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GCE ADVANCED SUBSIDIARY AND ADVANCED LEVEL SPECIFICATIONS

SUBJECT CRITERIA FOR GENERAL STUDIES

1. Introduction

1.1 AS and A level subject criteria set out the knowledge, understanding, skills and assessment objectives common to all AS and A level 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 AS and A level 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.

Any specification which contains significant elements of the subject General Studies must be consistent with the relevant parts of these subject criteria.

2. Aims

2.1 AS and A level specifications in General Studies should encourage students to:

• develop a greater awareness of human knowledge, understanding and behaviour;
• integrate knowledge from a range of disciplines in order to develop a synoptic view of how they relate to one another and how each may contribute to the understanding of issues being studied;
• appreciate that there are various ways of interpreting different types of information and assess the relative merits of evidence in order to understand such concepts as objectivity, neutrality and bias;
• think critically, logically and constructively about significant problems, acquire an appreciation of the strengths and limitations of different approaches and demonstrate an ability to justify their own;
• develop a critical awareness and understanding of perennial and contemporary issues and develop a greater awareness of their historical and contemporary contexts in order to enhance skills of evaluation;
• communicate with coherence and clarity in an appropriate format and style.

3. Specification Content

3.1 There are no prior knowledge requirements for AS and A level specifications in General Studies.

3.2 AS and A level specifications in General Studies should provide opportunities for students to demonstrate breadth of knowledge, depth of knowledge, an ability to transfer skills and make connections, integrate ideas and develop concepts, use arguments, make judgements and evaluate evidence, and examine questions from a broader standpoint than that of a single discipline.

Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

3.3 The importance of the development of thinking and analytical skills in a broad range of contexts means that the framework outlined below should be incorporated within both AS and A level specifications.

Thinking and Analytical Skills

3.4 Thinking and analytical skills should permeate AS and A level specifications. These skills will be assessed by students' ability to draw distinctions between knowledge, truth and belief, to recognise common fallacies, to use deductive and inductive arguments and arguments drawn from analogy, cause and authority. However, not all of these skills will necessarily be assessed in any one examination.

3.5 The core knowledge and understanding will be reflected in the study of issues identified between, and within, the following three overlapping areas:

3.5.1 Science, Mathematics and Technology

• characteristics of the sciences (physical, life and earth);
• the nature of scientific objectivity and the question of progress;
• understanding of scientific methods, principles, criteria and their application;
• moral responsibility: the social, ethical and environmental implications of scientific discoveries and technological development;
• mathematical reasoning and its application;
• the relationship between technology, science, culture (past and/or present) and ideology.

3.5.2 Culture, Morality, Arts and Humanities

• beliefs, values and moral reasoning;
• religious belief and experience, and connections between them;
• understanding and appreciation of the nature and importance of culture;
• creativity and innovation;
• aesthetic evaluation;
• media and communication.

3.5.3 Society, Politics and the Economy

• examination and appreciation of ideologies and values in society;
• political processes and goals;
• the nature of objectivity in social sciences: explanation and evaluation of human behaviour;
• relationship between law, culture and ethics;
• social and economic trends and constraints.

3.6 A level will differ from AS by the requirement to present greater challenge through the nature and depth of content studied, the wide range of links and connections that can be made, the greater variety of contexts and issues encountered, and the complexity of the concepts dealt with. A level will extend beyond the AS, therefore, in terms of breadth, depth and higher level skills as reflected in the assessment objectives.

4. Key Skills

4.1 AS and A level specifications in General Studies should provide opportunities for developing and generating evidence for assessing the Key Skills listed below. Where appropriate, these opportunities should be directly cross-referenced, at specified level(s), to the criteria listed in Part B of the Key Skills specification.

• Communication
• Information Technology
• Application of Number
• Improving Own Learning and Performance
• Working with Others
• Problem Solving

5. Assessment Objectives

5.1 The assessment objectives for AS and A level are the same, with a greater weighting for assessment objectives 3 and 4 in the A level and a lower weighting for assessment objective 1 in the A level.

All candidates must be required to meet the following assessment objectives. The assessment objectives are to be weighted in all specifications as indicated.

Assessment Objectives		Weighting
		AS	A2	A level
AO1	demonstrate relevant knowledge and understanding applied to a range of issues, using skills from different disciplines;	30-35%	20-30%	25-30%
AO2	communicate clearly and accurately in a concise, logical and relevant way;	10-15%	10-15%	10-15%
AO3	marshal evidence and draw conclusions; select, interpret, evaluate and integrate information, data, concepts and opinions;	30-35%	35-45%	35-40%
AO4	demonstrate understanding of different types of knowledge and of the relationship between them, appreciating their limitations.	15-20%	25-35%	20-30%

6. Scheme of Assessment

Internal Assessment

6.1 Advanced level specifications in General Studies may have a maximum internal assessment weighting of 30%.

Synoptic Assessment

6.2 All specifications should include a minimum of 20% synoptic assessment. All synoptic assessment units should be taken at the end of the course and be externally assessed. Synoptic assessment relates to assessment objectives 1, 3 and 4. The definition of synoptic assessment in the context of General Studies is as follows:

• AS and A level specifications in General Studies should encourage students to integrate knowledge and skills from a range of disciplines in order to develop an appreciation of how they relate to one another and how each may contribute to the understanding of issues being studied. Synoptic assessment involves the explicit drawing together and application of knowledge, understanding and skills acquired and developed in different parts of the A level course.

Examples of ways in which synoptic assessment might be conducted include:

• essay questions, requiring candidates to draw together knowledge, understanding and skills acquired and developed throughout the course and demonstrate transfer of skills;

• internal assessment requiring candidates to research/investigate an issue or problem drawing on knowledge, understanding and skills acquired and developed during the course.

Key Skills Assessment

6.3 The Key Skill of Communication must contribute to the assessment of General Studies at AS and A level as stated in paragraph 13 of the Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced level qualification-specific criteria.

The requirement for all AS and A level specifications to assess candidates' quality of written communication will be met through assessment objective 2.

The following Key Skill must also contribute to the assessment of General Studies at AS and A level:

• Application of Number.

7. Grade Descriptions

7.1 The following grade descriptions indicate the level of attainment characteristic of the given grade at A level. They give a general indication of the required learning outcomes at each specified grade. The descriptions should be interpreted in relation to the content outlined in the specification; they are not designed to define that content. The grade awarded will depend in practice upon the extent to which the candidate has met the assessment objectives overall. Shortcomings in some aspects of the examination may be balanced by better performances in others.

7.2 Grade A

Candidates demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a wide range of issues, drawing on different disciplines. There is evidence of a clear ability to inter-relate these issues in different contexts. They use their knowledge and understanding to interpret and evaluate information, communicating clearly and accurately in a concise, logical and relevant way. They are clearly able to reason, demonstrating skills of analysis, interpretation, evaluation and synthesis. They are able to appreciate different types of knowledge, the relationship between its different forms and their limitations.

7.3 Grade C

Candidates demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of issues, drawing on different disciplines. There is a clear attempt to inter-relate these in different contexts. They use their knowledge and understanding to interpret and evaluate information, communicating clearly. They use skills of reasoning to analyse, interpret, evaluate and synthesise. They recognise that there are different types of knowledge, clearly distinguishing between examples of fact and opinion.

7.4 Grade E

Candidates demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of issues, drawing on different disciplines. They use this knowledge and understanding to begin to interpret and evaluate information. They will distinguish between some examples of fact and opinion. They demonstrate some skills in organising and presenting information.