Assessing attainment in computing

Taking our inspiration from the work of the National Curriculum expert panel in relation to assessment, that "All assessment and other processes should bring people back to the content of the curriculum" ([Oates et al, 2011 - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175439/NCR-Expert_Panel_Report.pdf .

We've put together a framework for assessing attainment in computing that's derived directly from the national curriculum. We've broken the bullet points down into individual statements, organised these into three columns for CS, IT and DL (foundations, applications and implications respectively), and then placed these into a possible order of increasing complexity, starting with the statements for KS1 and ending with those for KS3.

Attached files provide this as a PDF, as an editable Word document and as a filterable and editable Excel spreadsheet. There's a Google drive version online, Assessment framework. The text here is taken directly from the 2014 national curriculum programmes of study for computing, under the terms of the open government licence 2.0.  The organisation in this form is intended to support teachers in forming judgments of their pupils’ achievement of and progress towards the statutory attainment targets.

"By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study." ([DfE, 2013]) (Link)

The statements for KS1 and KS2 were included in this form in ‘Computing in the national curriculum: a guide for primary teachers’ available from Computing at School and Naace

The numbering given here is for convenience only; no correspondence with the attainment level descriptors for the 1999 and 2007 programmes of study in ICT should be inferred.

Level: Beginner

Duration: 9 years

Teaches: Covers assessment for all aspects of the national curriculum in computing at KS1-KS3