Supporting the Curriculum and Assessment in 2021/22 — Key Stage 4 & Post-16
Key Stage 4 & Post-16 Resources
The following information and resources for students, teachers and parent/carers support learning at Key Stage 4 and post-16.
At Key Stage 4 and beyond, pupils will already be in a particular programme of study such as GCSE or GCE. For each subject at GCSE and GCE, CCEA provides a range of resources for both teaching and learning.
Please see our Summer 2021 section for up-to-date information about assessment arrangements for the Summer 2021 examination series.
Support for the Curriculum at Key Stage 4
We have produced learning resources to support the curriculum at Key Stage 4, many of which may be helpful for schools and parents/carers of pupils during 2021/22. These are available on our Learning Resources at Key Stage 4 page, which also features our Guidance on Teaching, Learning and Assessment at Key Stage 4 overview document.
You can also explore our Key Stage 4 Areas of Learning and Whole Curriculum Skills and Capabilities pages to find out more about the curriculum at this stage.
General Information for Students, Teachers and Parents/Carers
See our Key Stage 4 and Post-16 sections for more details on our Entry Level, Vocational, GCSE and GCE qualifications.
We also offer subject-specific support on our qualifications pages, which you can find by selecting Subjects on our homepage or by choosing the relevant level below:
Subject-Specific Support for GCSEs and GCEs
For each GCSE and GCE subject, we offer resources to inform teaching and learning, some of which are also available in Irish. You can find these resources in the Support section of our qualifications pages. Our subject specifications are available at the top of our qualifications pages.
The table below outlines the intended audience for and a short description of our qualifications resources that may best support learning during 2021/22.
| Resources | Intended Audience and Description |
|---|---|
| Fact Files and eGuides | Ideal for students and helpful to parents/carers Our student-friendly fact files and eguides provide essential information about course content and signpost students to key areas for consideration and further exploration. These resources help students to quickly understand learning outcomes and explain how they can approach specific topics within a unit. |
| Specifications | Students, parents/carers and teachers The specification is the key document that sets out what students should know, understand and be able to do. It provides detailed information on the qualification structure, content and assessment objectives. Some of our specifications are also available in Irish. |
| Specimen Assessment Materials | Students, parents/carers and teachers Our specimen assessment materials include sample exam papers and mark schemes that demonstrate markers’ expectations of students’ responses to GCSE or GCE tasks and questions. |
| Student Guides |
Students, parents/carers and teachers View GCSE student guides View GCE student guides |
| Planning Frameworks and Schemes of Work | Teachers We have designed our planning frameworks and schemes of work to support the teaching of our specifications. These resources provide information on approaches to teaching different units. They also highlight opportunities to help students develop key knowledge, understanding and skills. |
Curriculum Planning and Design
We have developed a range of support materials for school leaders to assist them with curriculum planning and design. These materials provide guidance, information and examples of how a broad and balanced curriculum can be achieved.
