Sarah Sheldon

Thank you for your help, Andrew. One more issue on which further clarification would be greatly appreciated, relates to the 'best fit' advice on the mark scheme for AQA GCSE English A and English literature. To mark EN1 coursework, I assume that I would firstly look at the general criteria for a best fit. If however, the candidate does not clearly fit into any band, but has some of the criteria from band G, some from band F and some from band C, do I need to put the candidate into the G band, on the basis that 'each successive grade description assumes the continued demonstration of qualities described in the lower grades', as per the mark scheme? Then when I have decided on the G band, I would then turn to the specific criteria in order to see how well the candidate has met each criteria, and thus determining a mark from 7-12. Is this correct? I apologise if I am asking an obvious question, but this is a new specification for me, at a new school and due to staff illness, school is not very helpful at the moment! I really want to make sure that I understand the mark scheme before I attack a huge pile of coursework over half term. Many thanks for any help given Sarah

I am attempting to mark my first pieces of coursework under these specifications and would be grateful if someone could please clarify an issue for me. The mark schemes have General criteria and Specific criteria (and Skills Descriptors and Content Descriptors); am I correct in thinking that I use the General criteria to select the band in which the candidate's work best fits, and then refine the mark within the band's mark range using the Specific criteria? For example, if using the General criteria for EN2 I decide that a candidate should be in the D band (marks 25-30), do I then look to see how well they have met the Specific criteria in order to see which mark in the range 25 to 30 should be given? Also, I have been looking at the forms to be filled in for the exam board (and I know that I don't need to complete them yet, but I just want to gain an understanding!) and am somewhat confused about what happens if the folder is incomplete. On the EN2 record form, EN1 record form and Candidate record form, does one use the reduced mark or the initial mark for EN1, EN2 etc? I would appreciate any clarification given. Many thanks Sarah

I am an ICT and Computing teacher based in Dorset, with 8 years experience.