Clarification on external and internal assessments

Exam papers

As centres will be aware, new GCSE PE J587 practice papers were released in May.

The 6 mark extended response (*) questions in these papers are synoptic, linking content from both examined components of the specification. This is also the case with the final Specimen Assessment Materials (SAMs) for J587/01 and 02. This differs from some of the first drafts of SAMs, which linked together two or more topics within the component, rather than linking material from J587/01 to J587/02 or vice versa.

Some training provided by OCR may have reflected the original approach of only linking topics within each component in these questions.

This change was required by Ofqual as part of the accreditation of the qualification and will be implemented for all live papers ready for the first assessment in 2018. When revising material for the examinations, students should be prepared to answer a 6 mark question requiring knowledge from across both examined components of the specification.

The training given by OCR has been updated to reflect this. Please email pe@ocr.org.uk if you have any queries regarding this.

Non-examination assessment (NEA)

Guide to NEA, Section 2c.2 - the assessment column of the marking grid has been updated to reflect that the subject of the analysing and evaluating performance task (AEP) may be the student themself or a peer.

Logs of competitive participation - we have become aware of a number of centres who haven't completed logs of competitive participation. Please note the final paragraph in section 2b.1: your learners are required to complete a competitive log for each of their sports. A template can be found in the forms section of the subject page of the OCR website.

Competitive, authentic performance situations - these do not have to be external competitions, they can be inter-school or set up within school (these should be set up as per National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport rules though). The marks awarded should reflect the context in which the learner is performing as well as the level and consistency of skills demonstrated.

Outdoor education activities – we have received a significant number of enquiries about the assessment of activities such as rock climbing, skiing, canoeing, etc. Comparability of performance across activities is critical. It is not realistic to expect the level and consistency of skills gained in a single residential trip or very occasional participation in these types of activities will be comparable to those developed over years of regular participation in activities such as football, netball and dance.

If you have students with a physical disability, please see section 1e of the guide to NEA for how to apply to adapt the sports criteria to suit the disability. This should be completed and sent in to OCR in the first term of the student's course.

If you have any queries about this notice, please call our Customer Contact Centre on 01223 553998 or email general.qualifications@ocr.org.uk.

Qualifications

• Physical Education (9-1) - J587 (from 2016)