GCE BUSINESS

Assessment
Classroom Practice
AUTUMN 2017
 AGENDA
Agenda
09:30 Intro/outline and statistics

10:00 Summary of principal examiners reports – general comments and specific units

10:30 Refreshments
Issues arising from summer 2017
10:45 • TQM
• Budgets
Understanding skills requirement
11:30 • AO1/AO2 (the concept of small businesses)
• AO3/AO4 including time to consider how teachers deliver AO2/AO4
12:30 Lunch
Teaching AS content in time – which topics you could deliver outside of the
13:15
classroom?
13:30 Essay writing

13:45 Comparative judgements

14:45 Quantitative skills

15:15 Resources for Teachers

15:30 Finish
 GCE DATA

Entry 2017 Entry 2016 Total mark Mean mark

per paper (2016 in brackets)

AS 1 353 2 249 50 28.4 (29.8)

Component 1

AS 1 353 2 249 80 39.5 (42.3)

Component 2

A level 2 012 80 50
Component 1

A level 2 012 80 41.7

Component 2

A level 2 012 80 41.4

Component 3
 GRADE BOUNDARIES 2017

AS A level
Grade Component 1 Component 2 Qual Component Component Component Qual
(2016 in (2016 in (2016 in 1 2 3
brackets) brackets) brackets)

A* 64 59 58 181
A 37 (37) 55 (55) 142 (142) 58 53 52 163
B 33 (32) 49 (48) 124 (128) 49 45 44 139
C 29 (28) 43 (41) 107 (114) 41 37 36 115
D 26 (24) 38 (34) 90 (100) 33 29 29 92
E 23 (20) 33 (27) 73 (86) 25 22 22 69
*The A and E boundaries were set using professional judgement

*WJEC uses predictions to identify an overall subject-level grade boundary for A*, and students who achieve that
mark or higher will get an A*.

*Component boundaries are 'notional' and intended only as a guide to aid centres with their analysis, and are not
official grades. Please note that notional component grade boundaries which have been derived arithmetically may not
add up to the overall qualification-level boundary where component marks have been scaled to produce the
qualification-level mark.
 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGES 2017

A* A B C D E
AS 2016 8.3 24.8 49.3 71.8 86.2

AS 2017 9.2 25.9 47.7 72.9 88.5

A LEVEL 2017 3.3 14.7 45.1 75.5 92.1 98.3

 EXAMINATION DATES
Examination dates for FOR
2018 2018

AS
Examination of Component 1 PM Friday 18th May 2018

Examination of Component 2 PM Friday 25th May 2018

A Level
Examination of Component 1 PM Thursday 7th June 2018

Examination of Component 2 PM Monday 11th June 2018

Examination of Component 3 AM Monday 18th June 2018

2017 papers and mark schemes available on the secure website only –
moved to the open website 6 months after results day.
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary
AS Component 1
AO1: Knowledge
• Knowledge and understanding was generally good throughout the paper with most candidates able to identify
sources of finance and the meaning of terms, such as SME and the public sector.
• Some candidates lost marks because they failed to read the questions carefully – including Andrew and his family
as stakeholders in 1b.

AO2: Application
• Some candidates found it difficult to answer in context of the data provided and lost AO2 marks.
• Some candidates repeated information from stem word for word and lost marks.

AO3: Analysis
• Some candidates struggled with analysis and lost AO3 marks.
• These candidates failed to include a clear understanding of the impact that certain factors have on a businesses
and its stakeholders.

AO4: Evaluation
• For question 2b most candidates failed to evaluate correctly losing 3 marks.
• For questions 3e and 4c the more able candidates gave a balanced answer and included recommendations and
clearly supported the judgements they had made.
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary (cont.)
AS Component 2
AO1: Knowledge
• Sound subject knowledge for most topics.
• Weaker areas of subject knowledge: Workforce planning, marketing and technology and lean production.

AO2: Application
• This skill needs further development.
• Across all questions where application was assessed; many candidates only achieved limited application.
• Section B application (10 mark question) was particularly limited on the whole, even when excellent knowledge
was demonstrated.

AO3: Analysis
• This skill clearly separated the most and least able students.
• There were some excellent responses showing a clear chain of argument over all questions assessing analysis.
However, at the same time there were equally a similar number of limited responses with very little depth
within students answers.

