new maths GCSE
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Martin_Procter
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Re: new maths GCSE
I’ve been looking at this for a few months and attended sessions with staff from AQA, Edexcel and OCR on the subject of the new Maths GCSE. I have a bit of background information.
Guest55 is right; it’s all about market share.
For those interested here’s a bit more information on the situation…
First, I must stress that this is a spat about the format of the exams, not the specification of what Maths is to be taught.
AQA have produced specimen assessment materials (i.e. their view on what the 2017 exams would look like) that appear considerably easier than those produced by Edexcel and OCR. Of course an easy exam would have higher grade boundaries, so what’s the fuss? AQA’s exam appears much more friendly to candidates than the other two; more “accessible” might be the best jargon. Schools are worried (rightly so) that candidates will panic if presented with an exam paper that does not have an easy introduction. AQA’s specimens start with multiple choice questions; these are easy (or appear to be easy); AQA’s idea is that even weak candidates who get the multiple choice questions wrong may think they’ve made a good start to the paper and so will approach the rest of the paper with confidence and enthusiasm.
How have AQA been able to do this while Edexcel and OCR have not? The answer is a little complicated, but I’ll attempt to explain jargon-free here…..
One of the main driving points of the new GCSE is that the candidate must show problem solving skills (see moved’s entry above). So, a slightly higher proportion of the marks of each paper must come from problem solving. Ofqual’s big change here is that from 2017 each single mark from a long multi-mark paper must be categorised into one of 3 types of mark (“doing mathematical calculations”, “interpret and communicate” and “solve problems”).
For example, in the past (& currently) a 5-mark question at the end of the paper that involves problem solving would count 5 marks towards the quota of “problem solving” marks that the examination board must put on the paper. From 2017, the examination board might would have to treat such a question differently, say 2 marks for “problem solving” and 3 marks for “doing mathematical calculations”. So from 2017 the proportion of problem solving questions must increase significantly and so there is not enough room in the mark scheme for easy “doing mathematical calculations” questions (or at least that is what Edexcel and OCR believed).
AQA have taken the approach that such a 5-mark question would be 3 marks in 2017 – 2 marks in the “problem solving” quota and only one mark for many lines of calculations in the “doing mathematical calculations” quota. So, AQA have freed up some of the “doing mathematical calculations” quota marks allowing them to start the paper with easy-looking multiple choice questions.
AQA have played the game well and won!
The surprise is Ofqual’s behaviour. They accepted AQA’s specimen papers in summer/autumn 2014 but started to signal a U turn in December 2014 in response to lobbying by Edexcel and OCR. Now we have to wait until April 2015 when the dry-run of the materials will produce further inevitable guidelines.
Lastly, a rather cynical observation from me… When new Maths specification for GCSE and A Level have been brought in previously (2004, 2010, 2012), the specimen exam papers have been imaginative and well designed to test problem solving. When the first “real” exam papers are produced, they seem to be less imaginative and to include fewer good “problem solving” questions. Maybe the same will happen with the new GCSE.
Guest55 is right; it’s all about market share.
For those interested here’s a bit more information on the situation…
First, I must stress that this is a spat about the format of the exams, not the specification of what Maths is to be taught.
AQA have produced specimen assessment materials (i.e. their view on what the 2017 exams would look like) that appear considerably easier than those produced by Edexcel and OCR. Of course an easy exam would have higher grade boundaries, so what’s the fuss? AQA’s exam appears much more friendly to candidates than the other two; more “accessible” might be the best jargon. Schools are worried (rightly so) that candidates will panic if presented with an exam paper that does not have an easy introduction. AQA’s specimens start with multiple choice questions; these are easy (or appear to be easy); AQA’s idea is that even weak candidates who get the multiple choice questions wrong may think they’ve made a good start to the paper and so will approach the rest of the paper with confidence and enthusiasm.
How have AQA been able to do this while Edexcel and OCR have not? The answer is a little complicated, but I’ll attempt to explain jargon-free here…..
One of the main driving points of the new GCSE is that the candidate must show problem solving skills (see moved’s entry above). So, a slightly higher proportion of the marks of each paper must come from problem solving. Ofqual’s big change here is that from 2017 each single mark from a long multi-mark paper must be categorised into one of 3 types of mark (“doing mathematical calculations”, “interpret and communicate” and “solve problems”).
For example, in the past (& currently) a 5-mark question at the end of the paper that involves problem solving would count 5 marks towards the quota of “problem solving” marks that the examination board must put on the paper. From 2017, the examination board might would have to treat such a question differently, say 2 marks for “problem solving” and 3 marks for “doing mathematical calculations”. So from 2017 the proportion of problem solving questions must increase significantly and so there is not enough room in the mark scheme for easy “doing mathematical calculations” questions (or at least that is what Edexcel and OCR believed).
AQA have taken the approach that such a 5-mark question would be 3 marks in 2017 – 2 marks in the “problem solving” quota and only one mark for many lines of calculations in the “doing mathematical calculations” quota. So, AQA have freed up some of the “doing mathematical calculations” quota marks allowing them to start the paper with easy-looking multiple choice questions.
AQA have played the game well and won!
The surprise is Ofqual’s behaviour. They accepted AQA’s specimen papers in summer/autumn 2014 but started to signal a U turn in December 2014 in response to lobbying by Edexcel and OCR. Now we have to wait until April 2015 when the dry-run of the materials will produce further inevitable guidelines.
Lastly, a rather cynical observation from me… When new Maths specification for GCSE and A Level have been brought in previously (2004, 2010, 2012), the specimen exam papers have been imaginative and well designed to test problem solving. When the first “real” exam papers are produced, they seem to be less imaginative and to include fewer good “problem solving” questions. Maybe the same will happen with the new GCSE.
