Level 3 Specification

Transcription

1 Level 3 Specification Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance (2805) For exams June 2014 onwards For certification June 2014 onwards V 2.0

2 Our specification is published on our website ( We will let centres know in writing about any changes to the specification. We will also publish changes on our website. The definitive version of our specification will always be the one on our website; this may differ from printed versions. Copyright 2012 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. AQA retains the copyright on all its publications, including the specifications. However, registered centres for AQA are permitted to copy material from this specification booklet for their own internal use. AQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (number ) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (number ). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.

3 Contents Page 1 Introduction Why choose AQA? Why choose Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance? How do I start using this specification? How can I find out more? 3 2 Specification at a Glance 4 3 Subject Content Enterprise Employability and Personal Finance The Enterprise Project 13 4 Scheme of Assessment Aims Assessment Objectives National criteria Prior learning Synoptic assessment and stretch and challenge 21 5 Administration Availability of assessment units and certification Entries Private students Access arrangements and special consideration Language of examinations Qualification titles Awarding grades and reporting results Re-sits and shelf-life of unit results 23 6 Centre-Assessed Component Guidance on centre-assessed component Supervision and authentication Standardisation Administration procedures for centre-assessed work Moderation 28 Appendices 29 A Performance descriptions 29 B Spiritual, moral, ethical, social and other issues 31 C Overlaps with other qualifications 31 1

4 1 Introduction 1.1 Why choose AQA? It s a fact that AQA is the UK s favourite exam board and more students receive their academic qualifications from AQA than from any other board. But why does AQA continue to be so popular? Specifications Ours are designed to the highest standards, so teachers, students and their parents can be confident that an AQA award provides an accurate measure of a student s achievements. And the assessment structures have been designed to achieve a balance between rigour, reliability and demands on students. Support AQA runs the most extensive programme of support meetings; free of charge in the first years of a new specification and at a very reasonable cost thereafter. These support meetings explain the specification and suggest practical teaching strategies and approaches that really work. Service We are committed to providing an efficient and effective service and we are at the end of the phone when you need to speak to a person about an important issue. We will always try to resolve issues the first time you contact us but should that not be possible, we will always come back to you (by telephone, or letter) and keep working with you to find the solution. Ethics AQA is a registered charity. We have no shareholders to pay. We exist solely for the good of education in the UK. Any surplus income is ploughed back into educational research and our service to you, our customers. We don t profit from education, you do. If you are an existing customer then we thank you for your support. If you are thinking of moving to AQA then we look forward to welcoming you. 1.2 Why choose Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance? This specification enables schools and colleges to meet the needs of their students by providing a high quality and engaging learning experience. It enables students to: acquire and develop a range of valuable transferable skills such as communication, team work and problem solving that will prepare them for employability, further or higher education demonstrate and hone the soft skills that businesses, universities and colleges desire through the enterprise activity develop an understanding of what it means to be enterprising develop and apply their literacy and numeracy skills in real life contexts practise independent learning, self management and research skills. Schools and colleges will receive a full range of support to teach the qualification. 2

5 1.3 How do I start using this specification? Already using existing AQA specifications? Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance v2.0 Tell us that you intend to enter students. Then we can make sure that you receive all the material you need for the examinations. This is particularly important where examination material is issued before the final entry deadline. You can let us know by completing the appropriate Intention to Enter and Estimated Entry forms. We will send copies to your Exams Officer and they are also available on our website ( Not using an AQA specification currently? Almost all centres in England and Wales use AQA or have used AQA in the past and are approved AQA centres. A small minority are not. If your centre is new to AQA, please contact our centre approval team at centreapproval@aqa.org.uk 1.4 How can I find out more? Ask AQA You have 24-hour access to useful information and answers to the most commonly-asked questions at if the answer to your question is not available, you can submit a query for our team. Teacher Support Details of the full range of current Teacher Support meetings are available on our website at There is also a link to our fast and convenient online booking system for Teacher Support meetings at If you need to contact the Teacher Support team, you can call us on or us at teachersupport@aqa.org.uk 3

