Changes to 2021 exams for AS and A-level Dance

Published: Monday 14 Sep 2020

We’ve been working hard to make the relevant changes to our qualifications following Ofqual’s decisions on summer 2021 exams, so here are the changes you need to know about.

AS (7236)  Dance

Component 1 – Performance

• Students will perform a solo dance that has been choreographed of between one and a half and three minutes.
• Students will perform a dance as either a group (up to three dancers) of between two and three minutes or as a solo of between one and a half and three minutes.
• We’ll be adapting the ‘performance within a duet or trio assessment grid’ on page 30 of the specification so that it can also be used to assess solo performances. We’ll publish the revised assessment grid on e-AQA.
• The time penalty will apply as normal to the new minimum time requirement.
• Component 1 will be examined by post. We’ll be in touch soon with details about how to submit work.

Component 1 – Choreography

• Students will choreograph a solo dance of between one and a half and three minutes.
• We'll only be able to accept evidence in the form of audio-visual recordings of complete performance (as we currently do).
• The choreography papers will be available on e-AQA as normal on 15 September.
• The time penalty will apply as normal to the new minimum time requirement.
• Component 1 will be examined by post. We’ll be in touch soon with details about how to submit work.

Component 2 – Critical Engagement

Section A of the written paper relates directly to the student’s work on the NEA component (Performance and Choreography). We'll therefore make sure that these questions reflect the changes to the NEA component appropriately, so that no student is disadvantaged by the changes.

A-Level Dance 7237

Component 1 - Performance

• Students will perform a solo dance of between one and a half and three minutes.
• Students will perform a dance either as a solo of between one and a half and four minutes or as a group (up to four dancers) of between two and four minutes.
• We’ll be adapting the ‘performance within a quartet assessment grid’ on page 34 of the specification so that it can also be used to assess solo or group performances (up to 4 dancers). The revised assessment grid will be published on e-AQA.
• The time penalty will apply as normal to the new minimum time requirement.
• Component 1 will be examined by post. We’ll be in touch soon with details about how to submit work.

Component 1 – Choreography

• Students will choreograph a dance for one to five dancers of between two and four minutes in duration.
• We’ll be adapting the ‘group choreography assessment grid’ on page 36 of the specification so that it can also be used to assess solo choreographies. We’ll publish the revised assessment grid on e-AQA.
• We'll only be able to accept evidence in the form of audio-visual recordings of complete performance (as we currently do).
• Students or someone else can perform the choreography.
• The choreography papers will be available on e-AQA as normal on 15 September.
• The time penalty will apply as normal to the new minimum time requirement.
• Component 1 will be examined by post. We’ll be in touch soon with details about how to submit work.

Component 2 – Critical Engagement

There are no planned changes to this component.

We know that you’ll want to know more about the changes for next summer. We’ll be publishing further guidance about the summer 2021 exams over the coming months.

See all updates