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As part of GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) reforms in England, requirements for assessing application in science increased. Setting examination questions in context facilitates testing application as students need to apply what they know and understand to a particular situation. This research explored the nature of the contexts used in reformed GCSE combined science examinations and compared contexts used in a specification which specifically emphasises contextualised learning to those in other specifications. Eight combined science specimen examination papers were selected, including four from GCSE Twenty First Century Science (21C). A qualitative coding frame was used to code each contextualised item. Various strategies for testing in context were present. Contextual features that might risk introducing construct-irrelevant variance were infrequent but may suggest areas for attention in setter training. 21C papers included a higher proportion of items with detailed contexts and a higher proportion of items set in science-related adult/professional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared models of assessment structure for achieving differentiation across the range of examinee attainment in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination taken by 16-year-olds in England. The focus was on the “adjacent levels” model, where papers are targeted at three specific non-overlapping ranges of grades. Examinees enter for a pair of papers at adjacent levels and receive the highest grade achieved. There is no aggregation of marks across papers. This study used simulation, based on data from a GCSE Mathematics exam, to compare the adjacent levels model with two other tiering models in terms of: (1) suitability of grade boundary locations; (2) score distributions; and (3) reliability. The adjacent levels model led to lower reliability but arguably improved two aspects of validity: the strength of the inference about what examinees with a given grade would know and be able to do; and the removal of the ambiguity about overlapping grades inherent in the current system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper outlines the difficulties with the current system of tiering in GCSE Mathematics exams, indicating both the problem of equality across tiers of the same grade and a particular problem in Mathematics, which with three tiers has a foundation tier on which it is not possible to gain a C grade.The authors outline a different system in which all candidates take basic papers on which all grades from G to C can be awarded and then an extension paper is available for the higher grades. This system has been tried out with a sample of pupils from a number of schools and a non-operational award was made. The authors describe the results of this and discuss potential difficulties with this system. Comparisons between the systems are made, showing that the established system of tiering is inherently unstable, while the proposed system, though not perfect, has much to commend it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a research project on UK school students' attitudes to the use of Free Online Machine Translation for L2 production and more specifically in preparing for assessment. Data were collected from a publicly available online forum to analyse students' spontaneous discussion of the use of Free Online Machine Translation, predominantly Google Translate. The majority of relevant comments were posted by secondary school students in the UK, regarding the use of Google Translate for GCSE examinations. The findings reveal that use of Google Translate for assignments was accepted practice among secondary school students in the UK over the last decade. However, they show mixed attitudes to this usage, and the nature of the discussion changed over the decade as a result of the evolution of Google Translate and changes to UK examination requirements. This study is original in its use of netnography, the study of online communities, to analyse students' comments to each other about their use of Google Translate in preparing for modern foreign languages (MFL) coursework. These findings, therefore, serve to inform the debate on how schools and universities should respond to student Google Translate usage for language learning and assignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examination marking utilises a variety of cognitive processes, and from a psychological perspective, the demands that different questions place on markers will vary considerably. To what extent does marking accuracy vary among markers with differing backgrounds and experiences? More fundamentally, what makes some questions harder to mark accurately than others? The authors sought to address aspects of these key questions in an empirical study, which focused on GCSE mathematics and physics papers. For each subject, groups of ‘expert’ and ‘graduate’ markers were led by a Principal Examiner in the marking of identical samples of candidates’ responses on a question-by-question basis. A quantitative analysis explored marking accuracy among questions and its potential relationships with marker type and question difficulty. Using their recently formulated model of cognitive marking strategies, the authors also investigated the relationship between accuracy and apparent cognitive marking strategy usage. Very few differences between experts and graduates were identified. However, variations in accuracy among individual questions (for all markers) were related to both question difficulty and apparent strategy usage: questions requiring markers to use more complex ‘reflective’ thought processes were marked less accurately than those entailing only simple ‘intuitive’ judgements. The findings have implications for the management of markers and for question design. It is concluded that, given adequate support and procedural training, graduate maths and physics markers may be able to mark almost all questions (of the kinds explored) as accurately as their expert counterparts can. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the issues involved in calculating indices of composite reliability for ‘modular’ or ‘unitised’ assessments of the kind used in GCSEs, AS and A level examinations in England. The increasingly widespread use of on-screen marking has meant that the item-level data required for calculating indices of reliability is now routinely available for most (but not all) units of unitised assessments. Whilst it is relatively straightforward to obtain indices of reliability at unit level, it is far more complex to obtain indices at overall assessment level because of problems created by: (i) the number of different possible ‘routes’ to the final assessment; (ii) the different knowledge, skills and understanding assessed in different units; (iii) the wide variety in item type and size within and across units; (iv) the fact that the item-level data required for calculating reliability indices is not available (or does not exist) for certain units and (v) the different intended weighting of different units in the composite total and the possible distortion of these weights by use of the Uniform Mark Scale. We derive and compare several indices of composite reliability for, as an example, a three-unit assessment using both classical test theory and item response theory. We conclude that while it is desirable to derive and report indices of reliability at unit level, it is less appropriate at the level of the whole assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reflects on the teaching of the unseen poetry element of the English Literature GCSE in 2022. It explores the author's reflections on the successes and limitations of using a less structured approach with a single Year 11 class, concluding that the pedagogies outlined were more successful than previous iterations in terms of pupil engagement and preparation for high-stakes assessment. However, the approach could have been improved with even less structure early in the unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key predictor of young people’s future outcomes is their level of academic achievement whilst at school. In England this is most commonly measured by achievement in GCSEs. However, not all pupils will have taken the same set of GCSE examinations as, for example, they may make different subject choices. For this reason, GCSE performance is often aggregated into a simple measure such as ‘mean GCSE grade’ before being used in statistical models. This paper investigates the merits of using an alternative method, based upon the relatively new technique of Generalised Boosting Models, which does not require for GCSE results in different subjects to be aggregated together. The importance of this research is that by evaluating the predictive performance of such a method we can ascertain how much useful information is lost in the process of GCSE aggregation. The results show that traditional predictions based upon simple aggregated measures of GCSE attainment are fairly similar to those based upon the more complex approach. This provides some confidence that, for the majority of outcomes, only a small amount of predictive information will be lost through the use of aggregated measures of GCSE performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) has been for the last 35 years the most common qualification by which students' attainment at age 16 has been measured. The range and balance of processes by which the GCSEs' programmes of study have been assessed have varied over the decades, to include both teacher-assessed coursework and modular or end-of-programme timed written assessments (examinations). The necessary replacement in 2020 of GCSE written examinations with teacher-led assessment provided a unique opportunity to explore students' perceptions of the validity and utility of both examination and teacher-led assessment media for this high-stakes award. This research reports part of a survey that explored the experiences of GCSE candidates in 2020, with particular focus upon students' perceptions of preparing for written examinations, and then for teacher-led assessment. 216 students responded to a mixed quantitative/qualitative methods survey that invited opinion and reflection on the relative affordances and shortcomings of written examinations and teacher-led assessment, both for the individual respondent and the wider student cohort. Responses revealed a balance of both positive and negative evaluations of both assessment media, with an almost equal preference for either, albeit many respondents indicated consideration of some other assessment medium (e.g. modular assessment; combined assessment media). We re-emphasise the attested value of ongoing 'dialogue' and consultation with student stakeholders to inform planning for optimisation of assessment utility and validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research within the area of the sociology of physical education (PE) recognises that it is a subject which reinforces dominant ideologies about gender. The gendered nature of PE appears to continue into General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinable PE, as the proportion of boys being examined in GCSE PE compared to girls is nearly 2:1. Given the recent drive and initiatives such as the Girl Active scheme, run jointly by Norwich Union and the Youth Sport Trust to get girls active, GCSE PE may have a role to play increasing girls' involvement in physical activity and healthy lifestyles. This paper seeks to explore, through qualitative focus group interviews with Year 10 girls, how girls' experiences of PE and GCSE PE are gendered. The findings of this paper suggest that GCSE PE does little to breakdown existing gender relations of PE and often reinforces ideas about the gendered body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The General Certificate of Education (GCE) A Level Dance specification, offered by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), is the only GCE course of study in the UK that focuses solely on dance. Acquisition of subject specific knowledge is a feature of its aims, while assessment, as constructed by its objectives, is assumed to be a transparent process. In this paper I address the character of the interaction between knowledge and assessment in the GCE through a textual analysis of a pertinent range of AQA documentation. What is revealed is that assessment methods, rather than being objective, external judgements that measure understanding, appear to constrain and limit subject-based knowledge at a conceptual level. The relationship between knowledge and assessment is shown to be not one of contingency - in which independent and pre-existing subject knowledge is at the core - but one of power, in