Sarah Ash, Child Development and Health and Social Care Subject Advisor

Here at OCR we’ve had lots of queries from centres in recent weeks about marking coursework, or non-exam assessment (NEA). For the Cambridge National in Child Development (J818), this means R019 and R020.

There have been questions about how to apply the mark scheme. This isn’t surprising as it hasn’t been assessed for two years, so a larger number of teachers than normal will be submitting marks for moderation for the first time. We’ve also had questions about administrative requirements, and most particularly about whether any allowances should be made when marking for the abnormal and difficult circumstances many students have had to contend with while completing their assignments. 

Regarding that last point, all NEA must be marked in the same way as before the pandemic disruption. This is really important, as it will help ensure that all students’ work is marked to the same standards. 

For Cambridge Nationals, our qualification level UMS boundaries will return to normal, reflecting the wide range of other adaptations in place to support your students this year. Further information can be found in Dr Frances Wilson’s blog: How Cambridge Nationals and Cambridge Technicals will be awarded in 2021/22.

In the light of that recent JCQ announcement, and the queries we’ve had from you, we thought it would be helpful to provide a quick summary of the support available to ensure that you are marking to the correct standard.

Guides to applying the mark scheme

There are several resources that will help you have confidence in your application of the marking criteria for the Cambridge National in Child Development (J818):

• A free on-line marking course is available on OCR Train. This can be completed in your own time and includes a series of tests designed to ensure that you are correctly allocating levels to pieces of work. 
• Candidate exemplar coursework is available to view and help understand the quality of work that needs to be produced. 
• The moderators’ report offers constructive feedback on centres’ assessment of moderated work, based on what has been observed by our moderation team. 
• You can book onto upcoming CPD events and review materials from past CPD events on the professional development area of our website.

Administrative points to remember

General information on NEA administration is available on our website. 

For Cambridge National in Child Development, please remember to have completed the following points to ensure you are ready for moderation:

• Students complete their set assignments 
• Assessors complete summative marking and fill in a unit URS 
• Internal standardisation takes place 
• Marks are internally agreed and submitted by your exams officer 
• External moderation will be arranged.

The process of administration is very straightforward, but you might like to read our guide to effective assessment practices to make sure everything is in place. Also essential forms and the generic guide to internal standardisation will help you and other staff to know that you are following procedures correctly. If this is the first time that you will complete the URS, there is a useful video that navigates you through the process, which can be found along with the other documents mentioned in this paragraph in the administration section of the qualification pages. 

Avoiding malpractice is still important: remember that this year you aren’t providing any additional support or marking more leniently. The package of student support means that the reduction in assessment will take into consideration the circumstances students have faced. Further details are available in our FAQs.

Looking forward to next year’s cohort

We hope that your students enjoy the internally assessed assignments in the Cambridge Nationals. As we move forward into next year do remember to keep an eye on our subject updates: you can sign up for these using the link below. 

Remember that for students who certificate after the 2021/22 academic year there is still the possibility of a reduced assessment. This must be for one moderated unit that would have been taken during the 2021/22 academic year. Any unit planned for the 2022/23 academic year needs to go ahead as planned. 

Our suite of Cambridge National qualifications has been redeveloped for first teaching September 2022; we are therefore withdrawing the current suite. The final assessment series for the current suite will be June 2023. Details of our new Cambridge National in Child Development (J809) are now available.

Stay connected

If you have any questions, you can check out the FAQs published on the online support centre. If you have any questions you can email support.qualifications@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or tweet us @OCR_Health. You can also sign up to receive email updates about resources and support.

About the author

Sarah Ash joined OCR in April 2018 after many years of teaching. She worked on the redevelopment of our Cambridge Nationals in Child Development and Health and Social Care. She supports teachers through the development of resources, the CPD programme, blogs, stakeholder forums and subject communications. Since joining OCR Sarah has completed A101 in the Principles of Assessment and A102 Assessment Practice. 

Before joining OCR Sarah taught Health and Social Care in schools and sixth forms around Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. Her first degree is in Health Services Management, and she gained her PGCE in Health and Social Care from the University of East Anglia.