Level 2
Certificate in Essential Skills
Communication
Specification
For teaching and assessment from September 2009
CCEA Level 2 Certificate in Essential Skills – Communication Specification from September 2009
CCEA is Northern Ireland’s own awarding body. We offer a wide range of high quality academic and vocational qualifications, which are accredited by the Regulatory Authorities. We work with our centres to reward learning and specifically, through our Essential Skills qualifications we are committed to rewarding the achievements of adult learners.
Tutors, centres and learners should note that CCEA may use extracts from learners’ assessment materials on an anonymous basis in educational presentations, materials and products.
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CCEA Level 2 Certificate in Essential Skills – Communication Specification from September 2009
FOREWORD
This booklet contains CCEA’s Level 2 specification in Essential Skills – Communication for teaching from September 2009. The specification has been designed to meet the requirements of the following:
The Standards for Key Skills – Communication Level 2;
The National Standards for Adult Literacy at Level 2;
The Northern Ireland Essential Skills Adult Literacy Core Curriculum at Level 2;
Common criteria for the accreditation of external qualifications; specific criteria for
Essential Skills qualifications at Level 2.
Achievement at Level 2 can build on achievement at Level 1 and can be used to assist progression to recognised qualifications at higher levels within the framework.
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CCEA Level 2 Certificate in Essential Skills – Communication Specification from September 2009
SUMMARY OF THE SCHEME OF ASSESSMENT
Two equally weighted assessment components
100% external assessment of all three Communication criteria:
discussion; reading and obtaining information; writing documents.
Assessment Component 1:
Assessment Component 2:
Learner’s Portfolio (50%):
Desktop Task (50%):
Based on externally designed or
externally approved templates for structured action-based activities that are internally marked and standardised
and externally moderated;
100% coverage of the assessment
criteria for Communication at Level 2;
Normally one action–based activity will address all the appropriate evidence requirements;
An activity will take approximately
10-12 hours to complete;
A best fit (holistic) assessment scheme is used to judge performance;
In this component learners must meet all the requirements for the portfolio of evidence at Level 2 i.e. reading and obtaining information, discussion and writing documents.
Designed as a summative assessment instrument to confirm a learner’s performance in his/her portfolio work;
Externally set, internally marked and standardised and externally moderated;
Taken in the normal learning environment but under externally specified conditions at or near the end of the learning programme;
Can be taken only once but there are no restrictions upon the number of tasks a learner can take;
Each task is selected from a central bank, and is 90 minutes in duration;
The majority of the Key Skills Part B evidence requirements and the relevant
National Standards for reading and writing are addressed;
Each task has a Level 2 pass threshold set at
70% and an allowable Level 1 pass threshold set at 50% of the total number of marks available for reading. A best fit (holistic) assessment scheme is used to judge performance in writing;
Learners must demonstrate achievement at
Level 2 or Level 1 in both reading and writing to achieve an overall Level 2 or
Level 1 outcome for this component;
