How we intend to implement the changes and proposed changes to regulatory documents
Spelling, punctuation and grammar Back
31.The GCSE Qualification Criteria set out the requirements that GCSEs must meet in order to be accredited by us. The current GCSE Qualification Criteria specify that qualifications must assess candidates' quality of written communication in accordance with the guidance documentation produced by the regulators.
32.Within the guidance document available on our website3 three strands are identified which together comprise the expectations of quality of written communication. The first of these strands relates to spelling, punctuation and grammar:
- ensure that text is legible and that spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate so that meaning is clear.
33.There is no requirement for separate marks to be identified for quality of written communication in GCSE qualifications in either the Qualification Criteria or the subject criteria relevant to each of the individual subject areas.
34.We are proposing to add a paragraph to the section entitled 'Scheme of assessment’ in each of the GCSE subject criteria for English literature, geography, history and religious studies to read as follows:
Marks must be awarded for candidates’ ability to spell, punctuate and use grammar accurately in accordance with the requirements in Appendix A of the regulations for Quality of Written Communication
35.We will add Appendix A to the Guidance for Awarding Bodies on Assessment of Written Communication to read as follows:
Where the subject criteria require marks to be allocated for accuracy in spelling, punctuation and the use of grammar the following rules apply.
- Performance descriptions
Threshold performance
Candidates spell, punctuate and use the rules of grammar with reasonable accuracy in the context of the demands of the question. Any errors do not hinder meaning in the response. Where required, they use a limited range of specialist terms appropriately.Intermediate performance
Candidates spell, punctuate and use the rules of grammar with considerable accuracy and general control of meaning in the context of the demands of the question. Where required, they use a good range of specialist terms with facility.High performance
Candidates spell, punctuate and use the rules of grammar with consistent accuracy and effective control of meaning in the context of the demands of the question. Where required, they use a wide range of specialist terms adeptly and with precision. - Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar must be allocated to written and externally assessed units where there is a requirement for sufficient extended writing to enable the accurate application of the Performance descriptions. The marks allocated must achieve a total weighting of 5% of the total marks for the qualification.
- Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar will be allocated to individual questions. These marks must be identified to candidates on the question papers.
- No fewer than three marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar should be allocated to any single question.
36.These additional requirements will ensure that separate marks are allocated to the assessment of candidates’ abilities to spell, punctuate and use grammar accurately, thereby emphasising their importance.
3 marks for SPaG for a question? This is a change to increase the importance of SPaG, but will it really make SUCH a difference to overall literacy? To ensure an increase in literacy across all of society as is suggested by these tinkerings surely you need a wider input of excellent communication examples, not just from schools but from adverts, “greengrocer’s “(yes deliberately spelled that way), broadcasters and (even) politicians. This is not a problem just for schools and exam boards to sort out.
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and the guidance you have for awarding the marks will only discriminate at the B/A/A+ level. It will not affect in the slightest students who attain at C/D level.
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To quote: ‘All comments are publicly viewable and will be shown above’. Are you entirely sure about this bit of SPG???
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If spelling and punctuation are important then this should apply throughout a document surely, not just to selected questions.
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Another waste of time. I was at a GCSE standarisation meeting in July. The leader of the event remarked how his department used to give every candidate 3 marks for SPaG. When will politicians, who mostly stem from the public school system, realise that awarding a few marks for SPaG will have absolutley no influence on standards English? If the candidate submits work with ‘average’ SpaG, then that’s his/her level, no dangling of a few marks can change that!
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Now, was my error deliberate or accidental? Should I be marked down?
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Which particular set of rules does this refer to? Ideas on grammar seem to evolve. Should we use the ones the the secretary of state was taught when he was at school? Can we have them in a document please?
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I agree that correct English is important. But as regards GCSEs, skills in the subject should not be confounded with the English skills. Otherwise spelling and grammar will again become limiting factors for people who cannot change this; and they will dumb down every subject. So we again get all the trouble with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or children of foreign origin. You can be a brilliant mathematician or scientist or geographer or even writer, but never learn to spell correctly, despite working hard on it. Also future employers would probably like to know a candidate’s skills in the subject, not confounded by his or her English skills. So why not note these separately, instead of making them an ingredient in every subject’s marking?
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Back to SPaG. We had it before and it was rubbish then! Markers will spend more time worrying about SPaG than the content! This is a failed experiment brought back to life. Personally, I have a theory that the only people who believe that spelling, punctuation and grammar matter are those who can spell, punctuate and use grammar. The rest of the population seem to manage quite well without it! Look at examples of Jacobean writing. They are littered with inconsistencies and there is a general lack of conformity and yet literature flowered in that period.
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On No! Not SPAG again…it didn’t work before and it won’t work this time. I cannot help but be disappointed by the decline of both spoken and written English, however to “SPAg ” mark and penalise all Humanities candidates will do absolutley nothing to motivate and raise achievemnet. Why am I not surprised that this is the only course of action that our politicians and examination authorities can come up with?
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A 5% allowance was at the time and still would be ‘tinkering’. I mark an AS General Paper for Mauritius (set by a UK Exam board), where the allowance for ‘Use of English’ (effectively SPG and E for expression) is 40% of the total. A mark of this magnitude (on which the Mauritians insist) shows that the issue is taken with a seriousness that has long since departed from Britain’s shores.
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I think the proposal to award marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar in subjects other than english muddies the water. It seems to have already happened with science. It will be difficult for future employers/admission tutors to know whether a student is good at the subject, unless they are good at both the subject and english. I think it is better that english tests english and science tests science, geography tests geography etc for a clear view of the student’s ability. Even with english,I think there should be a separate exam for SP&G, and that it should not be confused with creative writing for example.
This proposal massively disadvantages students with dyslexia. Some of this world’s most talented people have had dyslexia and other learning disabilities (Albert Einstein and Agatha Christie spring immediately to mind). For the health of our country we should not be putting life blocks in front of these people, but letting their full talent show through.
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When the English exams require a knowledge of Physics then I would be quite happy to see a requirement for English on Physics papers. But seriously, if a candidate does not express themselves clearly they already penalise themselves – they don’t need a double penalty!
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