Assessment

Assessment in secondary schools

Information on assessment in D&T can be found at the following sites:

DfE (England)
CCEA (Northern Ireland)
TLS (Scotland)
Welsh Government

Examinations

Examination results for GCSE, AS and A’ Level may be found here.

Assessment for learning in D&T

Good departments realise that they need to assess formative and summative assessment in D&T. Assessment for learning (AFL) provides a useful framework and solution.

 Assessment for learning (formative assessment) is different from assessment of learning (summative assessment) which involves judging students' performance against national standards, usually at the end of a unit of work, year or key stage.

 Key characteristics of assessment for learning are:

- using effective questioning techniques
- using marking and feedback strategies
- sharing learning goals
- peer and self assessment

Assessment should:

- remain an essential and integral part of teaching and learning
- involve sharing learning goals with students
- help students to know and recognise the standards they are aiming for
- involve students in peer and self-assessment
- provide feedback which leads to students recognising their next steps and how to make them
- involve both teacher and students in reviewing and reflecting on assessment data

Ofsted considers that the most significant characteristic of good practice in assessment is that assessment is not seen as an end in itself, but as a means to improving young people's achievement and helping teachers to improve their own teaching programmes.