Supporting students with their food preparation task
22 May 2023
Lisa Winnington, Subject Support Co-ordinator
In this blog I’ll discuss how teachers can help students who may need extra support for the food preparation task for GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition (J309).
Students have to complete this task in a set period of time – spending no more than 20 hours on the task – so we’re keen to make students have all the support they need, where it is appropriate.
Applying extra time
Candidates work at different rates on different activities, so we don’t provide guidance on how to allocate any approved extra time throughout the practical element of the food preparation task.
Where additional time has been granted, the allocation of time should be assessed by the teacher on an individual basis.
We have, however, indicated below the scenarios in which the allocation of additional time would be appropriate in the food preparation task as a whole:
| Area of disadvantage |
Planning |
Preparing |
Cooking |
Presentation |
| Reading |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Writing |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
| Cognitive/global processing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Physical |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Sensory |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Absence
It is a requirement that students complete all components to achieve GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition. However, if students have covered the content, but only been able to complete one or two of the components due to a physical or mental health issue, it would be possible to put in place exceptional special consideration absence for an NEA component they were unable to complete. This would rely on them completing a minimum of one of the three components in the specification.
If you have a student whose circumstances are such that completing even one component is very unlikely, please contact the special requirements team directly by emailing srteam@ocr.org.uk. We can discuss what options may be available to them.
Practical assistants
A practical assistant must not be allowed to carry out physical tasks or demonstrate physical abilities where these form part of the assessment objectives. Students must not be credited with marks for any skill which has been performed by the practical assistant if this would compromise the competence standard that is being tested.
The practical assistant must work at the instruction of the student. They are not allowed to give factual help to the student or indicate when the task is complete. They must not advise the candidate on which questions to do, when to move on to the next question, or the order in which questions should be answered.
If you believe it is appropriate for one of your candidates to request a practical assistant, you will need to make a formal application. See the practical assistant cover sheet from the JCQ.
Supervised rest breaks
You don’t need to submit an application via access arrangements online for supervised rest breaks. Instead, your SENCo must provide written evidence confirming the need for supervised breaks. This may need to be produced for a JCQ Centre Inspector on request.
There’s more information in section 5.1 of the JCQ Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments booklet.
Stay connected
If you have any questions about supporting students with the food preparation task, please get in touch with Lisa Winnington at ocr.food@ocr.org.uk or our Special Requirements team at srteam@ocr.org.uk.
You can also find more information regarding on the JCQ website.
About the author
Lisa is a Subject Support Co-ordinator and has worked for Cambridge University Press & Assessment in various roles since 2000, most recently in Compliance. Lisa is responsible for a range of subjects including law, citizenship and the Extended Project Qualification.