which assessment is a strategic effect. I draw on two theorists in particular. Derrida provides support for the textual analysis in order to help unpack the constructed character of knowledge in the specification. A Foucauldian perspective exposes the operation of power. Autonomous, hermeneutic epistemological assumptions, which underpin the belief that separately existing universalistic subject knowledge is simply reflected in curricula statements, are destabilised. To achieve this, I demonstrate that the micro context of the technology of the specification must be explored and that an in-depth analysis of the ramifications across a range of associated documents is required. It is suggested that educators and designers of examinations endeavour to trace how power constructs their subject in order to militate against its effects, one of which is to mask its own presence. This case study provides a model they may find useful for this task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: 'Thinking aloud' is a well-established method of data collection in education, assessment, and other fields of research. However, while many researchers have reported their views on its usage, the first-hand experiences of research participants have received less attention. Purpose: The aim of this exploratory study was to obtain the perspectives of GCSE examiners on thinking aloud as a means of investigating the cognitive strategies they use to mark examinations. Sample: The study focused on the experimental marking of two contrasting GCSE examination papers from 2004: mathematics and business studies. Twelve experienced examiners (six for each subject) participated in the study as paid volunteers. Design and methods: All examiners were individually asked to think aloud while concurrently marking up to five examination scripts each. Afterwards, they participated in one-to-one, semi-structured interviews about their experiences of the method. These interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed qualitatively. Results: There were no clear differences between the mathematics and business studies examiners. However, views on the validity of thinking aloud, and advantages and disadvantages, varied considerably among individuals, possibly reflecting diverse personal marking techniques within each subject. Examiners varied in the kinds of questions they found it hardest to think aloud about. Conclusions: The findings have implications for further research and marking practice. They challenge two contrasting views reported in the literature: (1) that the simplest judgements are always hardest to verbalise; and (2) that it is always hardest to think aloud when engaging in complex thought processing. This indicates apparent variation in validity of the think aloud method among individuals. However, thinking aloud may also be useful in the training of new examiners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the standard qualification undertaken by pupils in England and Wales at the end of year 11 (age 15–16). GCSEs continue to play an important and central role in young people's educational and employment pathways. Within the sociology of youth, there has been recent interest in documenting the lives and educational experiences of ‘ordinary’ young people. In this paper, we analyse school GCSE attainment at the subject area level. This is an innovative approach and our motivation is to explore substantively interesting patterns of attainment that might be concealed in analyses of overall attainment or attainment within individual subjects. We analyse data from the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales using a latent variable approach. The modelling process uncovered four distinctive latent educational groups. One latent group is characterised by high levels of overall attainment, whereas another latent group is characterised by poor GCSE performance. There are two latent groups with moderate or ‘middle’ levels of GCSE attainment. These two latent groups have similar levels of agglomerate attainment, but one group performs better in science and the other performs better in arts GCSEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process by which an assessor evaluates a piece of student work against a set of marking criteria is somewhat hidden and potentially complex. This judgement process is under-researched, particularly in contexts where teachers (rather than trained examiners) conduct the assessment and in contexts involving extended pieces of work. This paper reports research which explored the judgement processes involved when teachers mark General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) coursework. Thirteen teachers across three subjects were interviewed about aspects of their marking judgements. In addition, 378 teachers across a wider range of subjects completed an associated questionnaire. The data provide insights into the way that criteria are used, the role that comparison plays in the process and the importance of various professional experiences to making assessment judgements. Findings are likely to generalise to ‘controlled assessments’ which have replaced coursework in the GCSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explored the measurement characteristics of two science examinations and the potential to use access arrangements data to investigate how students requiring reading support are affected by features of exam questions. For two science examinations, traditional and Rasch analyses provided estimates of difficulty and information on item functioning. For one examination, the performance of students eligible for support from a reader in exams was compared to a ‘norm’ group. For selected items a sample of student responses were analysed. A number of factors potentially making questions easier, more difficult or potentially contributing to problems with item functioning were identified. A number of features that may particularly influence those requiring reading support were also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates enrolment, attainment and drop-out rates for two different English pre-university advanced mathematics, AS-level, courses, a 'traditional' and an innovative 'Use of Mathematics' pre-university course. Very different student profiles were found for those enrolled on each course, and a model of attainment at the pre-university level showed a relatively complex relationship