GCSE Science 2008
24 October 2008
Ofqual acts to maintain standards and assure learners that the standards applied to their work have been carefully checked and their grades truly reflect their attainment.
In August 2008 the awarding bodies offering GCSE qualifications in England alerted Ofqual to an issue with the results for the new GCSE science qualification that was being awarded in large numbers for the first time this summer. The awarding bodies drew our attention to issues relating to the comparability of grade standards between awarding bodies and over time compared to some previous GCSE science options. Ofqual acted to ensure that learners could be assured that the standards applied to them had been carefully checked and their grades truly reflected their attainment.
The letters available to download from this page were sent to AQA, an awarding body, outlining Ofqual's position. The letter that AQA sent to Ofqual is available on their website.
Ofqual is confident that standards have been maintained. All awarding bodies applied thorough processes when awarding grades. Ofqual is working with awarding bodies to look at the technical issues that arose this summer. It is important to look in detail at the introduction of any new qualification and new specifications. For this reason Ofqual has been paying close attention to GCSE science and will be continuing this monitoring by looking closely at the question papers and the mark schemes of all awarding bodies. As well as looking at past papers, science experts will be looking at candidates' work, particularly work awarded marks near a grade boundary, to ensure that the standard is secure. We will report on this work early in 2009.