AO4: Evaluation
• Evaluation’s on the whole was either not present or limited with candidates offering summaries rather than
convincing judgments.
• Evaluation should focus on judgement, applied, with key depends on factors explained. Candidates using
evaluative comments such as “it depends on” usually allowed them to access higher band AO4 marks.
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary (cont.)
A Level Components 1, 2 & 3

General comments:
• A lot of students were writing lots more than was needed, and a
focus needs to be on more succinct answers.
• AO2 was the weakest skill across all three papers. Students were
not using the stimulus material effectively or able to apply their
knowledge to a given context.
• AO3 was not fully developed in lots of cases, and often lacked
relevance to the context. A lot of analysis was very generic for
example – how it impacts on revenue and profit.
• Evaluation was often superficial, and again lacked context and often
was confined to a short summary that repeated the points of the
previous arguments.
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary (cont.)

A Level Component 1 - Section A

Question 1
• Several acceptable answers including: income; tastes; price of substitutes; advertising; lifestyle/trend for
healthy eating
• Candidates needed to show how these factors affect demand.
• Several candidates lost marks for application
Question 2
• To achieve any marks candidates needed to refer to changes in income.
• Normal goods – when income increases, demand for normal goods increases. For example – restaurant meals,
cars etc
• Inferior goods – when income increases, demand for inferior goods falls. For example – supermarket own-
label beans

Question 3 (a,b and c)

• Many candidates lost marks for application
Question 3d
• Students need to show their workings
• Main errors were the number of weeks in a year, and to take the 5% of the market, not the total figure
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary (cont.)

A Level Component 1 - Section B

Question 4a
• Some students confined their answers to only using the examples from the stimulus which restricted their
responses
• The details of legislation is not required in the specification but candidates should know the general
overview of what the legislation covers

Question 4b
• Most students correctly suggested two types of pricing strategy, but many failed to apply this to a
supermarket

Question 6
• A large number of students did not understand the concept of lean production, which meant question 6b
produced very limited responses

Question 7
• Most students had knowledge of the various leadership styles but very few used the leadership theories of
Fiedler and Wright and Taylor
• Evaluation was often simplistic
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary (cont.)
A Level Component 2
Question 1
• There were very few candidates who were correctly able to understand the graph in relation to index numbers, and many
incorrect assumptions were made. Very few described the changes in the data over the years.
• In part b, a lot of answers lacked depth to AO3 and only considered an increase in demand.

Question 2
• Most students were able to calculate working capital correctly, but capital employed proved more problematic
• In 2b, a lot of students were quite vague, and there was some confusion over the concept of why deprecation is important, not
necessarily why assets depreciate

Question 3
• A large number of students failed to identify the true use/purpose of mission statements, and focussed solely on how it made
the customers feel

Question 4
• The critical path diagram did not create too many problems, but there was lots of different ways that the critical path was
highlighted.
• Part b was generally answered well, but some students found it difficult to put it into context. For AO2 marks, the best answers
referred to the diagram as well as the context of music festivals.

Question 5
• Some students failed to recognise the need for AO4 in this question.
• Some students did not effectively use the stimulus material to apply to Next, so answers were very generic

Question 6
• Generally, students answered this question well and were able to demonstrate all of the exam skills.
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary (cont.)
A Level Component 3 - Section A
Question 1a
• Most students made good use of the stimulus material, but some answers lacked detailed analysis
Question 1b
• Although most candidates correctly calculated the three ratios, but there were many who struggled with the gearing
ratio.
• Analysis was generally good, but the evaluation was often weak.
Question 1c
• The risks were detailed in the case study but some candidates chose to ignore them, and so lost AO2 marks.
• The better answers fully evaluated the responses that they suggested and included both the advantages of the
response and its downsides.

Question 1d
• Many answers were one sided with consideration of acquisition, but little on organic growth.
• Better answers looked at several advantages and disadvantages of both types of growth.
Question 1e
• Many students did not realise that ‘such as’, does not require direct AO2 to the case study.
• Better answers gave a balanced evaluation of the strategy of overseas expansion, explaining the potential gains but
also detailing the possible pitfalls.
 REFLECTION ON SUMMER 2017 EXAMS:
Principal Examiner’s Report Summary (cont.)