with prior achievement at the end of compulsory schooling. Although those pupils who had relatively high prior achievement tended also to achieve relatively highly on the pre-university courses, this relationship was not evident for lower scores. Those pupils with 'mid-range' prior attainment tended to make the smallest gains. Taking prior attainment into account, the difference in attainment outcomes between the two courses is small. However, these courses do differ with respect to the number of students retained, with the 'Use of Mathematics' course retaining a significantly higher proportion of the students. Contextual factors are discussed, suggesting implications for policy and practice in mathematics education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been established that marking accuracy in public examinations varies considerably among subjects and markers. This is unsurprising, given the diverse cognitive strategies that the marking process can entail, but what makes some questions harder to mark accurately than others? Are there distinct but subtle features of questions and their mark schemes that can affect accuracy? Such features could potentially contribute to a broad rationale for designating questions to markers according to personal expertise. The aim of this study was to identify question features that can distinguish those questions that are marked highly accurately from those that are marked less accurately. The study comprised an exploration of maths and physics questions from past GCSE examinations, which were marked in an experimental setting by groups of markers and yielded differing marking accuracies. The questions also varied in their difficulty for GCSE candidates, and in the cognitive strategies needed to mark them. Kelly's Repertory Grid technique and semi-structured interview schedules were used in meetings with highly experienced principal examiners, who had led the experimental marking of the questions. The data generated comprised ratings for each question on a number of question features (constructs). The ratings were analysed together with the marking accuracy data, enabling an investigation of possible relationships between each question feature and (i) marking accuracy, (ii) question difficulty for the candidate, and (iii) apparent cognitive marking strategy usage. For both subjects, marking accuracy was found to be related to various subject-specific question features, some of which were also related to question difficulty (for the candidate) and/or apparent marking strategy complexity. For both maths and physics, several other subject-specific question features were found to be unrelated to accuracy. Overall, the findings have potential implications for the management of markers and for question design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to examine Spanish-speaking students' attainment to improve our knowledge about students at the end of secondary school in England. The sample consisted of students who completed the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in inner London Local Authority. The findings of the analysis of GCSE results by language spoken at home suggest that, overall, students who speak Spanish language do less well than other groups, and their low attainment is a key concern for policymakers and teachers. However, while this is true overall, there were wide differences in performance when broken down into European speakers and Latin American speakers. The empirical evidence suggest that European Spanish speakers do better that Latin American Spanish speakers. A number of factors were identified in the underachievement of Spanish students, including the language barrier, poverty, and pupil mobility rate. Policy implications for data collection and further research are discussed in the final section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children experience numerous types of learning transitions throughout their educational lives physically (changing schools) and substantively (moving through different key stages in school), and daily (in moving between subjects). One transition that is frequently overlooked within the British education system is that from the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) usually completed at the age of 16 to Advanced Subsidiary Level (AS Level) usually completed at the age of 17. This case study addresses this issue by focusing on students’ perceptions and experiences of the transition between GCSE and AS Level mathematics. It involves a small qualitative study of 28 students from a post-16 college in the UK and uses questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to ascertain students’ views of their transition in studying mathematics at a higher level. The evidence suggests that many students struggle with the transition from GCSE to A Level making AS Level Mathematics inaccessible for many students. Ways of addressing the difficulties experienced by students are discussed with implications for teachers, students and policy-makers in the hope of supporting smoother learning transitions to advanced level study for all. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Currently, science in England is distinctive at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in comparison to most other subjects, in that there is a notable stratification of award routes. The most prestigious of these, ‘Triple Science’ (the route for entry for three separate science GCSEs), is championed by English government and industry, but has received scant critical academic attention to date. Drawing on data collected via a national survey of over 13,000 Year 11 students aged 15/16 years and in-depth longitudinal interviews conducted with 70 students from this cohort (from age 10 to 16), we discuss how most students have little if any choice over which science ‘option’ they take at GCSE. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of pedagogic action, we unpick how students are ‘channelled’ into making the ‘right’ choices and come to accept their allocation as legitimate. We explore how selective practices around Triple Science create and perpetuate social inequalities, producing different patterns of student identity, aspiration and attainment. In particular, we discuss the identification of Triple Science as ‘for the clever’ and problematise its relationship with the science ‘pipeline’. We conclude by suggesting potentially more equitable ways forward for science education, reflecting on implications for post-16 participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used semi-structured interviews with staff in 14 secondary schools in England to explore strategies for entering students to GCSE Mathematics, focusing on the use of early and multiple examination entry. The key findings suggest that teachers were keenly aware of performativity pressures and that this prompted the use of a number of strategic entry practices, including the frequent use of early entry to allow students multiple examination attempts. This approach aimed to maximise the number of students achieving a grade C, the threshold for school accountability measures and for accessing further education and employment opportunities. Widespread use of early and multiple entry is likely to cease in England following amendments to accountability measures announced in 2013, yet this study adds a further perspective to the well-established literature detailing the impact of accountability measures in schools, as well as depicting teachers’ views on the effects of early and multiple entry upon pupils’ education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a period of intense policy change involving GCSE examinations in England, proposed partly in response to schools using tactics to maximise performance against accountability measures. The reforms included a change to linear rather than modular entry, removing partial re-sits, and limiting early and multiple entry to examinations by changing school accountability measures. We present new empirical data from interviews conducted with senior teachers at 15 schools. The focus of these interviews has been in the English and mathematics departments; the first subjects to be examined in the new specifications. The data suggest that teachers acknowledge this practice of ‘gaming’ but only as something ‘other’ schools did. Whilst the reforms have now allowed for the system to be viewed as a more level playing field, teachers still describe a constant tension in the decisions surrounding examination entry. They describe the desire for a balance that is not just between school and student outcomes, but also between different outcomes such as motivation, performance, and engagement. Tensions arise between these outcomes when entry choices are being made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results from Rasch analysis of GCSE and GCE A level data over a period of four years suggest that the standards of examinations in different subjects are not consistent in terms of the levels of the latent trait specified in the Rasch model required to achieve the same grades. Variability in statistical standards between subjects exists at both individual grade level and the overall subject level. Findings from this study are generally consistent with those from previous studies using similar statistical models. It has been demonstrated that the alignment of statistical standards between subjects based on the Rasch model would likely result in substantial change in performance standards of the examinations for some subjects evidenced here by significant changes in grade boundary scores and grade outcomes. It is argued that the defined purposes of GCSE and A level qualifications determine how their results should be interpreted and reported and that the existing grading and results reporting procedures are appropriate for supporting these purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classroom-based assessments have the potential to enhance validity by facilitating the assessment of important skills that are difficult to assess in written examinations. Such assessments tend to be marked by teachers. To ensure consistent marking standards, quality assurance procedures are needed. In the context of continued debate over the robustness of assessment by teachers, this research aimed to provide insights into the cognitive and social processes involved in the moderation of project work in General Certificate of Secondary Education qualifications (taken by many 16 year olds in England). The research involved nine examiners across three subject areas ‘thinking aloud’ whilst moderating the marks given to six students (treated as a mock school). The participants were also interviewed. These methods were chosen to provide an in-depth look at the judgement processes involved. The research provides an improved understanding of moderation judgements and how aspects of this process relate to existing theories of judgement. Improving our understanding of the judgement processes involved when an examiner moderates teacher marking can help to evaluate the appropriateness of this assessment method, may contribute to debate on whether teacher marking can be sufficiently well verified by quality assurance procedures, and may inform moderation practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1998 the Northern Examination and Assessment Board selected the poem 'Nothing's Changed' by the South African writer Tatamkhulu Afrika as the last of its ten Poems from Other Cultures and Traditions. Published in the NEAB Anthology (1998), 'Nothing's Changed' became a favourite at GCSE for its vivid depiction of apartheid and its effects. This article revisits Tatamkhulu Afrika's poem, situating it in the context of educational policy, the creation of the NEAB Anthology, the poem's initial use by Devon Curriculum Services in the 1990s, and its emergence as an object of national study in Britain. It examines how the poem was read under the conditions of its anthologisation and the pressures of examination, highlighting how specific reading practices typically stumbled on the problems of history, cultural representativeness, and literature's capacity to offer a transparent window onto experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigate the relations between gender, parental education, ability, and educational achievement in Britain, focusing on the way in which gender and parental education interact with ability to contribute to a pupil’s obtaining secondary school qualifications. This allows us to provide evidence relevant to claims concerning the effects of differences in the way in which working- and middle-class familial cultures interact with gender-specific behaviour in school. Given the configurational nature of the processes likely to be involved, we