Summary Guidance on WJEC Qualifications 2023
WJEC has produced advance information for students and teachers, ahead of the examinations, to provide a focus of the content of the examinations or part of the examinations that will be assessed in the papers. The purpose of advance information is to support revision.
The advance information for each qualification has been designed to be compliant with the principles prescribed by Qualifications Wales
- the advance information should not be so detailed that students are able to memorise answers to write in the exam;
- the advance information should not be so extensive or specific that it will damage a student's progression to higher level qualifications in the subject;
- it should still be possible to differentiate between students on the basis of their performance. A consequence of the principles for advance information is that it will not always be possible to detail everything that is in the examination. In some cases this would risk undermining good education, progression, or fair results; in others it would be unhelpful to teachers and learners, for example by listing all topics which could lead to excessive teaching or revision on areas that are worth few marks. This means that in some subjects, for instance, the advance information will not apply to certain papers or parts of papers.
WJEC have produced these summaries to help teachers and students better understand some of the restrictions on advance information (for example what will be covered and so you know what to expect for the subjects you teach or study), to aid planning ahead of the release of advance information. However, please be aware they only relate to GCSE/GCE qualifications that are made-for-Wales. They do not include vocational qualifications or those coordinated by other examination boards.
Key points to remember for advance information. They
- must be read alongside the specification so that the information provided is clearly understood and placed in the right context;
- can be used flexibly by centres to achieve its purpose of supporting revision. Advance information should not, however, be used to narrow teaching and learning;
- can be used by teachers in supporting their learners’ revision and referred to by learners in their revision and final examination preparation;
- cannot be brought into the examinations;
- will not be at a level that allows questions to be predicted or answers prepared. A good, broad understanding of all the content of the specification is always the best preparation for success in an examination.
Teachers and students should bear in mind that prior learning in a key idea or topic area might provide useful knowledge and understanding and be required for students to be able to answer questions fully. This is particularly the case, for instance, for synoptic 1 questions and those questions marked using a levels of response mark scheme. Students’ preparation for examinations should continue to focus on knowledge and understanding that can be applied appropriately in the context of unseen examination questions. The format and structure of the examination papers will remain unchanged, ie. in 2023 the examinations will be as described in the relevant specification, with no adaptations or amendments.
It is important to remember that only those subjects listed above have adaptations, which have been shared by WJEC. The board have also prepared a short student guide to supoprt with assessments in the summer 2023 series.