6 2 Specification at a Glance Level 3 Certificate 2805: 180 Guided learning hours External examination (EEPF1) 60% of Level 3 Certificate 1 hour 30 minutes written examination 80 marks The paper will consist of structured and essay style questions. The examination content covers Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance. Available in June only Plus Enterprise project (EEPF2) 40% of Level 3 Certificate 40 marks This project covers the knowledge and application of enterprise and is focused around an activity which will require students to apply the principles of the enterprise activity cycle. Available in June only Statement of purpose The purpose of this Applied General qualification is to develop students transferable knowledge and skills in enterprise, employability and personal finance and to prepare them for further learning/training/employment This qualification enables students to acquire and develop a range of valuable transferable skills such as communication, team work and problem solving develop an understanding of what it means to be enterprising develop and apply their literacy and numeracy skills in real life contexts practise independent learning, self-management and research skills which will help prepare them for employment, further or higher education. 4

7 3 Subject Content Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance v2.0 Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance It is envisaged that students will learn primarily through participative activities. These should be designed to both provide opportunities to acquire knowledge and understanding of the content and to develop a range of skills that are relevant to enterprise, employability and personal finance management. These include problem solving, decision making, negotiation, research, evaluation, report writing (communication), calculation, planning and implementation and justification. What the student needs to learn 3.1 Enterprise Students must learn and understand about enterprise capability and the processes and principles underpinning enterprise in order to successfully complete 3.3 the Enterprise Project Enterprise capability Students must know and understand different definitions of enterprise capability applicable to: business contexts (making and selling) social contexts (non profit focused interaction of individuals or groups) environmental contexts, eg recycling schemes. Enterprise capability should be understood as the ability to handle uncertainty and respond positively to change, to create and implement new ideas and ways of doing things, to make reasonable risk/reward assessments and act upon them in one s personal and working life. Students must also understand that enterprise capability is supported by financial capability defined as the ability to manage one s own finances and to become questioning and informed customers of financial services. Students must also be able to make informed choices in business, social and environmental contexts to make the most of available resources The enterprise process Students must know, understand and be able to apply the four stages of the enterprise process. These are:- Stage 1: identification and description of the problem/need/opportunity and the generation of ideas on how to address it Stage 2: plan the enterprise project or activity Stage 3: implementation of the enterprise project or activity Stage 4: evaluation of the enterprise project or activity. 5

8 Stage 1: Identification and description of a problem/need/opportunity and the generation of ideas on how to address it Students must be able to know how to generate ideas on how to tackle different problems and/or meet different needs in business and social contexts. Some of these problems may have more than one focus and students should understand the interrelationships of the key aspects. Students must understand the principles and applications of a range of methods, including brainstorming and lateral thinking that are used to develop the range of ideas. They must also understand that each idea should be logically evaluated to determine the likelihood of success. Students must understand the concept of mind mapping and how it can be used to show links between ideas and how this can then be used to develop an effective enterprise plan. Students must know and understand the role of research methods, including the use of ICT and the World Wide Web in developing ideas. Students must also understand the role of individuals and groups as both sources of support when developing enterprise ideas, and for sounding out the diversity of opinions relevant to those ideas. Students should be aware that this leads to a greater range and improved quality of ideas which are more suited to meet the demands of the task. Stage 2: Plan the enterprise project or activity Students must be able to construct and fully explain, reason and justify the following points where applicable. How to: plan an enterprise effectively using financial capability and economic/business understanding break down tasks into achievable goals in order to increase the likelihood of success plan for an organised and creative use of resources including time, materials, equipment and technology evaluate the skills of individuals and use these to deploy team members when developing an enterprise. Thus each team member becomes responsible for achieving specific tasks, which enables them to develop individual skills and attributes and also increases the chances of success of the enterprise. This is within an organisational structure that must be developed and agreed evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of team members and use this evaluation to allocate appropriate roles to increase the chances of success set appropriate timescales and milestones apply SMART targets, SWOT analyses and PEST analyses (political, economic, social and technological) identify target audiences and present the enterprise idea appropriately cost the plan to include: sources of finance calculation of costs, revenues and financial viability in terms of fixed, variable and total costs and price, total revenue and profit if appropriate 6