employ Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis as our method. We find that, in both academically selective and non-selective schools, high ability is a quasi-sufficient condition for obtaining certain levels of qualification, but that at lower levels of ability, either being female or having highly educated parents (or both) have to be present, too. Boys without highly educated parents perform less well than girls from a similar background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled assessment (CA) was introduced as a valid and reliable replacement for coursework in GCSE English and English Literature assessments in 2009. I argue that CA lacks clear definition, typically mimics externally-assessed public examinations and, when interrogated through the Crooks eight-link chain model, is undermined by several threats to validity, reliability and fairness. This is evidenced by the professional experiences of CA stakeholders consulted by Ipsos MORI in their 2011 ‘Evaluation of the Introduction of Controlled Assessment’; the theoretical threats to validity that may arise during the administration, scoring, aggregation, generalisation, extrapolation, evaluation, decision and impact stages of CA events; and problems of perception concerning CA in English and English Literature that derive from competing purposes. I conclude that CA has not yet proved itself a valid, reliable and apposite replacement for coursework, and that further refinement is necessary if CA is to fulfil this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General Certificates of Secondary Education, known as GCSEs, are organised into modules which can be assessed at the end of the course (linear route) or at different points throughout the course (modular route). This research investigates students’ performance in English and mathematics in each assessment route and the effects of certification session and re-sits on examination outcomes using data from one English awarding body. In mathematics, modular students performed better than linear students once prior attainment was accounted for. In contrast, modular assessment in English did not always lead to better performance. In the modular routes of English, students certificating early in the course were at a disadvantage compared to those certificating at the end. However, modular mathematics students obtained significantly better results in early sessions than at the end of the course. The benefits of re-sitting seemed clear, as most students performed better on their second attempt at a module than on their first. However, this did not often lead to an improvement on the module grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High stakes examinations have been identified as a significant source of stress for secondary school students; however, there is little data accounting for, and explaining, the experiences of examination stress. This study aimed to further the understanding of examination stress in secondary school students by conducting interviews with 34 students in their final two years of compulsory schooling in England, following a programme of study towards their school leaving qualification, the General Certificate of Secondary Education. Findings suggested that the appraisal of examinations as stressful was idiosyncratic, differing from one student to another. Eight distinct but related elements of examination stress were identified, which included the anticipation of failure, poor competence beliefs and the extent to which academic credentials are valued. Examination stress was also gendered, both in its subject‐specific nature and in the way the experience was described by students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a well established body of international literature describing the effect of test anxiety on student performance in a range of assessments, there has been little work conducted on samples of students from the UK. The purpose of this exploratory study is two-fold. First, to establish the relationship between test anxiety and assessment performance in a group of students in their final year of compulsory secondary schooling, in the politicised educational context of the UK. Second, to establish if this relationship is moderated by gender and socio-economic background. Data were gathered on trait test anxiety, GSCE examination performance in Mathematics, English Language and Science, gender and socio-economic background from 557 mixed ability Year 11 students drawn from three secondary schools in the UK. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to establish the moderating influence of gender and socio-economic background. Results suggest a small, but significant inverse relationship between test anxiety scores and mean examination performance and that the cognitive component of test anxiety accounts for 7% of variance in examination performance. A differential test anxiety-assessment performance relationship was reported for socio-economic background but not gender. Although the data reported for the test anxiety-assessment performance relationship are similar to those reported in numerous other studies, it is hypothesised that contextualised features associated with secondary education in the UK, particularly efforts to raise attainment, may have influenced these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our state of centralised control of the curriculum and high-stakes testing an examination subject’s assessment objectives have become high profile. Some of the anomalous effects of this profile are shown in the teaching, question-setting, and marking of English literature. Glimpses of earlier times are revealed, all three secondary school key stages are considered, examination performances are discussed, and the views of beginning teachers about teaching to the test are sought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws on information derived from the Census and from pupil records to explore the relationships between the backgrounds and GCSE performance of the 1998/99 GCSE cohort of pupils in an Inner London borough. It provides evidence of substantial differences between the backgrounds of pupils attending different schools and of a strong relationship between these differences and differences in the GCSE performance of schools. This is followed by discussion of the methodological implications of the use of Census data for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]