A Level Component 3 - Section B

Question 2 (Marketing success)
• This was the most popular
choice
• Part a: Better answers
explained several methods of
segmentation and applied
them to the context
• Part a: Candidates lost marks
here by not explaining each
market segment in enough
detail to enable them to
access marks for analysis.
• Part b: Students
demonstrated good
understanding of marketing
with the better answers
discussing different types of
business and giving relevant
examples.
Question 3 (Managing change)
• The least popular choice
• Part a: Weaker answers failed
to apply to the context of
small independent high street
businesses.
• In both parts of the essay,
there was some use of theory,
but generally not well applied.
• Part b was well answered by
those candidates who
thoroughly understood the
topic area, but many answers
were very vague
Question 4 (Trade benefits)
• Also a popular choice
• Candidates demonstrated
good knowledge of the EU and
Brexit, but often failed to
apply this specifically to the
car industry.
• Part b: The weaker answers
looked at globalisation from
the point of view of one
British business rather than
UK businesses in general.
• The better answers included
real examples of UK
businesses and their
stakeholders.
 ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017

AS A Level
Boston Matrix Mission Statements
Lean Production Outsourcing
Total Quality Management Change
Marketing technology Capital Employed
Workforce planning Interpreting Balance Sheets
Budgets PED/YED
 ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017:
Total Quality Management (TQM)

Eduqas Specification (AS Component 2/A Level, Component 1):

 Explain the concept of total quality management (TQM) and the
ways that it can be achieved including quality chains,
empowerment, monitoring, teamwork, zero defects, quality
circles and benchmarking.

 Evaluate the importance of quality for a business and its

stakeholders.
 ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017:
Total Quality Management (TQM) (cont.)

WJEC 2017 (Unit 2) Q3:4

Explain the concept of Total Quality Management and illustrate the ways in which it can be
achieved at Carlton plc’s new distribution operation at the former Cross Roads Transport
Ltd.

Candidates’ Performance:

Question Candidates Mean SD Max Mark FF Attempt %

3:4 1739 2.2 2.0 8 27.2 86.3

The Facility Factor (FF) for an item expresses the Mean Mark as a percentage of the
Maximum Mark. It indicates the accessibility of the question to the candidates. The FF for
this question was the lowest of all the questions in Unit 2, indicating that candidates found
this area of the specification particularly challenging. Whilst some candidates were able to
offer suggestions as to how TQM might be achieved within an organisation, the overall
appreciation of the concept was weak.
 ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017:
Total Quality Management (TQM) (cont.)

• It is a way of thinking - a philosophy – that must be adopted by

everyone, whatever their role or status

• Focus on customer satisfaction to achieve long-term success

• Everyone must adopt the TQM culture – everyone must be involved in

attempting to improve the products, services and processes in their
organisation, whether it be a manufacturer or a service provider

• Must be achieved in full – not in part

• It is an on-going process and continuous improvement is the key to

success
ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017:
Total Quality Management (TQM) (cont.)

Greater
empowerment

Customer
Communication
orientation

TQM
A Philosophy

Continual Monitoring
Improvement Performance

Strategic
Planning
 ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017:
Budgets

Eduqas Specification (AS Component 2/A Level, Component 1):

• Explain what is meant by a budget

• Explain the purpose of budgets

• Evaluate the use of budgets to a business and its stakeholders

 ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017:
Budgets (cont.)

WJEC 2017 (Unit 2) Q3:3

To what extent do you agree that setting budgets is crucial to success when running a
business such as Cross Roads Transport Limited?

