Inside Exams

What is a relationship manager? How can they help you review the past exam series and prepare for the coming year? 

AQA’s Nick Sandeman talks through how many schools he visits in a day, what data he can provide you with, and why you’re bound to get more out of a friendly face to face chat than a quick email.

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As the new school year begins, what measures are taken behind the scenes to ensure the start of term is as smooth as possible for teachers? 

AQA’s Head of curriculum maths, Head of Resource Management, Product Development Manager, Director of Markets, Curriculum Support Manager for Modern Foreign Languages, and Events Planner all explain how what they do helps prepare schools for a successful academic year.

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Results day - what goes in to making it happen? AQA’s head of marking, customer engagement manager, team leader of order and results, and head of curriculum religious studies talk through their roles before, during, and after results day. Plus, they reminisce on how they felt picking up their own results.

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Multiple choice question myth-busting!

Series one of Inside Exams might be over, but before we launch into series two, we’re sharing some extra behind the scenes insights with you. First, Craig Barton puts some common myths about multiple choice questions to AQA senior researcher Zeek Swiery.

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Which subjects see a gender imbalance in exam entries? And what can be done by both exam boards and schools to help redress the balance?

Steve Kenny, AQA’s head of curriculum computer science, tells Craig Barton how exam boards can help improve the gender balance in some subjects, and Edgehill University’s Dawn Hewitson explains how cross-subject collaboration can help encourage minority gender students into certain subjects.

Watch our video on overcoming gender disparity in the classroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pji4aiH0WiU

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How are mark schemes written? What are the different types of mark schemes? And how can you make use of mark schemes in the classroom?

Craig Barton meets AQA Assessment Design Manager Suzanne Oates to find out what examiners consider when they write mark schemes, and history teacher Carmel Bones shares the fun classroom games she plays to familiarise her students with them.

The anatomy of a mark scheme: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/content/inside-exams/AQA-INSIDE-EXAMS-EP7-ANATOMY-MARK-SCHEME.PDF

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What happens at an awarding meeting? Who are the people deciding on grade boundaries? Gill, a chief examiner at AQA, takes us behind the scenes on a busy day of awarding, explaining what information and techniques she and her colleagues use to set grade boundaries each year.

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How are grade boundaries set? Why aren’t they set until after the exam? And how do statistics combine with human judgement to award grades?

Craig Barton asks Lesley Meyer, one of AQA’s senior researchers, what factors are considered in setting grade boundaries, and MFL teacher Jane Wood explains how her school managed to get their tiering decisions right.

Myth-busting grade boundaries: https://www.aqa.org.uk/inside-exams-podcasts/episode-6/myth-busting-grade-boundaries

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How does the EPQ help students transition from A Levels to higher education? What transferable skills allow them to hit the ground running at university? And should your student choose to create an artefact or a report?

Southampton University’s Learn With Us Transition Leader, Dr Emma Thompson, talks through the evidence that shows just how useful doing an EPQ can be both in getting students into university, and allowing them to thrive once there.

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What is the Extended Project Qualification? How can students build their self-directed study skills, explore their passions and get credit for it?

Jennifer Obaditch, AQA’s Head of Curriculum Projects, enlightens Craig Barton about how the EPQ can help students with their A-levels and university studies, as well as telling him about some of the most impressive projects she’s come across. Craig also meets Julie Greenhough, who coordinates the EPQ at St Benedict’s, to find out how they implement it.

Watch our video with an EPQ student: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6s8_tE_JdU&t=12s

Read more research into the EPQ and students' performance: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/our-research/all-published-resources/research-matters/rm-23/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2017.1302498

https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/178062-predictive-validity-of-level-3-qualifications.pdf

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