9 set the budget to include: income, expenditure and profit a cash flow forecast Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance v2.0 conduct a suitable risk assessment (in the context of both success/failure and health and safety) before starting an enterprise activity set appropriate achievable criteria related to the goals of the enterprise project or activity use appropriate advertising and branding develop a marketing implementation strategy to include where appropriate: methods of primary and secondary market research qualitative and quantitative research size and types of sampling (random, quota and stratified) interview techniques incorporating an awareness of interviewer bias market analysis (to include scale of demand and target audience) opportunity cost analysis take appropriate legal, regulatory and ethical aspects into account including: copyright, patents and trademarks health and safety the Equality Act 2010 ethical aspects of the enterprise, eg sustainability, fair trade, corporate and social responsibility. Stage 3: Implementation of the enterprise project or activity Students must know and understand that: for enterprise activities to be successful they must be carried out efficiently, effectively, lawfully and with due regard to health and safety plans rarely remain unchanged when being implemented and that during an enterprise project or activity the following may need monitoring and amending where appropriate: plans deadlines cash flow profit and loss SMART targets any amendments made need to be described and the reasons for them explained decision-making should be flexible, responsive and timely perseverance and a can-do attitude are necessary for successfully establishing and developing enterprise projects or activities running over an extended period of time many personal employability skills and attributes are needed and will be developed when driving enterprise projects or activities. 7

10 Stage 4: Evaluation of the enterprise project or activity Students are required to know how to evaluate the effectiveness of an enterprise project or activity. Students must be able to: review activities undertaken review final outcomes against achievement criteria reflect on lessons learnt during the process make reasoned suggestions for improvement assess skills (transferable and non-transferable) and attributes developed and acquired, and how they might enhance employability. 3.2 Employability and Personal Finance The concept of employability and its associated qualities/behaviours Students must know, understand and be able to evaluate the qualities associated with employability (eg team working, problem solving, application of IT, communication and literacy, application of numeracy, self-management, business and customer awareness). Students must be able to identify, discriminate between and evaluate a range of concrete (specific) job skills, eg brick laying, and transferable (generic) job skills, eg IT skills, in the context of specified situations. They should also be able to evaluate personal attributes in similar contexts. Students need to understand the views of major national organisations regarding employability, eg CBI, TUC, government departments and agencies. Students need to also be aware of the opinions of local employers which can be ascertained through personal research, eg by asking their part-time employer Construction of CV, completion of application forms, formal letter writing conventions, interview techniques Students must be able to demonstrate the skills required to apply effectively for a job vacancy or a college/university place. These include: construction of an appropriate curriculum vitae (CV) completion of application forms formal letter writing interview techniques. Students must also be able to assess the effectiveness of applications and justify their assessments to others in a written report format. 8

11 3.2.3 Recruitment methods and processes Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance v2.0 Students must be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of recruitment, induction and staff development methods and processes. These include: knowledge and understanding of the main methods of advertising vacancies and their locations the law regarding recruitment advertising and student selection (in particular the main provisions of the Equality Act [2010]) methods of application and the supporting documents required, eg curriculum vitae, application forms, references assessment of applicants for a vacancy different interview methods the need for the appropriate induction of new employees including issues relating to health and safety as indicated by the Health and Safety at Work Act [1974] the need for employers to retain staff and the consequent responsibilities of the employer to provide adequate opportunities for employee supervision/mentoring, appropriate skill training and staff development Company structure and responsibilities Students need to know and understand the major responsibilities within an enterprise organisation, eg finance, marketing. In particular, the Human Resources role in welfare management of staff must be known and understood in detail, ie creating job descriptions and person specifications for staff recruitment and retention, terms and conditions of employment, devising and implementing appraisal schemes, conducting disciplinary and grievance proceedings Role of employer organisations and trade unions Students must know and understand the complementary and contrasting roles of employer and employee organisations and how these interact in the workplace. This knowledge and understanding should include the rights and responsibilities that this imposes on both employers and employees. Students need to have outline knowledge of basic employment law to include contracts of employment, ie job title, wages, hours of work, holiday entitlement, sick pay, pension schemes, notice, grievance, dismissal and disciplinary procedures. Students must understand the entitlement to maternity/paternity leave and national minimum wage Managing personal finance Students must know and understand the different factors which may influence personal financial decisions. These include: employment age family health 9

