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Waddell (1978) Notes on the text Part I Preliminary pages Contents, Membership
Part II Preliminary pages Contents, Membership Report of the Education Study Group (ESG) Glossary, Introduction
Report of the Cost Study Group (CSG) Chapter 1 Introduction
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The Waddell Report (1978)
School examinations Report of the Steering Committee established to consider proposals for replacing the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level and Certificate of Secondary Education examinations by a common system of examining Chairman: Sir James Waddell CB Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales by Command of Her Majesty July 1978 London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1978
Part I: Cmnd 7281-I
Part II - ESG Report Chapter 6 Geography
Introduction 120. The last 10 years have seen many changes in the nature of geography and its teaching in schools. These changes have been codified by two Schools Council projects, and have been reflected in alterations to current O Level and CSE examinations. But most syllabuses and schemes of assessment in geography are still being reconsidered in order to accommodate a growing emphasis on principles and ideas in addition to information and basic skills, a widening of aims to cover attitudes, matters of environmental concern and the process of decision making, and an increased use of mathematical techniques in recording and analysing information. 121. Certain problems face examiners in geography under any system of examining. These are examining and moderating fieldwork and extended course work, the development of resource-based questions, including maps, diagrams etc, to test the ability to apply skills and ideas, and the construction of syllabuses including studies of world features at a range of scales from the small to the global. The evidence 122. The main evidence reviewed came from the joint examinations. The numbers of candidates involved are tabulated below. Further reference to the examinations is made by number. The ability range 123. The full range of ability under consideration was covered in two of the major joint examinations. Scheme 1 in 1974 and 1975 included a wide range of schools and colleges of further education, and it was noted that 'the results of NFER Test 100 indicate that the entry covered the full range of ability under consideration; in particular there appears to be no lack of high ability candidates'. The range of ability also extended below the 40th percentile. In scheme 3 there was a full range of ability of candidates in 1973 and 1974, and there is some evidence that in subsequent years a larger proportion of more able pupils entered. The syllabus and objectives 124. The syllabuses do not state the objectives or outline the content as explicitly as would have been desirable. The syllabuses used in all four feasibility studies were representative of syllabuses at the time but not of the best now available. Teachers stated that the syllabuses in 1 and 3 provided a basis for more advanced work. In our opinion they provided a basis for the traditional A Level work found in many schools at that time, though there have been changes in several A Level syllabuses during the past three years. 125. The syllabus introduced by consortium 1 for 1978 is much more in line with current thinking in the subject. There are three sections on the local region, the British Isles and the world, and for each area the programme of work is required to illustrate the many ideas of a range of systematic topics such as population and transport. A fieldwork section requires the candidates to study one or more topics at a detailed level and at first hand. The syllabus describes the skills which will be tested in the examination. The consortium recognised that an alternative syllabus might have the regional elements included in a systematic framework. They considered that the relatively small part played by physical geography in the syllabus did not prevent the course from providing a good basis for advanced work. The syllabus and the examination 126. The relationship between the examination and the syllabus has been clearly thought out in 1. All questions are compulsory and ensure coverage of the major aspects of the syllabus. There is a sound balance between the testing of knowledge, comprehension and application. The relationships between examinations and syllabuses in 2 and 3 are less well developed. In 2 there is again no choice of question, but only a selection from the syllabus is covered. In 3 there is an emphasis on ordnance survey work and a choice between questions. 127. The range of question types in 1 is carefully planned and provides for course work. There are the three types of objective questions (multiple choice, multiple completion, matching pairs) designed to test a specific and limited range of skills and to ensure complete coverage of the syllabus; structured questions which allow development of other skills; and the more open fieldwork element which gives the pupil the opportunity of developing an idea in depth. This last school-assessed unit of the examination worked well because of the support given to teachers and the care exercised in moderation. However, course work in 2 raised several problems although it supported the need to capitalise on the teachers' order of merit in the overall assessment. An element of school-assessed work is important in an examination of geography at this level. The examination and the ability range 128. The wide range of ability covered by the joint examinations does not appear to create major problems in the setting of most aspects of the examination, certainly in relation to objective questions and fieldwork. The main difficulty arose from the need to use structured questions. The Schools Council had indicated that in the major studies the structured questions tended to restrict the scope for the abler candidates whose marks were depressed. A low mean and poor use of the upper end of the mark scale were found in three of the studies. This is illustrated by the less satisfactory distribution of marks for this section in recent examinations in 1. There is, however, some evidence from the Schools Council 14-18 Project examinations at O Level that increased use of 'data response questions' could help in assessing higher skills in geography and thus in awarding grades to the most able pupils; these were not tried in the studies. The need for essay-type questions for the more able pupils has been discussed. The examiners of 1 claim that these skills are in fact tested in some structured questions which allow for extended prose answers. But these are shorter than traditional essay answers and we retain reservations about this. Scheme 4 adopted a pattern of differentiated papers, with a common paper and school assessed unit of work. The results of the differentiated papers raised some problems of comparability which were not fully resolved. 129. The presentation of question papers was in general good and appears equally helpful to all candidates. The papers with no element of choice are easier for candidates to work through and are much cheaper to produce, an important consideration when a wide range of recorded information is needed on the examination paper. Each type of question is expensive in different ways. The objective questions are costly to formulate and test before use, but a bank can be developed over several years. Three hours is the maximum desirable length of an examination in geography at this stage. Marking and grading 130. Marking and grading were considered with specific reference to 1. There is a clear attempt to see all candidates as part of a single continuum of ability. Marking is positive throughout and guidance is given to pupils and teachers on the distribution of marks for the different elements of the examination. In the case of the structured questions, as mentioned above, marking is less satisfactory. The material provided to help teacher assessment is helpful; there was a steady improvement in the quality of the teacher-assessed work during the years of the trial. Moderation is effective and valued by both the examining boards and the. schools. There is advantage in personal rather than statistical moderation of any discrepancies between different parts of the examination. Conclusion 131. The evidence shows that it is feasible to examine in geography at 16+ across the ability range under consideration. One study shows this is possible by means of a common examination. It is important to remember the relationship between any examination system and the course of study. The examination must discriminate adequately, but it should not preclude development of work for the more able pupils or for those with particular needs. Similar syllabuses can be examined by two different examinations and some concerned with geography teaching consider this pattern to be more desirable because of its beneficial effects on teaching in schools. If this is accepted the available evidence suggests that the differentiated papers would be those including the structured choice/data response questions. The papers which include the objective questions, individual studies/fieldwork (and course work if this were included) could remain common to all. 132. A number of questions would require further consideration in a preparatory period: a. There have been marked developments in the nature of many syllabuses for O Level or CSE in geography. It is increasingly common for certain elements, such as the study of regions from the local to the global, ideas or concepts, a range of systematic topics and a variety of skills, to be included in any examination of geography at 16+. The arrangement of these elements might vary, so that syllabuses could have a systematic or a regional structure; and the amount of physical geography included could vary between syllabuses. 
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