Candidates’ Performance:

Question Candidates Mean SD Max Mark FF Attempt %

3:3 2168 2.0 1.4 6 32.7 96.8

The Facility Factor for an item expresses the Mean Mark as a percentage of the Maximum
Mark. It indicates the accessibility of the question to the candidates. The FF for this
question was low, indicating that candidates found this area of the specification particularly
challenging. Whilst some candidates were able to analyse and evaluate the impact of
setting budgets in relation to the success of an organisation, generally responses were
brief and failed to address the task in hand.
 ISSUES ARISING FROM SUMMER 2017:
Budgets (cont.)
Pros
Prioritises and controls spending
Monitoring - changes must be
explained and reactions made
Allocates responsibilities and improves
accountability
Efficient use of resources in relation
to achieving objectives
Motivates staff by setting targets that
need to be met
Communication is likely to improve
as budgets cannot be set in isolation
Cons
Everyone must be involved or lack of
commitment and demotivation may
result.
Poor quality information must be
avoided - managers must not
overstate their needs.
Inflexible budgets do not allow for
change in the marketplace -
competitors activities need to be
countered.
 UNDERSTANDING SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

“All principal examiners agreed that during the

Summer 2017 exams in AS and A Level Business,
many candidates lost significant marks due to a
lack of understanding of the requirements of
questions rather than the candidates subject
knowledge.”
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Calculate the contribution per Suntrap which would be made if

Summer Sun Ltd’s order was to be accepted. [2]
(Summer 2017 WJEC unit 3)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Calculate the contribution per Suntrap which would be made if

Summer Sun Ltd’s order was to be accepted. [2]
(Summer 2017 WJEC unit 3)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Explain the ways in which Officequip plc could have benefitted
from internal economies of scale as a result of increasing its output. [6]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas AS Component 2)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Explain the ways in which Officequip plc could have benefitted
from internal economies of scale as a result of increasing its output. [6]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas AS Component 2)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: To what extent do the benefits of cash flow forecasting to businesses

outweigh its limitations? [9]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas AS Component 2)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: To what extent do the benefits of cash flow forecasting to

businesses outweigh its limitations? [9]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas AS Component 2)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application
Evaluative questions will

AO3: Analysis have analysis marks 99% of

the time. Its hard to make an
effective judgement without
analysing the impact of both

AO4: Evaluation sides.

 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Suggest two appropriate sources of finance and outline why they
might be suitable for Andrew's business. [4]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas AS Component 1)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Suggest two appropriate sources of finance and outline why they
might be suitable for Andrew's business. [4]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas AS Component 1)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Evaluate the strategy of expanding in overseas markets for a

business such as JD Sports Fashion Plc. [10]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas A Level Component 1)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: Evaluate the strategy of expanding in overseas markets for a

business such as JD Sports Fashion Plc. [10]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas A Level Component 1)

AO1: Knowledge
“Such as” does not indicate
you have to use the case

AO2: Application study.

Evaluative questions will

AO3: Analysis have analysis marks 99% of

the time. Its hard to make an
effective judgement without
analysing the impact of both

AO4: Evaluation sides.

 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: With reference to Porter’s Five Forces Framework and the

information in the passage, discuss the present situation for Greggs. [10]
(Summer 2017 WJEC A Level Unit 3)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 WHICH AO’S ARE BEING ASSESSED?

Question: With reference to Porter’s Five Forces Framework and the

information in the passage, discuss the present situation for Greggs. [10]
(Summer 2017 WJEC A Level Unit 3)

AO1: Knowledge
AO2: Application

AO3: Analysis
AO4: Evaluation
 UNDERSTANDING SKILLS REQUIREMENT:
AO3/AO4

Discussion:
• How confident are you at sharing what skills are
needed with your students in exam questions?
• How would you help students decide on the
skills to demonstrate in answers?
 UNDERSTANDING SKILLS REQUIREMENT:
AO3/AO4

Eduqas AS Component 1 & Eduqas A Level Component 1 Specification:

• Explain the importance of entrepreneurs and SMEs to the primary, secondary
and tertiary sectors of the UK economy
• Evaluate the impact of entrepreneurs and SMEs on businesses and the
economy
Summer 2017 Eduqas AS Component 1: Q2(b):
Ranjit Singh owns a business selling British made motorbikes, parts and accessories. He
has a number of shops in the UK. He also sells his products over the internet in the UK
and overseas. His business is an example of a successful SME.

