Marking NEA units: Cambridge National in Health and Social Care/Child Development

Sarah Ash and Sarah Millington, Health and Social Care and Child Development Subject Advisors

As we have received queries from teachers about assessing and marking the non-examined assessment (NEA) for the Cambridge Nationals for both Health and Social Care and Child Development, we thought it would be helpful to provide a summary of the process and the support available to help you make sure that you are marking to the correct standard.

Guide to applying the mark scheme

There are several resources that will help you have confidence in your application of the mark scheme and key to this is applying a ‘best fit’ approach to marking. 

In some health and social care criteria, numbers are given of how many ‘things’ we are expecting to see, e.g. number of factors. Students should always be working to complete the criteria fully. In your discussions with students to prepare them for delivery (section 6.1 of the specification), you are obliged to make students understand what they need to do to get the highest marks possible by talking them through the assignment and the criteria (section 6.2 of the specification). 

When giving feedback on progress you can identify what task and part of the task can be improved. If necessary you can use an anonymised piece of work from another student for another unit as a model answer (section 6.3 of the specification). 

You should always mark positively any evidence that you see and always follow the best fit approach (see section 6.4.1 of the specification) when deciding the extent to which the statements within the band have been achieved. It could be that an answer convincingly meets nearly all requirements, or it might meet many of the requirements, and you decide where it most appropriately fits. You should only award zero if work does not meet any mark band 1 (MB1) criteria. After following the best fit approach if you see no evidence towards MB1 criteria you should therefore award zero.

Support available

• We have free subject-specific on-line marking courses available on our secure teacher-specific website, Teach Cambridge (sign-in required) These courses consist of a series of tests designed to make sure that you understand how marks could be allocated to a piece of work. 
• Candidate style work is available on Teach Cambridge for each unit in these qualifications. These will help you to understand the application of the marking criteria. 
• The moderator’s report gives additional guidance on addressing tasks and misconceptions. 
• You can book onto upcoming professional development events and review materials from past events on the professional development areas of our website and on Teach Cambridge.

Assessment and submission opportunities

Candidate work must be assessed and submitted for moderation in the same year that an assignment is live. There are two opportunities to submit in 2024: January 10 and May 15. If you feel that candidates would benefit from a resubmission after the results are published from the summer series, they can re-enter using the new live assignment which will be published on June 1.

Administrative points to remember

General information on NEA administration is available on our website. 

Please always check that the following points to ensure you are ready for moderation:

• Candidates have completed their assignments to the best of their ability. 
• Assessors complete summative marking. 
• The unit recording sheet for each student is fully and accurately completed, giving reasoning for the marks awarded. 
• Internal standardisation takes place (see section 6.4.3 of the specification) and marks internally agreed. 
• Check that all documentation is complete and that you have candidates’ work. 
• Submit marks by the deadline dates onto Interchange. 
• Upload requested sample to Submit for Assessment or send by post to your moderator within three days of the request for the sample.

Additional resources

The following resources offer general help with understanding and following the process involved with the Cambridge Nationals qualifications and will help you and your students: 

Share the Student guide to the NEA with your students and display the accompanying poster in your classroom to show at a glance how to reference and avoid plagiarism 

Watch the video on how to complete the unit recording sheet that is available on Teach Cambridge.

Stay connected

If you have any questions you can read our FAQs, email us at support@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or tweet us @OCR_Health. You can also sign up to subject updates and receive information about resources and support. You can also engage with us and other teachers on the Community page

About the author

Sarah Ash and Sarah Millington both offer advice and support for Cambridge Nationals in Child Development and Health and Social Care, along with support and advice for Cambridge Technicals Level 2 and 3 in Health and Social Care. Both have been involved with the redevelopment of the Cambridge Advanced National (AAQ) in Health and Social Care.