12 values personal interests. Students will be expected to be able to make reasoned financial decisions relating to these factors in different everyday contexts Getting value for money Students must know and understand how to get value for money on everyday items, eg food purchases, cleaning products, and larger purchases, eg mobile phones, computers, cars. This will include making appropriate choices from different suppliers, negotiating the best deal and deciding on alternative methods of finance. Negotiation strategies include: understanding sales strategies researching product options and costs effective interpersonal communication managing pressure. Methods of finance include: hire purchase loans including overdrafts personal finance plans credit cards including store cards weekly payment schemes, eg catalogues pay day loans, log book loans and door step lending loan sharking. The main features, advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods of finance must be known. Students should also be able to make appropriate decisions for value for money purchases based on identifying appropriate options, developing a strategy for the purchase and minimising costs, including a consideration of depreciation Budgeting and financial planning Students need to know and understand the basic components of a typical household budget and how to plan financially for the short- and long-term. Budget items can include: 10 income property costs utilities and Internet connectivity insurance food and drink transport

13 costs of borrowing savings, pensions and investments child care pets leisure and recreation including the use of media hygiene, health and beauty clothes personal development and education annual events, eg birthdays, holidays, large item purchases charitable donations newspapers self-employment costs. Students must be able to analyse contextual information and make reasoned judgements on budgets and financial plans in order to make appropriate suggestions for financial prudence Choosing a place to live Students should be able to make appropriate and balanced decisions on whether to rent or buy a place to live. Choosing an appropriate place to live is crucial to economic, social and emotional well-being. This decision should make use of the relevant criteria which can include: costs in relation to income size of property location related to employment or study local facilities condition/state of repair of the property neighbourhood, eg crime rates length of lease and deposit arrangements mortgage options. 11

14 Dealing with financial challenges Students must know and understand the factors that cause financial challenges for individuals. These factors can include: self-employment employment changes including redundancy ill health children and dependants separation, divorce and bereavement prior financial decision-making financial record keeping and review mis-selling Students should know the statutory rights relating to consumer purchase and sources of information and advice about these. Students must learn how to be able to complain effectively about consumer matters using appropriate responses. These strategies may include: constructing letters developing relevant plans to resolve the issues legal redress, eg small claims court, solicitors letters accessing help and support from statutory and voluntary sources, eg Trading Standards, Money Advice Service and Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) Interpreting financial documents Students need to be able to critically interpret financial information presented in common formats. These can include: pay slips tax code notification, P60 and P45 bank statements credit card statements loan or finance agreements. Students will be expected to make reasoned judgements and recommendations based on given financial information. The consequences of debt for the individual should be known. Students should understand the rights, responsibilities and legal framework of debt recovery, eg strategies to recover debt, county court judgements, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) and the roles of bailiffs. 12

15 Protecting personal financial security Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance v2.0 Students must know and understand the role of different types of insurance available to the individual and the cover each provides. Students should also be able to analyse information to determine appropriate insurance cover based on risk and context. Types of insurance include: buildings contents specific item motor vehicle travel pet health payment protection, loss of earnings and critical injury/illness. Students must know and understand the need for medium- and long-term savings and investment products including personal pensions. It is expected that students will be able to assess the suitability of a given product in terms of its advantages and disadvantages as it relates to the different circumstances of individual consumers The Enterprise Project This project is assessed through a student-led activity. It is essential that the student has the knowledge, skills and understanding as detailed in the Enterprise section 3.1 to be able to access the full range of marks General Guidance for the Enterprise Project Students are required to carry out an enterprise project/activity and to record a personal log/diary of actions undertaken together with a detailed report of the activities covering the four stages of the enterprise process. The enterprise project can be business orientated (making and selling), social (interaction of social groups in the school or local community) or focused on environmental issues. Guidance will be given by AQA in the following ways: via teacher online standardisation sessions exemplar work teacher guidance document. Tasks should be sufficiently complex to allow students to successfully access the full mark range for each of the four stages of the enterprise process. In carrying out an enterprise project or activity, students may work on their own (ie taking sole responsibility for the project or activity) or as a member of a group. It is anticipated that where a student is working on his/her own, the project or activity will normally be relatively simple and 13