Evaluate the importance of SMEs such as Ranjit’s business to the UK economy. [6]

'Such as' does not

Also includes analysis
mean application! Refer to
AO3! No resource in
AO2! CPD pack for
No need to define SME further AO3
No 'With reference to' and AO4
means application!
AO1! guidance
AO2!
 ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES AND COMMAND
WORDS

• Assessment objectives document (click here)

• Link to interactive glossary on the website:
http://resource.download.wjec.co.uk.s3.amazonaws.com/vtc/2016-1
7/16-17_3-18/eng/command-word-glossary.html

These links can help prepare your students to understand

the requirements of the exam questions.
 LUNCH

Over lunch:

• Can you think of your own questions and / or case

studies that could assess different AO’s across the
specification?

• Have you got any resource ideas to share that could cut
down delivery time in the content-heavy AS
specification?
 TEACHING AS CONTENT IN TIME TO EACH OF
THE ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES

A level weightings:

Time should be given in lessons to teach across

all AO’s and not just spent on knowledge (AO1)
 HOW TO TEACH AO’S AT AS

Example of how to teach AO’s across one topic and to save time
when delivering the large AS specification:

The content of much of AS is at GCSE level. More time is advised within

lessons to spend on other assessment objectives rather than knowledge
(AO1).

There is no reason why AO1 cannot be given as a research homework

task for easier topics for students to understand prior to coming to class.

Refer to CPD pack for resource:

Marketing and Technology: 1 hour plus homework
 ESSAY WRITING

Plan the following essay:

“The ability to manage change successfully is the most important aspect of
management in today’s business world.” Discuss. [20]
(Summer 2017 Eduqas A Level Component 3: Q3(b))

1. INTRODUCTION
2. ARGUMENT – managing change is important
Point Evidence  Explain
Overcome employee resistance
Improve financial performance
Gain market share

3. COUNTERARGUMENT – other factors are important

Point Evidence Explain
Managing marketing
Managing product innovation
Managing staff

4. CONCLUSION
 COMPARATIVE JUDGEMENTS

Task
Delegates to refer to Specimen Answers booklet in CPD pack.

• Read the scripts and make a judgement on which one is best.

• Rank the answers in order of highest to lowest.

• Why have you ranked them in that order? Why were marks
awarded for each AO. Discuss.
 QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Specification Expectations

• At least 10% of marks across the the overall A

level marks

• This equates to at least 24 marks

• Most of the quantitative topics are in Components

1 and 2, but as Component 3 is synoptic,
candidates might be expected to do calculations in
all three papers
 QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Specification Expectations (cont.)

What the specification states:

• calculate, use and understand ratios, averages and fractions
• calculate, use and understand percentages and percentage
changes
• construct and interpret a range of standard graphical forms
• interpret index numbers
• calculate cost, revenue, profit and break-even
• calculate investment appraisal outcomes and interpret results
• interpret values of price and income elasticity of demand
• use and interpret quantitative and non-quantitative information in
order to make decisions
• interpret, apply and analyse information in written, graphical and
numerical forms.
 QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Specification Expectations (cont.)

Spotting specification points and topics that are quantitative

Specification points start with ‘calculate’, such as:

– Calculate revenue, costs and profit
– Calculate gross profit and net profit
– Calculate added value
Interpretation of data:
– Interpret revenue, costs and profit calculations
– Present, interpret and analyse data, including pie charts,
histograms and index numbers
Construction and interpretation of graphs, tables and charts:
• Construct and interpret break-even charts, including the
margin of safety
• Construct and interpretation of demand and supply diagrams
 QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Resources
Hodder - Click on me Quantitative Skills Resource - Click on me

These resources:
• Explain what students might be expected to calculate (and what they don’t need
to calculate e.g. index numbers)
• Explains in detail the method for each calculation along with a worked example
• Provides practice questions
• Provides the answers to questions
 QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Common pitfalls and mistakes

1. Stating a final incorrect answer without any workings and thus gaining 0
marks
Advice: show workings for calculations – method marks could be gained even
if final answer is incorrect

2. Not labelling or incorrect labelling of results e.g. not including ‘£’, not
providing correct ‘units’ (e.g. using £ sign for breakeven quantity), not
realising elasticity is a unit free measure (e.g. including a £ or % sign)
Advice: label fully and be aware of different labels for different measures

3. Not realising amount of monetary units in data (e.g. £000’s, £m, £bn) and
interpreting figures incorrectly e.g. JD sports net profit being £92 and
interpreting this as being very low, without realising that in the table all
figures were in £m).

