2020-21 GCSE

Examination Specification

Changes (Year 11)

This document provides parents, pupils and carers with a

summary of the changes being made to GCSE and

Specifications taught at Stanwell School: in many cases there

has been a reduction in content and/or assessments to

compensate for the loss of contact time in the Spring/Summer

of 2020.

YSGOL STANWELL SCHOOL Learning to Excel

Art GCSE No exam Candidates will be assessed on their portfolio work ( externally moderated )

YEAR GCSE SUMMARY 2020-21

Biology / Chemistry / Physics No reduction in content. Practical Examination element has

been removed to increase teaching time

Business Studies Unit 2 : Students will be required to answer only one case study question rather

than two. Exam time has been reduced to 45 minutes from 90 minutes

Applied Science Applied Science task based task has

been moved from October to Febru-ary and students will be given data rather than having to do a practical (reducing group work).

The exam in the summer is un-

changed.

Economics Ofqual are yet to confirm the changes.

Engineering (TBC) Unit 1 - pupils will

not be required to identify features of products that meet the require-ments of the design brief.

Unit 2 - pupils will not be required to

evaluate the quality of their manu-factured product.

NEA = Non-Examined Assessment (i.e. coursework/controlled assessment)

Drama 3 Units have been reduced to 2: Unit

2 has been removed (Practical Unit)

Unit 1 includes a practical

element as well as a theory aspect

YEAR GCSE SUMMARY 2020-21

English Language Unit 1: Oracy 20% Students will only complete one oracy task: Task 1: Individual Researched Presentation. Task 2: Responding and Interacting (group discussion) has been removed. Unit 2: Description, Narration and Exposition (written exam) 40% Pupils will be in-formed which writing tasks will appear in Section B of Unit 2. Unit 3: Argumentation, Persuasion and Instructional (written exam) 40% The timing of the examination will be reduced by 30 minutes. Learners will be offered a choice of responding to either the argumentation task or the persuasion task. they will not be required to complete both as in previous years.

Food and Nutrition NEA 1 coursework: a food science

investigation has been dropped NEA 2 - No change

Fashion and Textiles Exam - some content

has been removed. NEA Design and Make task - A model/

mock up will be accepted instead of the finished product.

GCSE English Literature (Re-sit): If candidates retake the qualification in 2021, they would need to submit NEA work (the work completed for 2020 can be submitted) and sit either unit 1 or unit 2 (if they sit unit 1, they have the op-tion of sitting this in January or June).

YEAR GCSE SUMMARY 2020-21

Geography: the following sections have been removed: Theme 1: Changing Physical and Human Landscapes : How are physical landscapes in Wales affected by human activity? Brecon Beacons How can landscapes in Wales be managed? Brecon Beacons Theme 2: Rural-Urban Links What are the consequences of urbanisation in two global cities? Mumbai and Cardiff Theme 5: Environmental and Development Issues What are the causes and consequences of two weather hazards? Case Studies Cyclone Pam and Drought in California Theme 6: Development and Resource Issues Are water resources being managed sustainably?L esotho Highland Water Project Unit 3: Fieldwork enquiry – NEA (20%) Unit 3 will not be subject to assessment in 2021.

French / German Unit 1 (speaking): The photocard element has been removed, reducing the length of the oral by 2 minutes. Unit 4 (writing): There will be no translation from English into French/ German The following five sub-sub-themes will not be assessed in Speaking or Writing : Theme 1: i) Technology and social media; ii) Festivals and celebrations Theme 2: iii) Local and regional features and characteristics of France/Germany/Spain and French-/German-/Spanish-speaking countries; iv) Social issues •Theme 3: v) Post-16 study. Units 2 (Listening) and Unit 3 (Reading) remain unchanged with no removal of sub-themes

History Candidates will only be required to sit any two of the three examined units (1-3) in summer 2021*: USA 1910-29 (taught in Year 9 and to be revisited in Year 11 2020-21) Crime & Punishment c.1500-2000 (taught in Year 10 and to be revisited in 2020

-21) Unit 4: Non-Examined Assessments: 20% (2 essays prepared and

written in lessons) i) Rise of Hitler and the NSDAP Ii) The impact of Nazism on German Society :1933-39

YEAR GCSE SUMMARY 2020-21

ICT / No changes or removal of content for Unit 3, exam May/June 2021 No changes to structure of Unit 4 (NEA)

Computer Science No changes or removal of content for Unit 1 and 2, exams in May/June 2021 Unit 3 (NEA) will not be assessed for 2021 cash in.

