One of the UK's largest exam boards, OCR, has announced the introduction of modular GCSEs across a wide range of subject areas.
The modularised courses are already available in subjects like maths and science, but this will be the first time they have been expanded to non-core subjects. The OCR board has just announced details of 43 new GCSE courses it hopes to offer from September 2009.
The new examinations, featuring something called "controlled assessment", are designed to reduce the risk of plagiarism by cutting the coursework component of existing courses.
A-level examinations were made modular in 2000 and are currently undergoing an overhall to reduce their number of units from six to four.
The head of OCR's GCSE project, Parool Patel, said: "Teachers, parents and students have confidence in the GCSE qualification and know that high standards are being maintained.
"Flexible assessment is an improvement in the GCSE qualification which is designed to offer teachers the opportunity to implement assessment processes that best suit the needs of their own students."
Concern has been raised that the new format will dumb down GCSE standards by allowing less able students the opportunity to re-sit, without penalty, modules where their performance is below par.
Professor Alan Smithers, a qualifications expert from the University of Buckingham, said: "The pressure on schools to maximise results will lead many of them to take advantage of these new arrangements.
"The downside is that assessment becomes dominant throughout the course, rather than towards the end of it."
The modularised courses are already available in subjects like maths and science, but this will be the first time they have been expanded to non-core subjects. The OCR board has just announced details of 43 new GCSE courses it hopes to offer from September 2009.
The new examinations, featuring something called "controlled assessment", are designed to reduce the risk of plagiarism by cutting the coursework component of existing courses.
A-level examinations were made modular in 2000 and are currently undergoing an overhall to reduce their number of units from six to four.
The head of OCR's GCSE project, Parool Patel, said: "Teachers, parents and students have confidence in the GCSE qualification and know that high standards are being maintained.
"Flexible assessment is an improvement in the GCSE qualification which is designed to offer teachers the opportunity to implement assessment processes that best suit the needs of their own students."
Concern has been raised that the new format will dumb down GCSE standards by allowing less able students the opportunity to re-sit, without penalty, modules where their performance is below par.
Professor Alan Smithers, a qualifications expert from the University of Buckingham, said: "The pressure on schools to maximise results will lead many of them to take advantage of these new arrangements.
"The downside is that assessment becomes dominant throughout the course, rather than towards the end of it."
