Aggregation and Awarding Methods for National Curriculum Assessments in England and Wales: a comparison of approaches proposed for Key Stages 3 and 4

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Abstract
Most educational assessment involves aggregating a large number of observations to form a smaller number of indicators (for example, by adding up the marks from a number of questions). The term awarding refers to any subsequent process for converting aggregated raw scores onto a scale which facilitates general interpretations. This paper explores some of the theoretical and practical issues involved in aggregation and awarding by considering the relative merits of two methods: the method used at the end of National Curriculum Key Stage 3 in 1993 and a method recently proposed for assessment at the end of Key Stage 4. It is concluded that aggregation and awarding procedures like those used to date at Key Stage 3 are unlikely to produce results which are as fit for the common purposes of assessment as more conventional procedures.
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