The A Level Secret Examiner

We’re in that time of the year that I always think of as being the most critical in setting out the future examination success of students. Not so much the last few weeks of the holiday in inevitably planning for the term ahead – refreshing the modules for the new cohorts in year 10 and year 11; refining last year’s modules to build in support the for the new year 11 or new year 13 and their now known individual strengths and weaknesses – but in looking back at the summer’s set of exam results and evaluating my own and my team’s performance; what did we get right, where did we stray off course?

The first few lessons with year 11 and year 13 are always centred on discussing the exam series just gone, honestly looking at those tasks where marks were gained and lost, hammering home to Year 11 and Year 13 the proof of the correctness of the points that we have emphasised again and again, week after week, assessment after assessment.

• use of evidence
• relevant application of theory
• application of framework elements

As a Senior Examiner and Team Leader I have always seen the vital importance of learning the lessons of each cohort’s performance in informing the approach to the following cohort’s learning and made this a cornerstone of all faculty planning. All schemes to be reviewed, modules scrutinised, lesson planning to highlight application of this hard-won knowledge.