Welcome to this BTEC Bitesize video.
The purpose of this video is to look at how to effectively use the marking grids when
assessing learner work for the component one and two internal assessments for the BTEC
Tech Award Health and Social Care.
This video will focus on understanding how internal assessments are assessed by teachers,
where to download the Pearson set assignments and marking grids, how to apply levels based
mark grids and use a best fit approach, using exemplar standardisation materials, and frequently
asked questions.
Pearson set assignments.
Internal assessments are conducted through Pearson set assignments for component one
and component two.
These will be referred to as PSAs.
The PSAs are released twice a year in September and January.
Refer to the key dates schedule on the Health and Social Care webpage for the deadlines
of when the work needs to be completed by and samples prepared for external moderation.
Each PSA contains several tasks for learners to demonstrate knowledge and understanding
of a range of topics and then apply these skills to individuals as case studies.
Component one has four tasks and is worth 60 marks.
Component two has five tasks and is worth 60 marks.
The assessments are assessed by the teacher and moderated by Pearson.
They are marked using levels based mark grids where learners are awarded marks for each
task in the component PSA.
The marking grids used to assess the PSAs will be the same for the lifetime of the qualification.
They are compensatory.
This means that learners take forward all marks gained from each component towards their
overall qualification outcome.
Please note that mark bands do not align to historic past merit and distinction.
They are marked numerically rather than graded.
What marks result in what overall grade will change each PSA and are provided on results
day.
For written guidance on marking please also refer to page 49 of the BTEC Tech Award Health
and Social Care specification, also referred to the administrative support guide.
Both are available on the BTEC Health and Social Care webpage.
The relevant PSA for each component is on the Pearson Health and Social Care web pages
under the internal assessment as shown on the slide.
They have a padlock symbol showing it is secure content.
Therefore, an Edexcel Online password will be required to access and download the PSA.
Ask your Exams Officer for assistance.
If you do not have an account, please make sure you download the most recent PSA for
the current series of the components that your learners will complete.
The marking grids can also be found here, and they also are included in the BTEC Tech
Award Health and Social Care specification.
Marking grids component one, component one has four tasks for learners to complete.
There's one mark grid each for task one, two and three A as they are out of 12 marks and
task three B has two mark grids each out of 12 marks, totaling 24 marks in total for tasks
three B.
The mark grid on the screen here is for task one, component one, as shown here in the grey
area, task one.
As you can see, each marking grid has four mark bands, where there are three marks per
band structure.
One to three marks four to six marks, seven to nine marks and 10 to 12 marks.
Each mark band just contains descriptors specifying the level of knowledge and understanding that
learners are required to demonstrate to be awarded the marks associated with that band
for each task.
For example, the part of the first part of each column shows the knowledge and understanding
as being assessed as either limited, adequate, good or comprehensive knowledge and understanding.
And this is evidenced through the bullet points descriptors below that are assessed as either
being superficial, partially detailed, mostly detailed or fully detailed.
For a definition of these terms, you can refer to descriptors in appendix one part of the
specification.
Tasks will have between two and four bullet point descriptors per mark band and the terms
superficial, partially detailed, mostly detailed and fully detailed are consistently used in
all the mark grades across all tasks and all components.
Marking grids for component to these mark grids are laid out in the same way as component
one mark grids.
The mark grid on the screen here is for task one component two.
Please note that some mark rates are across two pages when you print them out, as many
have three or four bullet points descriptors, as is the case for the task shown on the screen
here which has three bullet points, which spreads the marking grids across two pages
when you print it.
For component two, there are five tasks task 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and each task has their
own mark grid, which is out of 12 marks.
So applying the mark grids.
Levels based marking and best fit approach.
Centres will assess their learners work using a levels based approach, with each task being
marked on overall quality.
This allows assessors to view the work holistically and place learners in mark bands in using
a best fit approach.
As previously mentioned, each mark band contains bulleted traits that in combination provide
a descriptor of the learner's expected performance in relation to the individual task within
the assignment.
