standards.
expand What are the controls?

The QCDA has broken controlled assessment down into three sections, and set levels of control for each section.

Task setting:
Edexcel must set the tasks (CABs), and a new task must be issued annually for each unit.
New CABs for units 2 and 4 will be issued by Edexcel yearly, in May.  
  
Task taking:
Most task taking must be carried out in controlled conditions.
  
- Research: Most of the activities include some information gathering, which may be carried out without supervision, although teachers must be confident that it is the student's own work.
  
- Controlled environment: Apart from research, all work done on the CAB must be carried out under controlled conditions. This is not the same as an examination in that students do not have to work in silence, but the task must be formally supervised at all times. Students may bring in notes and the results of their research. You may offer feedback, but if you need to guide students along a particular path or advise them on how to approach part of the task, then you must take account of this when marking the work.
  
- Timing: Students have up to 40 hours to complete the CAB.
  
Task marking:
Teachers mark the tasks using the level descriptions in the specification. Edexcel will ask for a sample of the work to moderate.
 
Security: 
- The work that students produce for the CAB must be kept under secure conditions at all times. This could be on a secure network drive, in a restricted access area of the school’s VLE or intranet or on a portable storage device kept securely by the teacher.
  
- It is the responsibility of the centre to keep candidates’ work secure. Centres are strongly advised to use virus-checking software and to employ an effective backup strategy, so that an up-to-date archive of candidates’ work is maintained.
  
- No special consideration will be given to any candidate whose work is lost or destroyed as a consequence of inadequate centre security/backup procedures.

expand What will students actually do?

Students must work to a set task called a Controlled Assessment Brief (CAB). This is an interactive digital publication, designed to be viewed onscreen. Students must submit digital evidence of their work for assessment and moderation.
 
In both units, the opening pages of the CAB set the context, give an overview of the requirements and encourage students to organise their work. On completion of the four activities, students are given a checklist to help ensure that they have all the required evidence in the correct folders. The final stage before submission is simply to create a single page with links to the evidence.
 
For unit 2, students develop and produce a range of digital products. The controlled assessment task consists of four activities:
  
- In Activity 1, students develop a user profile, gather information and work with a database.
 
- In Activity 2, students develop and use a spreadsheet model to make recommendations.
  
- In Activity 3, students design and create a more complex interactive digital product, drawing upon some of the work done in previous activities.
  
- In Activity 4, students evaluate their products and their own performance.
  
For unit 4, students develop and produce a single interactive product. The controlled assessment task consists of four activities: 
  
- In Activity 1, students produce a detailed proposal for the digital product they want to create. This may be one of a number of digital product types, including a computer game, a digital storybook, or a relational database.
  
- In Activity 2, students design, develop and test their product.

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