Practical endorsement: our principal monitors share their insight

Andri Achilleos, A Level Biology Subject Advisor

Our science practical endorsement monitors have now finished their first year of monitoring visits for Cycle 5 across biology, chemistry and physics. For geology we have finished with all the monitoring visits for Cycle 4. 

Science teachers will be aware that the purpose of the monitoring visit is to make sure that centres are implementing the requirements of the practical endorsement appropriately and applying the assessment criteria (CPAC) correctly. All monitors are grateful to our centres for their collaborative efforts during the monitoring visits. Overall, our monitors have observed excellent use of practical opportunities by centres, with some going above and beyond to provide a diverse range of practical experiences for their candidates. 

In this blog, our principal monitors address common issues identified in centres, offer support and provide answers to frequently asked questions.

Why is important to carry out internal standardisation for practical endorsement?

Our principal monitors commented that sometimes valuable insights from a subject have not been shared with other teachers in the department, leading to missed opportunities for improvement. 

To maintain the standard of practical endorsement, it is a requirement for centres to engage in internal standardisation. Internal standardisation of NEA (non-examined assessment) is compulsory and this is clearly highlighted in the JCQ guidance for conducting non-examination assessments. 

This should involve sharing the monitoring reports with teachers within the same subject but also across all the different science subjects offered in the centre, even if they are monitored by different exam boards. This will allow centres to identify areas for improvement or address any shortcomings collectively.

How to use OCR suggested PAGs

The OCR PAGs are suggested activities that centres can use. These PAGs are recommended activities for the practical endorsement. Centres have the flexibility to adapt these practical activities, modify them or use any other third-party practical activities. The key requirement is that any chosen practical activity must be mapped to the CPAC, 1.2.1 Practical skills and 1.2.2 apparatus and techniques. 

Remember that any practical experience provided to the students can contribute to the evidence for the assessment of practical endorsement.

What professional development support is available for practical endorsement?

Principal Monitors run free webinars on practical endorsement every year, which you can access from Teach Cambridge, under ‘Training’. Past training events can also be accessed from the past training events section. 

These sessions provide valuable insight from principal monitors. Participants gain a deeper understanding of what to expect during a monitoring visit. The webinars also discuss common misconceptions and share best practices on assessing practical endorsement. Centres are encouraged to attend these webinars.

When will my centre get a monitoring visit?

Centres offering A Level science practical endorsement should be aware that the monitoring process operates on a two-year cycle. This does not necessarily mean that they will be monitored every two years consistently. The monitoring visits may occur in different years within the cycle. For example, a centre might have a monitoring visit in year 2 of one cycle and then in year 1 of the next cycle, without any gap in between. 

It’s essential for centres to understand this cyclical approach to monitoring and for this reason we encourage centres to read our blog on how the practical endorsement cycles run. 

Our principal monitors also shared some subject-specific insight.

Chemistry 

From their visits to centres our principal monitor for chemistry commented that sometimes centres do not offer enough opportunities for candidates to demonstrate specific practical skills. They emphasised the importance of providing consistent opportunities for candidates to demonstrate skills, especially in practical skills 1.2.1 (g),1.2.1 (h) and 1.2.1 (i). 

Written evidence for skill 1.2.1 (a) can sometimes be challenging to evidence, especially in PAGs 9,10 and 11. However, centres can take specific steps to address this issue in their students’ lab books. Centres should highlight the importance of maintaining detailed records of this skill in the student’s lab book. Encourage students to document their practical work thoroughly by including relevant information related to skills 1.2.1 (a) in their records. These records serve as evidence and can be referenced during monitoring visits. 

Physics

Our principal monitor for physics commented that the practical skills 1.2.1 (e) and (f) are frequently not assessed routinely and consistently. Our updated practical skills handbook provides additional guidance to support centres with assessing these specific skills. Centres are encouraged to include these skills in their practical work and offer opportunities to candidates to be assessed on these skills. 

We are aware that physics specialist teachers continue to be in short supply and there are several non-specialists teaching both GCSE and A Level Physics. We have a range of resources to help you with the teaching of the practical endorsement and our subject advisors would be happy to support you (science@ocr.org.uk). 

Biology 

Our principal monitor for biology has seen some excellent recording of practical skill 1.2.2 (e). Centres are to be reminded that drawing, graphs and tables checklist can be provided to the students during the practical activity. These can be downloaded from the Drawing skills handbook. 

Encouraging the use of risk assessments is good practice as it helps learners to focus on identifying hazards and risks and provides good evidence for 1.2.1 (b). Please note that this is not a requirement for demonstrating competency for 1.2.1 (b). 

It has also been noted that the column headings in tables are not always as informative as they should be. The updated Practical skills handbook provides extra guidance to support centres with assessing the practical skill 1.2.1 (f). 

Geology 

It was pleasing to see a lot of centres organising field trips this year. Our principal monitor for Geology commented that there is a lot of support and ideas that are available to help support the running of field trips. Residential trips are not compulsory and local fieldwork can also be valuable and more affordable for the majority of centres. 

It has been noted that assessment of the higher order skills such as practical skills 1.2.1 (a), (g), (h) and (i) are taught later in the course. Our monitors encourage centres to assess these skills more often and offer candidates several opportunities to show competency via different activities.

Stay connected

Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you have any questions, you can email us at science@ocr.org.uk, call on 01223 553998 or message us on X (formerly Twitter) @OCR_Science. You can also sign up to subject updates to receive information about resources and support.

About the author

Andri Achilleos was a teacher for ten years before joining OCR in January 2019 as the subject advisor for A Level Biology. She studied Biology at University of Bristol and completed an MA in Science Education at University of York. She has taught in Birmingham as Teacher in charge of Biology, as well as an international school in Europe. During her teaching career she has taken on various roles within the department and has also been an examiner for different exam boards.