16 straightforward, whilst group projects or activities should normally be more complex, allowing for a range of defined roles. A group should not normally consist of more than six individuals, each of whom are required to have a defined role or roles, eg financial management, marketing. Where a student is working as a member of a group, he/she may only be assessed in relation to his/her individual contribution to, and perspective on, the overall project or activity. The evidence should be presented as a detailed report on the enterprise project or activity supported by a personal log of actions undertaken by the student. The student must be assessed in relation to the four stages listed below. The written report should be the main means of providing evidence of achievement across the four stages. The personal log is intended primarily to provide verification of the student s involvement but may also provide some supporting evidence of achievement, especially in respect of stages 1 to 3 below What the student needs to do Stage 1: Identification and description of the problem/need/opportunity and the generation of ideas on how to address it The student should be able to identify and produce a description of the problem/need/opportunity to be addressed. This must include: an individual description of the problem/need/opportunity with a reasoned justification of why the problem/need/opportunity is to be addressed the generation of ideas to address the problem/need/opportunity evidence of how the ideas were researched by the student including sources used. There should be a range of at least three different sources which are clearly referenced. The student is also expected to justify their choice of research methodology a critical comparison of at least three possible ways to approach the problem/need/opportunity a justification for the final choice of idea including: an opportunity cost analysis explaining why the other ideas were rejected a risk/reward assessment including SWOT and PEST analyses. Stage 2: Plan the enterprise project or activity Where a student has sole responsibility for carrying out the project or activity, the plan needs to address all aspects of it. Where a student is operating as a member of a group, the plan should relate only to his/her own role(s), which must be clearly described. The relationship between his/her own role(s) and those of others in the group must also be explained. 14

17 The student should be able to produce a plan for the strategy that includes an executive summary which contains: aims, visions and values of the enterprise activity a brief description of the activities including product and/or service overview appropriate achievement criteria. The plan The student should use their knowledge, skills and understanding of the planning process as detailed in section Stage 2 to construct a detailed plan. This needs to include the following aspects, where appropriate: human and physical resources required: an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of team members or self allocation and justification of roles and responsibilities justification of the use of resources, eg time, equipment, materials appropriate use of technology implementation strategy for all student roles to include: setting of clear milestones relating to the SMART targets setting of clear timescales allocation of resources both human and physical against milestones appropriate achievement criteria to measure the success of the strategy a marketing implementation strategy a financial plan legal, regulatory and ethical aspects. Stage 3: Implementation of the enterprise project or activity The student should implement the plan and produce a log/diary which includes: details of how the plan was implemented (either in relation to the overall project or activity (where the student has sole responsibility) or in relation to his/her individual role(s) within a group) milestones reached and timescales involved, with a clear comparison to the original plan the reasons and justification for altering or maintaining the original plan management of relevant legal, regulatory and ethical issues barriers encountered and an analysis of how these barriers were tackled. 15

18 Stage 4: Evaluation of the enterprise project or activity The student will produce an evaluation of the enterprise activity. This must relate to both the overall project and the student s own role. The evaluation needs to be a critical consideration of all the aspects listed below: reviewing activities undertaken reviewing final outcomes against achievement criteria reflecting on lessons learnt making reasoned suggestions for improvement assessing skills and attributes developed and acquired and how they might enhance the student s employability Presentation of work The student s work should be assembled in the logical order given in this specification, ie the description of a problem, a plan, the implementation and the evaluation. Each section should be clearly labelled. The Candidate Record Form, signed by the student and the teacher, must be attached to the front of the portfolio Evidence to support the award of marks When the assessments are complete, the marks awarded under each of the assessment criteria must be entered on the Candidate Record Form, with supporting information given in the spaces provided Assessment criteria for the enterprise project Assessment criteria: 40 marks total Component weighting: 40% The teacher will assess each portfolio according to the detailed assessment criteria given below. In applying these criteria, teachers should note that the same standards of assessment should apply at whatever stage of the course the work is produced. 1. Identification and description of the problem/need/opportunity to be 5 marks addressed 2. Plan to tackle problem/need/opportunity 15 marks 3. Implementation of the plan 5 marks 4. Evaluation 15 marks Assessors should view the log of activities personally undertaken and the student s individual report when applying assessment criteria. 16

