GCSE and A level Geography: getting ready for the Summer 2019 exam series

Submission of fieldwork statement for GCSE, AS and A level

Centres are required to provide evidence of fieldwork in the form of the written Fieldwork Statement. Please upload fieldwork statements directly to us online by the 15th of May.

Please do not email these to us as we won’t be able to record your centre’s declaration this way. Remember to compile details of any candidates missing fieldwork with exceptional circumstances attached in the same file. If you have already emailed in your 2019 fieldwork statement you will now need to upload it.

Marking the A level NEA

1. How should I annotate the work?

Teacher annotation should be used to provide evidence of how and why marks have been awarded. Use phrasing from the mark scheme to indicate clearly to the moderator how the student has met the assessment criteria; this will facilitate both the standardisation process within the centre and external moderation of the work. Annotation can be embedded in the actual work or annotated on the mark-sheet with references to pages in the work. It is important to remember that annotations should also be used to explain how marks were awarded in the context of any additional assistance given to the student.

2. Where is the mark scheme?

The mark scheme for the independent investigation can be found in the Form and administration section of the website. It’s in Word format and it includes space for teacher marking comments.

3. Where can I find exemplar work?

We've made available examples of marked independent investigations from the summer 2018 exam series to help exemplify the mark scheme level descriptors. You may find it helpful to look at this range of exemplars to gain a better understanding of the marking criteria.

Submitting the A level NEA

1. How do I submit marks via Edexcel Online?

2. When is the deadline to submit NEA marks and moderated samples?

The deadline is the 15th of May 2019. This is the date by which you must have submitted your A level Geography NEA marks to us via Edexcel Online, and have sent your sample of student work to the moderator. Please note that your Exams Officer will have their own internal deadlines.

3. How do I identify the sample of work that needs to be sent to the moderator?

When you go to the coursework mark submission screen on Edexcel Online there will be a tick next to the names of the candidates that need to be sent for external moderation. You also need to send the work of the highest and lowest-scoring candidates if they are not part of the requested sample. If, for some reason, you're unable to send the work for a particular student, you should send the work of an equivalent student with a similar mark. You should also write a note to the moderator explaining the reason for the change.

4. Who is my moderator and what is their address?

You will be able to find out your moderator’s name and address from early April via Edexcel Online.

5. What paperwork do I need to send?

Your moderator should receive the following documents:

• the sampled students’ final version of their Geography independent investigation form (aka Proposal Form) - it spans over two pages
• the sampled students’ mark sheets
• a copy/print out of the whole cohort submitted marks on Edexcel Online

6. What happens if I make an error when submitting marks?

If you have already submitted a mark but it needs to be amended (e.g. because of an administrative error), please email courseworkmarks@pearson.com with details of the student and amended point score.

I hope you found this update useful. Feel free to get in touch if you have further questions.