28 episodes
Inside Exams AQA
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- Education
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4.7 • 17 Ratings
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How are exams made accessible for students from different backgrounds? How are clever multiple choice questions written? And just how are grade boundaries awarded?
Teacher Craig Barton meets the people involved in producing and marking exams to get the answers to your most pressing questions, as well as talking to fellow teachers about how you can apply all this new knowledge in the classroom.
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Future of exams: all Star Trek and holodecks?
What is the future of assessment? How big a part will technology play? And what headway is already being made? Craig Barton speaks to Ben Stafford, AQA’s head of assessment design, and head of research and development Ruth Johnson about the strategies that might be considered for future exams. Dimitrios Georgalis is a maths teacher at Leeds City College, and Darren Coogan is curriculum Lead for GCSE Maths at Peterborough Regional College, they tell Craig how they use innovative technologies in the classroom.
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Exam marking: planting seeds to hit the mark
How does online marking of exam papers work? What processes make marking is accurate and consistent? And what tools are markers given to ensure quality control? Pete Hawcroft, AQA’s head of marking, tells Craig Barton how each question paper is marked. Craig also meets Juliet Park, director of languages for a West Yorkshire trust. She discusses innovative alternatives to traditional classroom marking.
Take a look at the most common marking myths: https://store.aqa.org.uk/content/inside-exams/AQA-INSIDE-EXAMS-S2-EP7-MYTHBUSTING.PDF
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Exam rules: investigations integral to integrity
How is malpractice investigated? And how can school staff and students help in the process? Bill Johnston and Lalita Handford are both exams integrity leads at AQA; they talk through how potential cases of malpractice reach them, who investigates, and what kind of resolutions cases can come to.
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Creating assessments: taking stock and setting mocks
Who writes exam questions? And how does the process ensure the integrity of exams? Craig Barton talks to AQA’s Assessment Banking Manager Oli Woodfield, and Engagement and Communications Lead Jenni Midgley about how question papers are created. Ellie Upton is a science teacher at Chace Community School in Enfield; she explains how her team creates robust mock exams.
Visit Exampro to find out more about creating tests from previous question papers: https://www.exampro.co.uk
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Writing questions: setting the setting
Why are some exam questions written in context? And how do writers make sure those contexts won’t advantage certain students over others? Mike, one of AQA’s Lead Assessment Writers for GCSE Physics, tells Craig Barton how he comes up with interesting contexts, and Laurie Luscombe, a maths teacher at The Blue Coat School in Oldham, explains how he cleverly teaches them in the classroom.
The British Library teaching resources: https://www.bl.uk/teaching-resources
20 ideas for enriching students' cultural capital: https://www.teachitenglish.co.uk/resources/ks3/20-teaching-ideas-for/planning-and-assessment/20-ideas-for-enriching-students-cultural-capital/35070
The National Theatre teaching resources: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/learning/schools/secondary-and-fe/resources
The National Portrait Gallery teaching resources: https://www.npg.org.uk/learning/digital
Science Museum teaching resources: https://learning-resources.sciencemuseum.org.uk/resources/?keystage=ks4
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Assessment: exercising validity and re-visioning resits
What makes an assessment valid? What factors can undermine that validity? And how do exams validly assess the whole grade range 1-9? Craig Barton gets the answers from AQA’s Director of Assessment and Curriculum Dave Mellor. Plus, Julia Smith, a teacher trainer and former maths teacher, explores how to motivate and prepare students for resits.
Our tips for avoiding common pitfalls in exams: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/mathematics/AQA-8300-POSTER-TIPS.PDF
Post-16 one year resit seminar: https://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/mathematics/gcse/mathematics-8300/plan/prepare-to-teach-post-16-one-year-resit-webinar
National numeracy video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDP-ZYAxFbs&feature=youtu.be
Basic skills questions (All About Maths): https://allaboutmaths.aqa.org.uk/basicskillsquestions
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Customer Reviews
Amazing
Very helpful (from the perspective of a student)!
Great listen!
Very interesting to hear the attention to detail in setting questions, enabling students to access assessments as easily as possible.
Nonsense
Gross misrepresentation of the toxic organisation that is AQA