In applying the mark grid, you are required first to make a holistic judgement about which
mark band you think most closely matches the learner's response for the evidence being
assessed.
The learner response does not have to meet all the characteristics of a mark band descriptor
before being placed in that band, as long as it meets more of the characteristics of
that mark band than of any other.
Consideration should also be given to the descriptors in the mark bands above and below
to ensure the correct band has been selected.
Once you've placed the learner's response within a mark band, you should then make a
more refined judgement as to whether the learner's response is towards the higher or the lower
end of that band, and then allocate the final mark accordingly within the marks available
in that band.
If some parts of the task are completed at one mark band level and some parts of the
task another level, you would try to find a happy medium between them by using holistic
marking and best fit.
Use your professional judgement here.
Questions you might want to ask are have they covered all of the requirements of the task?
Are there any parts missing or some parts done better than others?
Or have they done specifically what the task is that asked them for?
Let's talk through some examples.
If the learner response meets the requirements of the descriptor fully, you should be prepared
to award full marks within that band.
So three marks or six, nine or 12.
The top mark band is used for a learner's response that's fully comprehensive, as it
realistically can be expected within the recommended timeframe.
If the learner's response only barely meets the requirements of the descriptor, but it's
better than the previous descriptor, you should consider awarding marks at the bottom of the
mark band.
So potentially one, four, seven or 10.
The bottom mark band in the band is used for a learner's response that is the weakest that
can be expected in that mark band, the middle mark band for the middle of the mark band
are for learner's responses that is a reasonable matched to the descriptor.
So potentially 2, 5, 8 and 11.
This might represent a balance between some characteristics of the descriptor that are
fully met, and others that might be barely met.
Where there is no evidence worthy of credit no marks should be awarded.
But if there is some relevant material, even if it's very brief, you should be prepared
to award at least one mark.
Please refer to the exemplar standardisation materials, and the previous principal moderators
reports to help you as the assessor feel comfortable with what's meant by some of the terms superficial,
partially, mostly or comprehensively detailed.
The exemplar standardisation materials are marked examples of learner work with principal
moderators commentary.
The most recent version is from the first series and it's great to refer to to support
your understanding of the grade descriptors.
The exemplar standardisation materials can also be used for the internal standardisation
of all centre assessors for internally assessed components.
Page 51 of the specification explains this process in more detail.
The materials will also be added to on the website after moderation in each assessment
series to build up an archive of these for assessors.
And they are available on the webpage.
Frequently asked questions.
Do students have to cover all parts of the PSA task?
The answer is yes they do to achieve high marks.
So to support learners you can ensure learners are aware of the different demands of each
task, encourage learners to cover all the
bullet points required by the task, so they must read the task carefully.
So they cover all the relevant life stages, factors, individuals, skills and attributes
as appropriate to the task.
Remind learners that they do not need to cover life stages or factors or skills and attributes
that are not mentioned in the task.
For example, if there's a life stage in between the ones that are being asked about, they
don't need to cover it.
Next question, what happens if they score high in one area of the task, but in other
parts they're missing?
This is where you need to find a best fit approach.
And it may be that the middle of the mark band is the most appropriate place for it
to go.
If they've missed large parts of the task, you might then go to the bottom of the mark
band or the mark band below.
Actually, this links well to the next question.
Are there any tools to support assessment?
The assessment tracker tool is available on the BTEC Health and Social Care website.
This tool is very useful when recording the grades from your learners, but also to help
your assessment.
It's very useful when trying to find that middle ground as you can visually see here
on the tracker where a student is achieving.
For example, on the screen you can see that the student has achieved some parts of the
task better than others, with some parts fully comprehensive, others mostly detailed and
other parts partially detailed.
And here you may want to say, well a middle ground for the student might be here in mark
band three.
For any further advice about the BTEC Tech Award Health and Social Care, you can contact
Esther Trehearn, the Subject Advisor.
Thank you for watching this BTEC Bitesize video.