Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Assessment, Feedback and Data Syllabus

What two criteria did Dylan Wiliam set for a hinge question?

(1) Every pupil should be able to respond within about a minute; (2) the teacher should be able to view and interpret all responses within about 30 seconds, so the lesson can pivot immediately.

Define responsive teaching.

An approach (term popularised by Harry Fletcher-Wood) where teachers continually elicit evidence of learning and adapt their teaching in response — combining formative assessment, cognitive science and deliberate practice.

What are typical 'adaptive next steps' a teacher takes after eliciting evidence?

Re-explaining or reteaching a point, providing additional worked examples or scaffolds, regrouping pupils, setting targeted practice, addressing a specific misconception, or accelerating if pupils have secured the concept.

Distinguish adaptive teaching from traditional differentiation.

Adaptive teaching keeps high expectations for all and flexibly adjusts support in response to need (scaffolds, questioning, feedback). Traditional differentiation often pre-set different tasks/outcomes by group, risking lowered expectations and a 'ceiling' for some pupils.

What is self-assessment?

Pupils evaluating their own work against success criteria or a model, identifying strengths and next steps. It builds metacognition and self-regulation (assessment AS learning).

What is peer assessment and one key condition for it to work?

Pupils assessing each other's work against clear criteria. It requires explicit, shared success criteria (and modelling/training) so feedback is accurate, specific and constructive rather than vague praise.

State three of Wiliam and Thompson's five key strategies of formative assessment.

Any three of: (1) clarifying and sharing learning intentions and success criteria; (2) engineering effective discussions/tasks that elicit evidence; (3) providing feedback that moves learners forward; (4) activating pupils as learning resources for one another (peer assessment); (5) activating pupils as owners of their own learning (self-assessment).

What are the characteristics of effective feedback?

It is specific, focused on the task and how to improve (not the person), timely, linked to success criteria, actionable, and — crucially — pupils are given time and required to act on it to close the gap.

What did Hattie and Timperley's model say feedback should answer?

Three questions: 'Where am I going?' (feed up — goals), 'How am I going?' (feed back — current performance vs goal), and 'Where to next?' (feed forward — next steps).

What are the four levels of feedback in Hattie and Timperley's model?

Task level (how well the task is done), Process level (the strategies/processes used), Self-regulation level (self-monitoring and direction of learning), and Self level (personal evaluation — e.g. 'good girl', generally the least effective).

Why is praise directed at the 'self' (e.g. 'you're so clever') often the least effective feedback?

It carries little information about how to improve and can foster a fixed mindset or fear of failure; effective feedback targets the task, process and self-regulation instead.

According to Kluger and DeNisi's meta-analysis, what surprising finding emerged about feedback?

Roughly a third of feedback interventions actually DECREASED performance — particularly feedback directed at the self rather than the task — showing feedback is not automatically beneficial and must be well designed.

How can a teacher reduce feedback/marking workload while maintaining impact?

Use whole-class feedback sheets, live/verbal in-lesson feedback, modelling and visualisers, coded marking, self/peer assessment against clear criteria, and target deep feedback selectively — rather than writing extensive comments on every book.

What is 'whole-class feedback'?

The teacher reads a set of work, notes common strengths, misconceptions and exemplary examples on one sheet, then addresses them with the whole class in a follow-up lesson — cutting individual written marking while keeping impact.

What does 'closing the gap' mean in assessment?

Reducing the difference between a pupil's current performance and the desired learning goal, by giving feedback that identifies the gap and providing structured opportunities for the pupil to act and improve.

What is 'dedicated improvement and reflection time' (DIRT)?

Lesson time deliberately set aside for pupils to read, reflect on and respond to feedback — redrafting, correcting or extending work — so that feedback actually translates into improved learning.

Why must pupils act on feedback for it to be effective?

Feedback only improves learning if it changes what the pupil does; unread or unactioned comments make marking effort wasted. The cognitive work of responding is where the learning gain occurs.

What is the EYFS Profile and when is it completed?

A statutory assessment completed at the end of the Reception year (end of the Early Years Foundation Stage), in which teachers judge each child against the Early Learning Goals as 'expected' or 'emerging'.

How are children assessed against the Early Learning Goals in the EYFS Profile?

As either 'expected' (meeting the level described in the goal) or 'emerging' (not yet reaching the expected level). It is a teacher-assessment-based judgement, not a test.

What is the Phonics Screening Check — when is it taken and what does it involve?

A statutory check taken in Year 1 (and retaken in Year 2 if not passed) where children read 40 words aloud — a mix of real words and pseudowords ('alien'/nonsense words) — to assess phonic decoding.

What is the typical pass threshold for the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check?

A standard threshold of 32 out of 40 words read correctly (the 'expected standard'). Children who do not meet it retake the check in Year 2.

What are KS2 SATs — when are they taken and which subjects?

National Curriculum tests taken at the end of Year 6 (Key Stage 2) in English reading, English grammar/punctuation/spelling (GPS), and mathematics. Writing is teacher-assessed.

What is the scaled-score system used in KS2 SATs and the 'expected standard' value?

Raw marks are converted to a scaled score ranging from 80 to 120, where a scaled score of $100$ represents the expected standard. Below $100$ is below expected; $110+$ indicates working at a higher standard.

What replaced National Curriculum levels for assessment, and what is the current approach?

Levels were removed in 2014. Schools now use 'assessment without levels' — their own assessment systems against the national curriculum's age-related expectations, alongside statutory scaled scores at key stages.

What is the standard GCSE 9-1 grading scale and how does it map to old letter grades?

GCSEs are graded $9$ (highest) down to $1$. Grade $9$ is above the old $A^{*}$; grade $7 \approx A$; grade $4$ = 'standard pass' ($\approx$ old C); grade $1 \approx G$. Grade $5$ is a 'strong pass'.

What is the difference between a 'standard pass' and a 'strong pass' at GCSE?

A standard pass is grade $4$; a strong pass is grade $5$. Both are passes, but performance measures and some progression routes reference grade $5$ (and grade $4$ in English and maths for resit purposes).

How are A levels graded and how do AS levels now relate to them?

A levels are graded $A^{*}$ to $E$ (with U = ungraded). Since reform, A levels are linear (assessed by terminal exams at the end of two years) and AS levels are standalone qualifications that no longer count towards the A level.

What are vocational qualifications and give examples relevant to 16-19 study.

Work-related qualifications focused on practical/technical skills, e.g. BTECs, T Levels and NVQs. T Levels are two-year technical programmes (equivalent to 3 A levels) combining classroom study with an industry placement.

What is the difference between attainment and progress in pupil data?

Attainment is the absolute level a pupil reaches (e.g. a grade or scaled score) at a point in time. Progress measures how much a pupil has improved relative to a starting point (e.g. Progress 8 from KS2 to KS4).

What is the difference between standardisation and moderation?

Standardisation establishes a shared understanding of the mark scheme before marking begins (often using exemplar scripts), so all markers apply criteria consistently. Moderation checks marked/assessed work afterwards to confirm judgements are accurate and comparable across teachers/schools.