19 1. Identification and description of the problem/need/opportunity to be addressed and generation of ideas on how to address it Marks Evidence 0 No work worthy of credit 1-2 Identification and simple description of a problem/need/opportunity to be addressed, with minimal justification for choice. An outline of ideas considered to tackle the problem/need/opportunity with minimal evidence of different types of research undertaken, sources used or justification of the methods used. Minimal justification for the idea selected, or other ideas rejected. 3-4 Identification and description of a problem/need/opportunity to be addressed, with some reasoned justification for choice. A description of ideas considered to tackle the problem/need/opportunity with some evidence of different types of research undertaken, at least three sources used and justification of the methods used. Some justification for the idea selected, or other ideas rejected. 5 Identification and detailed description of problem/need/opportunity to be addressed, with well-reasoned justification for choice. Clear evidence of the generation of ideas to tackle the problem/need/opportunity and a critical comparison of these ideas. Clear evidence of different types of research undertaken, at least three sources used, with sound justification for all the methods used. 2. Plan the enterprise project or activity Marks Evidence No work worthy of credit. A minimal plan covering a small range of the relevant aspects* in basic detail: There will be only a very basic justification to support decisions made on the allocation of roles and/or resources. Timescales and/or milestones may have some omissions and/or lack clarity. A plan covering some of the relevant aspects* in basic detail: There will be a basic justification to support decisions made on the allocation of roles and/or resources. Timescales and/or milestones may lack some clarity. A plan covering at least four of the relevant aspects* in some detail: There will be justification in some detail to support decisions made on the allocation of roles and/or resources. Timescales and/or milestones will be clear. An executive summary which contains aims and visions of the activity, a description of the activity and appropriate achievement criteria. A detailed plan covering at least five of the relevant aspects* in good detail: There will be justification in good detail to support decisions made on the allocation of roles and/or resources. Timescales and milestones will be clear. 17

20 13-15 A well written executive summary, which contains aims and visions of the activity, a description of the activity and appropriate achievement criteria in good detail. A comprehensive, well written plan covering all relevant aspects* in very good detail: There will be justification in very good detail to support decisions made on the allocation of roles and/or resources. Timescales and/or milestones will be clear. (* The aspects referred to above are listed in section stage 2 page 15) 3. Implementation of the enterprise project or activity Marks Evidence No work worthy of credit. A basic description of how the strategy was implemented covering at least three of the following: milestones timescales legal/regulatory/ethical aspects barriers how the barriers were overcome. Minimal comparison to the original plan with little justification for altering or maintaining the original plan. A detailed description of how the plan was implemented covering at least four of the following: milestones timescales legal/regulatory/ethical aspects barriers how the barriers were overcome. A comparison to the original plan with reasoned justification in some detail for altering or maintaining the original plan. A comprehensive description of how the plan was implemented covering all of the following: milestones timescales legal/regulatory/ethical aspects barriers how the barriers were overcome. A detailed comparison to the original plan with detailed justification for altering or maintaining the original plan. 18

21 4. Evaluation of the enterprise project or activity Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance v2.0 Marks Evidence No work worthy of credit. A basic evaluation with minimal evidence of: a review of the activities undertaken a review of the final outcomes against achievement criteria lessons learnt during the process suggestions for improvement a review of skills, attitudes, understanding and/or qualities developed. An evaluation with limited evidence of: a review of the activities undertaken a review of the final outcomes against achievement criteria lessons learnt during the process suggestions for improvement a review of skills, attitudes, understanding and/or qualities developed. An evaluation with good evidence of: a review of the activities undertaken a review of the final outcomes against achievement criteria and the extent to which they met them lessons learnt during the process suggestions for improvement an assessment of skills, attitudes, understanding and/or qualities developed, including some description of how they may have enhanced their employability. A mainly detailed evaluation with good evidence of: a review of the activities undertaken a review of the final outcomes against achievement criteria and the extent to which they met them lessons learnt during the process suggestions for improvement an assessment of skills, attitudes, understanding and/or qualities developed, including some description of how they may have enhanced their employability. A comprehensive and detailed evaluation with very good evidence of: a review of the activities undertaken a review of the final outcomes against achievement criteria and the extent to which they met them lessons learnt during the process suggestions for improvement with a critical assessment of the opportunities for extending the activity in the future an assessment of skills, attitudes, understanding and/or qualities developed, including some description of how they may have enhanced their employability. 19

