Assessing ICT can be often be very difficult as there is no form of standardised summative assessment and it is the process that pupils go through to achieve their end product is often more important than the end product itself.  The attainment targets give an indication as to what pupils need to be able to demonstrate to achieve a certain level but pupils often move between levels in the different aspects of the programme of study and teachers must use their professional judgement to find the level that best describes a pupils ICT capability.

QCA suggest:

Any assessment of a formal nature is likely to take place towards the end of each unit; it provides an opportunity to review the child’s progress.  What each child is expected to learn is identified clearly within each unit as learning outcomes.  Suggestions are also made about the use of presentations and displays.  This will serve as a record of group progress, and the work presented could contribute towards a school portfolio. Where a child’s progress differs markedly from that of the rest of the class, teachers may wish to make a note of this and of the reasons for the difference.  This provides a straightforward method for passing on information about children for the next teacher, without overly detailed records or bureaucratic systems of record keeping.  The expectations set out at the end of each unit should assist in this process.

To support teachers with assessing ICT we have designed a range of proformas that match each of the teaching units from the QCA Scheme of Work for ICT.  It is for schools to decide which form of assessment fits in best there current systems of assessment, i.e. is assessment for tother subjects done by expectations or outcomes.