Coursework Portfolio - Is it all there?

The penalties applied for incomplete portfolios can be very costly in terms of marks.

For example, a coursework portfolio for the Managing Money FSMQ at Foundation level should have 6 sections. If only 5 out of the 6 sections are completed the maximum mark in the first theme is 4 out of the 17 marks available. Also the marks which would have been awarded in the second and third themes are both scaled down to a factor of two-thirds. This can add up to a lot of lost marks. It is much better to include a poor or short attempt for a section than no attempt at all. As the overall standard of the portfolio is assessed on the best half of the work, this poor attempt at one section may be ignored in the assessment and the portfolio may still achieve a good grade on other more successful parts.

The scaling down increases for cases when more than one section is omitted. If only 4 of the 6 sections are completed the maximum mark in the first theme is 3 out of 17 and candidates will only be given half of the marks they would have achieved for the second and third themes. If only 3 of the 6 sections are completed the maximum marks are 2 out of 17 in the first theme and 4 out of 17 in each of the other themes.

Similar scaling down is applied to incomplete portfolios for the other FSMQs.

For detailed information about this consult the relevant FSMQ specification from AQA.

Helpful advice concerning the marking of portfolios can also be found in the Teachers' Guide from AQA.