Last updated: 03 Aug 2007

Following a review of AS/A levels, draft qualification and subject criteria were developed in autumn 2005 in collaboration with stakeholders including teachers, awarding bodies, subject associations, Higher Education and other interested parties.

Online consultation on the draft criteria was carried out on the QCA website from March 20 until May 8, 2006. QCA received over 3200 responses in total. The findings of the consultation can be found in the GCE AS/A level qualification and subject criteria consultation summary reports, which can be accessed from the right-hand side of this page. The Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) and the Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) carried out their own consultations in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Following the online consultation a series of meetings were held with the original groups of stakeholders who had developed the first drafts of the qualification and subject criteria. These groups looked at the feedback from the online consultation and made any necessary amendments to the criteria. The subject and qualification criteria were finalised in December 2006, and awarding bodies begun their specification development. Subject criteria set out the knowledge, understanding, skills and assessment objectives common to all A and AS specifications in a given subject. They provide the framework within which the awarding body creates the detail of the specification.

Subject criteria are intended to:

• help ensure consistent and comparable standards in the same subject across the awarding bodies;
• define the relationship between the A and AS specifications, with the AS as a subset of the A level;
• ensure that the rigour of A level is maintained;
• help higher education institutions and employers know what has been studied and assessed.

Performance descriptions have been written to describe the typical performance of candidates at the A/B and E/U boundaries in AS and A level examinations. These are in relation to the specific assessment objectives for a subject. These final criteria and the performance descriptions for each subject can be viewed and downloaded from the right hand side of this page.

The awarding body revised specifications were submitted to the regulators in spring 2007, with the majority of these being accredited by 31 July 2007. The specifications will be available to centres from September 2007, with first teaching from September 2008. Once uploaded, these revised specifications can be downloaded from the awarding body websites via the related links on the right hand side of this page.

If you have any queries about the consultation summary or the qualification/subject criteria, please do not hesitate to get in touch with QCA at: alevels@qca.org.uk. If you would like further information about the consultation on the review of GCE AS/A levels, please follow the links of the left-side of this page.

Background to the review of GCE AS/A levels

QCA and its regulatory partners, DCELLS and CCEA, have a remit to regulate the development and delivery of qualifications by awarding bodies.
For each of the main qualification groups:

• the regulatory authorities produce criteria for the qualification itself, eg qualification criteria for all AS/A levels and separate subject criteria for most AS/A level subjects
• awarding bodies write specifications (syllabuses) to meet these criteria
• the regulatory authorities accredit the specifications for use in centres and for learners.

This process guarantees quality and consistency across different awarding bodies, and different types of qualifications and subjects.

The main aspects that were reviewed as part of the consultation on GCE AS/A level qualifications and subject criteria were:

• a reduction in the burden of assessment by reducing the number of units. For the majority of subjects, this will mean a reduction to four units. Fewer assessment units will enable each unit to be more holistic, less mechanistic and more supportive of extended writing
• a review of the necessity for coursework as an element of the assessment. Coursework will be included in A levels only where it is the soundest method of assessment, and provided that it makes clear how reliability and fairness are secured
• the introduction of AEA-style assessments to all A levels. AEA-style material will encourage teaching that challenges students and promotes independent thought and learning
• clarification of synoptic assessment. We reviewed what synoptic assessment entails in each subject and want to ensure that it will encourage the development of a holistic understanding of the subject. Clearer understanding of synoptic assessment will also support learning and understanding.

The purpose of criteria

In order to regulate the quality and standard of AS/A level qualifications, the regulatory authorities establish criteria for the development of specifications by awarding bodies. Specifications have to meet these criteria in order to be accredited.

The GCE AS/A level qualification criteria give broad rules on the structure of AS/A levels and their assessment and grading. For subjects offered by more than one awarding body, specific subject criteria are developed to ensure that there is comparability between specifications.

The subject criteria give the general aims of studying the subject at AS/A level, outline the core content essential to all specifications, and indicate the assessment objectives and the scheme of assessment.

Disability Discrimination Act

As part of our consultation on the draft AS/A level subject criteria, we asked stakeholders whether they thought that we had only included competences essential to each subject, and therefore not put unnecessary barriers in the way of students with disabilities.

Under the DDA, regulators have a duty to review and evaluate competence standards contained within the qualification and subject criteria. The competence standards that students will be asked to demonstrate include knowledge, understanding and skills.

As part of the consultation and review we have:

• identified the specific purpose of each competence standard that is applied, and examined the manner in which the standard achieves that purpose
• considered the impact that each competence standard may have on disabled people and, in the case of a standard which may have an adverse impact, asked whether the application of the standard is absolutely necessary
• reviewed the purpose and effect of each competence standard in the light of changing circumstances - such as developments in technology
• examined whether the purpose for which any competence standard is applied could be achieved in a way that does not have an adverse impact on disabled people
• documented the manner in which these issues have been addressed, the conclusions which have been arrived at, and the reasons for those conclusions.