Health and Social Care – Year 11 Unit 1 – Exam The content for this exam was covered in Year 9 and 10 and time will be available in lessons towards the end of Year 11 to revise content and prepare for the examina-tion.

Unit 2 – Non Exam Assessment (NEA) Students will complete Task 1 of the NEA. This will involve some taught content and research time in lessons and for homework. The task is then written up in 10 hours of lesson time under controlled conditions. Task 2 of the NEA is not required this year.

Maths All sets will be required to sit the Maths GCSE examination

papers Pupils will be provided a list of topics covered depending on

what tier they are sitting (Higher/Intermediate/Foundation) Numeracy Re-Sit: all pupils who have not been awarded a C or above in summer 2020

will be required to sit the Numeracy exam, along with any pupils who wish to

Product Deisgn (D&T) Unit 1 (Examination): Identified areas from the specification have been

removed and will not be assessed in the examination 2021 (more infor-mation available on request regarding specific content).

Unit 2(Course work): Students can complete a new project. The outcome can

be a modelled prototype. Students do not need to complete a final evaluation.

Religious Education (RE) students will sit both Unit 1 and Unit 2 in the 2021 summer examination season. students are now allowed to ‘drop’ one of the four topics in unit: The RE depart-

ment has chosen to ‘drop’ the ‘Christianity Beliefs and Practices’ topic from both Unit 1 and Unit 2.

Students will now be examined on three topics for Unit 1 (‘Islam Beliefs and Prac-

tices’, ‘Issues of Evil and Suffering’ and ‘Issues of Life and Death’). Students will now be examined on three topics for Unit 2

(‘Islam Beliefs and Practices’, ‘Issues of Human Rights’, and ‘Issues of Relationships’).

YEAR GCSE SUMMARY 2020-21

Music Performance The minimum performance time has

been reduced from 4 minutes to 3 minutes.

Pupils do not need to do an ensem-ble piece: they can choose to do two solos instead.

Composition The composition element usually

asks for two pieces: this has reduced this to only one.

the evaluation of the composition has also been removed.

Performing Arts There have been no adaptations to the PA course content or assessments.

YEAR GCSE SUMMARY 2020-21

Media Studies Exam 1 no change. Exam 2-reduced to one section ra-

ther than 2. Coursework: pupil created content

reduced from 3 pages to 2.

Welsh Baccalaureate (Level 2) Individual Project – 50% - There are no changes to this component Enterprise and Employability Challenge – 20%

Task 1 – The requirement for direct supervision will be removed but a limit of 1 page of A4 will be introduced.

Task 2 – The requirement for direct supervision will be reduced from 17 to 5 hours.

Task 3 – The requirement for learners to present their pitch will be removed but candidates will still be required to prepare evidence for a pitch.

Task 4 – The requirement for direct supervision will be removed but a limit of 1 page of A4 or a 5 minute oral recording will be introduced.

Pupils in Year 11 will only need to complete one of the following challenges for

2020-2021: Global Citizenship Challenge – 15% OR Community Challenge – 15% As the Global Challenge was completed at the beginning of Year 10 pupils will not be assessed on the Community Challenge.

Work Skills Unit 1:the work experience placement is no longer required

Welsh Language 3 units instead of 4 (Unit 1 ‘dropped’): Unit 2-oral exam- responding to info-

graphics Unit 3- Reading and writing exam with more

emphasis on reading- narrative, specific and instructional

Unit 4-Reading and writing exam:

Please note that the information found in this booklet is subject to change: course content / exam specifica-tions and assessments are im-posed on Stanwell School by Qualifications Wales, the WJEC and any other awarding bodies.