Learning objective

Step 2 Determine a mark: Once you have assigned a level you need to decide on the mark. The exemplar materials used for standardisation will help. This work will have been awarded a mark by AQA. You can compare your student’s work with the exemplar to determine if it is the same standard, better or worse. You can then use this to allocate a mark for the work based on AQA's mark on the exemplar. You may well need to read back through the work as you apply the mark scheme to clarify points and assure yourself that the level and the mark are appropriate. Work which contains nothing of relevance to the project area being assessed must be awarded no marks for that area. 98

Read the explanation, check the common trap, then practise with flashcards and questions.

Start flashcards Try practice questions Topic hub

At a glance

Flashcards

Questions

Topic

Using a level of response mark scheme

Subtopic

Step 2 Determine a mark

Aqa A Level Computer ScienceNon-exam assessment - the computing practical

Study support

Understand this objective

Quick explanation

Step 2 Determine a mark: Once you have assigned a level you need to decide on the mark. The exemplar materials used for standardisation will help. This work will have been awarded a mark by AQA. You can compare your student’s work with the exemplar to determine if it is the same standard, better or worse. You can then use this to allocate a mark for the work based on AQA's mark on the exemplar. You may well need to read back through the work as you apply the mark scheme to clarify points and assure yourself that the level and the mark are appropriate. Work which contains nothing of relevance to the project area being assessed must be awarded no marks for that area. 98

This point belongs to Using a level of response mark scheme, especially Step 2 Determine a mark.
You need to be able to step 2 Determine a mark: Once you have assigned a level you need to decide on the mark. The exemplar materials used for standardisation will help. This work will have been awarded a mark by AQA. You can compare your student’s work with the exemplar to determine if it is the same standard, better or worse. You can then use this to allocate a mark for the work based on AQA's mark on the exemplar. You may well need to read back through the work as you apply the mark scheme to clarify points and assure yourself that the level and the mark are appropriate. Work which contains nothing of relevance to the project area being assessed must be awarded no marks for that area. 98.
Use the linked flashcards and practice questions to check recall, then practise applying the idea in an exam-style answer.

Why it matters

This objective helps connect Step 2 Determine a mark to exam-style questions, flashcards, and revision notes for Using a level of response mark scheme.

Quick student answer

After assigning a level to a piece of work, what is the next step?

Direct answer

Determine the mark

Key terms

Exemplar materials: Examples of work that have been awarded a mark by AQA and can be used as a comparison when deciding a mark.
Relevant work: Work that contains material connected to the project area being assessed; work with nothing relevant in that area receives no marks for it.

Common trap

Ignoring the comparison with the exemplar: Use the exemplar as a reference point, compare the standards, and then allocate a mark. Reread the work if necessary to clarify points and check the decision.

Try this as a practice card

4 linked

Question 1 of 4

Choose an answer, get feedback, then move sideways through the set.

0 of 4 attempted

Question 1

After assigning a level to a piece of work, what is the next step?

Flashcard prompts

Flip through the key recall cards

4 cards

Flashcard 1 of 4

Press Space to flip, arrows to move

Revision tools

Choose how to practise

Back to topic hub

Flashcards0 linked cards

No objective-specific flashcards are cached for this page. Use the topic hub to revise the surrounding flashcards without triggering a frozen-subject DB fallback.Open topic hub

Practice Questions0 linked questions

No objective-specific practice questions are cached for this page. Use the topic question bank to practise nearby curriculum questions without weakening the egress guard.Open topic questions

Related learning objectives

Step 1 Determine a level: Start at the lowest level of the mark scheme and use it as a ladder to see whether the performance in that section of the project meets the descriptor for that level. The descriptor for the level indicates the different qualities that might be seen in the student’s work for that level. If it meets the lowest level then go to the next one and decide if it meets this level, and so on, until you have a match between the level descriptor and the work. With practice and familiarity you will find you will be able to quickly skip through the lower levels of the mark scheme. When assigning a level you should look at the overall quality of the work rather than any small or specific parts where the student has not performed quite as the level descriptor. If the work covers different aspects of different levels of the mark scheme you should use a best fit approach for defining the level and then use the variability of the response to help decide the mark within the level. ie if the response is predominantly level 3 with a small amount of level 4 material it would be placed in level 3 but be awarded a mark near the top of the level because of the level 4 content.
Step 1 Determine a level