Revisions to music and dance GCSE, AS and A levels

Performance rules for GCSEs, AS and A levels in music and dance are being revised, Ofqual confirmed today (Tuesday 29th January).

The revisions are being made to address issues we identified with the way our rules for the performance assessment in these qualifications operated in practice, after they were first delivered in summer 2018. We received 370 responses to our consultation on the revisions and, having analysed these, we have decided to:

• revise our requirements in GCSE, AS and A level dance and music to allow exam boards to determine how to mark a student’s performance when that performance falls short of the minimum required length
• add a footnote to the conditions for GCSE and GCE music, to broaden the range of acceptable reference material beyond a traditional written score or lead sheet, where such a score is not available
• revise our requirements for how many dances students are required to perform in the GCSE dance performance assessment, in order to align with the Department for Education’s subject content

In line with views expressed in the consultation, these changes will come into effect immediately, meaning our new expectations will apply to this summer’s exams.

Our consultation ran for 4 weeks between 9 November and 9 December 2018. Our analysis of responses and reasons for our decisions are set out in the consultation outcome.