Advice: Advice: ensure all data is read fully, accurately and in context.
 QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Common pitfalls and mistakes

• PED / YED formulas used upside down

• Not being able to read index numbers from a graph or table and being able
to interpret it correctly (practice using the quantitative skills resources on
Eduqas)

• Not being able to label a critical path correctly – ensure students label CP
correctly with //
– Better for student to be able to construct instead of just completing so
they have the depth of knowledge (same for other topics e.g. cash flow)

• Not using the data rather than overlooking it (being confident in what it
shows). Using numbers from text (reading data carefully to extract
information)

• Being clear on how to calculate formulas e.g. capital employed being

shareholders’ funds + long term liabilities

Discussion: Any others you are aware of in your centres?

QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Common pitfalls and mistakes

Common errors
• Incorrect formulas
• Incorrect calculations
• Incorrect/no labelling (e.g. no £ sign)

Worksheets to support the teaching of

quantitative skills:
http://
resources.wjec.co.uk/Pages/Resource
Single.aspx?rIid=2230
 QUANTITATIVE SKILLS:
Discussion

• WhatQuantitative
ideas andSkills: Discussion
resources do you have to teach
quantitative skills in Business and to help
students overcome the barriers of dealing with
the quantitative elements of the course?

• Is there anything more that you want from

Eduqas in terms of quantitative resources?
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS:
Supporting teaching and learning
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS:
Supporting teaching and learning
 RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS:
Supporting teaching and learning

Free digital notes and activities:

RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS:
Supporting teaching and learning
 RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS:
Supporting teaching and learning

• Secure website: https://www.wjecservices.co.uk/

(You will need the username and password

provided by your exams officer to access the site.)

Will have digital copies of materials used at CPD

including exemplar material.

• Item level data, which is useful to analyse the

performance of centre cohorts and individuals in
examinations.
 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
What is it?

• A detailed breakdown of performance on each

‘item’ (usually questions or part questions within
a script).

• Item Level Data is available for most subjects

(where marks are submitted via EMI or there is
electronic script marking ESM).
 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
What is it for?

For centres, it can be used to:

• Evaluate their own performance against specification
norms.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses for a candidate
cohort and suggest areas of improvement.
• Assist individual candidates in improving their own
performance.
 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
How to access it

Access to this data is gained via WJEC secure website (

www.wjecservices.co.uk or from a link on the public website), via
the Results tab.

There are two levels of data that are available…

 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
1. Item Level Summary (Candidates)

For each unit a candidate has sat, the mark achieved on each item is given.
 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
1. Item Level Summary (Candidates)

You can select a subject from the drop-down menu.

 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
1. Item Level Summary (Candidates)

Click the candidate’s name to compare his/her performance with other candidates in the centre and overall as a
report.
ITEM LEVEL DATA:
1. Item Level Summary (Candidates)

The report shows:

•Mark achieved by candidate

•Average mark achieved by centre

• Average mark achieved for all

candidates entered with WJEC
 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
1. Item Level Summary (Candidates)

Click the ‘DOWNLOAD DATA’ icon for a complete set of candidate data that
can be viewed and manipulated as a spread sheet.
 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
2. Centre Performance in Context
This is used to see how your centre performed, relative to other centres with
WJEC and is accessed via the Results tab.

View Centre Performance

 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
2. Centre Performance in Context
This is used to see how your centre performed, relative to other centres with WJEC.

This gives (for each item) the mean, facility factor and attempt %, for all candidates as well as
males and females separately.
 ITEM LEVEL DATA:
Using the Item Level Data

Take ownership – it’s YOUR data.

Understand what your data is telling you about your
centre.
  Make decisions or recommendations within your
centres based on the data evidence.
Identify the accessible and challenging questions
for your centre and address them.
 RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS:
Supporting teaching and learning

Free subject specific resources available for all to download from our website:
http://resources.eduqas.co.uk/Pages/ResourceByArgs.aspx?subId=4&lvlId=1

Free digital resources to support the teaching and learning:

http://resources.eduqas.co.uk/

Our free Online Exam Review allows teachers to analyse item level data,
critically assess sample question papers and receive examiner feedback:
http://oer.wjec.co.uk/

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