22 4 Scheme of Assessment 4.1 Aims Level 3 courses based on this specification should encourage students to: acquire the skills, knowledge and understanding that will prepare them for higher education and/or employment, both now and in the future, as confident individuals and members of society be innovative and creative, to take risks and manage them, to become financially capable and to develop an enterprising attitude. The context of the enterprise activity can be business orientated (eg manufacturing and marketing a product), social (interaction of social groups in the school/college or local community) or environmental develop key employability skills, such as the ability to problem solve, to communicate effectively and to work well in a team understand, analyse and evaluate personal finance, financial products and the role of finance as an integral part of an enterprise project or activity. 4.2 Assessment Objectives (AOs) All students are required to meet the following assessment objectives. AO1 Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the specified content. AO2 Students should be able to show a skilful application of their knowledge and critical understanding of problems and issues arising from both familiar and unfamiliar situations. AO3 Students should be able to analyse and evaluate, explain and interpret different information relating to the specified content Quality of Written Communication (QWC) The quality of written communication is assessed in all units where students are required to produce extended written material. Students will be assessed according to their ability to: ensure that text is legible and that spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate so that meaning is clear select and use a form and style of writing appropriate to purpose and to complex subject matter organise information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate. The assessment of QWC is included primarily in Assessment Objective 1 (AO1) in all units. 20

23 4.2.2 Weighting of Assessment Objectives for the Level 3 Certificate The table below shows the approximate weighting of each of the assessment objectives in the AS specification. Assessment Objective Overall weighting of AO (%) AO1 Knowledge and understanding 30 AO2 Application 40 AO3 Analysis, explanation and interpretation 30 Overall weighting National criteria This specification complies with the relevant sections of the General Conditions of Recognition. 4.4 Prior learning There are no prior learning requirements. We would recommend that students should have acquired basic skills and knowledge in English and Mathematics. However, any requirements set for entry to a course based on this specification are at your centre s discretion. 4.5 Synoptic assessment, stretch and challenge Synoptic assessment in this specification is assessed by drawing on topics from all of the subject content in the examination. 21

24 5 Administration 5.1 Availability of assessment units and certification Examinations and certification for this specification are available in the June series only. 5.2 Entries Please refer to the current version of Entry Procedures and Codes for up-to-date entry procedures. You should use the following entry code for certification. Level 3 certification Private students This specification is not available to private students. 5.4 Access arrangements and special consideration We have taken note of the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 in developing and administering this specification. We follow the guidelines in the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) document: Access Arrangements, Reasonable Adjustments and Special Consideration: General and Vocational Qualifications. This is published on the JCQ website ( or you can follow the link from our website ( Access Arrangements We can make arrangements so that students with disabilities (under the terms of the Equality Act) can access the assessment. These arrangements must be made before the examination. For example, we can produce a Braille paper for a student with a visual impairment. Special Consideration We can give special consideration to students who have had a temporary illness, injury or indisposition at the time of the examination. Where we do this, it is given after the examination. Applications for access arrangements and special consideration should be submitted to AQA by the Examinations Officer at the centre. 5.5 Language of examinations We will provide units for this specification in English only. 22

25 5.6 Qualification titles Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance v2.0 The qualification based on this specification is: AQA Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance. 5.7 Awarding grades and reporting results The Level 3 Certificate qualification will be graded on a five-point scale: A, B, C, D and E. Students who fail to reach the minimum standard for grade E will be recorded as U (unclassified) and will not receive a qualification certificate. 5.8 Re-sits and shelf-life of unit results Component results remain available to count towards certification, whether or not they have already been used, as long as the specification is still valid. Students may re-sit a component any number of times within the shelf-life of the specification. The best result for each component will count towards the final qualification. Students who wish to repeat a qualification may do so by re-taking one or more component. The appropriate subject award entry, as well as the component entry/entries, must be submitted in order to be awarded a new subject grade. Students will be graded on the basis of the work submitted for assessment. 23

26 6 Centre-Assessed Components 6.1 Guidance on Setting Centre-Assessed Units Portfolio advisers AQA-appointed portfolio advisers will be able to assist centres with any matters relating to portfolio units. Each centre is allocated a portfolio adviser as soon as AQA is informed that they are following the specification. Centres are, therefore, requested to ensure that they have completed an Intention to Enter form as soon as they start to offer this specification Guidance on applying the portfolio assessment criteria When assessing students work, teachers/assessors should consider the level of attainment in four broad areas: the level of independence and originality in portfolio preparation the depth and breadth of understanding of the content of the unit demonstrated the level of evaluation and analysis employed the level of skills, required in the unit, that have been demonstrated. In the Assessment Criteria for each unit, mark ranges are specified for each Assessment Objective (criterion). When assessing a student s portfolio of work teachers/assessors should, for each Assessment Objective, first identify the criterion description within which that work falls, then use their professional judgement to decide which mark within that range best describes the depth and quality of the work. This can be expressed as identifying the best-fit approach where the areas of strength in the work submitted by the student can be allowed to compensate for weaknesses in other areas. In addition, it must be appreciated that work that is judged to meet the criteria for the highest mark bands will be expected, where appropriate, to demonstrate a high level of Quality of Written Communication, including the use of appropriate terminology, as identified in the Assessment Objectives (Section 6). The student s total mark for the unit is determined by adding the marks for the different Assessment Objectives. Further guidance about the marking process will be provided through Teacher Standardising Meetings (Section 6 Standardising Meetings) Assessment of group work Group work is a useful way of obtaining information for some activities but it is important that individual students meet the assessment criteria requirements. Teachers/Assessors assessing the evidence will need to be convinced of its individual authenticity. Questioning can be used in order to clarify the validity, authenticity and sufficiency of evidence and, under these circumstances, the teacher/assessor may wish to include a dated witness statement detailing this evidence. It is expected that the use of such statements will be kept to a minimum so that they constitute a very minor part of the submitted evidence. 24

27 It is recognised that there can be instances where students are required to carry out tasks as part of a group and the group-working skills are an integral part of the assessment requirements. In such cases this general guidance on group work will be superseded by the specific requirements and instructions of the individual unit(s). 6.2 Supervision and authentication Supervision of students work Students work for assessment must be undertaken under conditions which allow the teacher to supervise the work and enable the work to be authenticated. If it is necessary for some assessed work to be done outside the centre, sufficient work must take place under direct supervision to allow the teacher to authenticate each student s whole work with confidence. The teacher should be sufficiently aware of the student s standard and level of work to appreciate if the coursework submitted is beyond the talents of the student Guidance by the teacher The work assessed must be solely that of the student concerned. Any assistance given to an individual student which is beyond that given to the group as a whole, but within the parameters laid down by the specification, must be recorded on the Candidate Record Form. The teacher/assessor should award a mark which represents the student s unaided achievement. The authentication statement should be signed and information given on the relevant form Unfair practice At the start of the course, the supervising teacher is responsible for informing students of the AQA Regulations concerning malpractice. Students must not take part in any unfair practice in the preparation of portfolio work to be submitted for assessment, and must understand that to present material copied directly from books or other sources, without acknowledgement, will be regarded as deliberate deception. Centres must report suspected malpractice to AQA. The penalties for malpractice are set out in the AQA Regulations Authentication of students work Both the student and the teacher are required to sign declarations on the Candidate Record Form, confirming that the work submitted for assessment is the student s own. The teacher declares that the work was conducted under the specified conditions and record details of any additional assistance. The completed CRF for each student must be attached to his/her work. All teachers who have assessed the work of any student entered for each component must sign the declaration of authentication. Failure to sign the authentication statement may delay the processing of the students results. If the teacher/assessor is unable to sign the authentication statement for a particular student, then the student s work cannot be accepted for assessment. 25

28 6.3 Standardisation Standardising meetings We will hold annual standardising meetings for teachers, usually in the autumn term, for the coursework units. At these meetings we will provide support in developing appropriate coursework tasks and using the marking criteria. If your centre is new to this specification, you must send a representative to one of the meetings. If you have told us you are a new centre, either by submitting an estimate of entry or by contacting the subject team, we will contact you to invite you to a meeting. We will also contact centres if: the moderation of coursework from the previous year has identified a serious misinterpretation of the coursework requirements inappropriate tasks have been set, or a significant adjustment has been made to a centre s marks. In these cases, centres will be expected to send a representative to one of the meetings. For all other centres, attendance is optional. If you are unable to attend and would like a copy of the materials used at the meeting, please contact the subject team at cee@aqa.org.uk Internal standardisation of marking Centres must standardise marking within the centre to make sure that all students at the centre have been marked to the same standard. One person must be responsible for internal standardisation. This person should sign the Centre Declaration Sheet to confirm that internal standardisation has taken place. Internal standardisation may involve: all teachers marking some trial pieces of work and identifying differences in marking standards discussing any differences in marking at a training meeting for all teachers involved in the assessment referring to reference and archive material such as previous work or examples from AQA s teacher standardising meetings; but other valid approaches are permissible. 26