Performance assessment grid 1: Technical control – Technique

In this grid, marks are awarded for the technical control of the instrument, for
example, coordination between the hands, or of the bow/fingers; breath control;
diction, pedalling; registration; intonation; tone quality; use of filters and effects and
control of musical sources.
This will include making use of musical elements as appropriate to the requirements
of the instrument(s) and piece performed. For ensemble performances, this grid
assesses only the student’s individual control of their instrument.
For performances up to difficulty level 2 please see the wording in italics in the grid
below.

Level Mark Technique

0 No rewardable material
Level 1 1–2 ● The performance overall demonstrates poor technical
control, as heard in poor coordination, breath control, diction,
and/or pedalling.
● The demands of the music are beyond the current ability of
the performer.
● The handling of sonority is poor, as heard in a dull, thin,
coarse tone quality across the range and/or poor intonation
throughout and/or poor use of filters and effects.
If the difficulty of the music performed is pre-difficulty level 1 the
mark awarded in this grid cannot exceed this level.
Level 2 3–4 ● The performance demonstrates limited technical control, as
heard in limited coordination, breath control, diction, and/or
pedalling.
● There are a few places where the demands of the music are
beyond the current ability of the performer.
● The handling of sonority is limited, as heard in a dull, thin,
coarse tone quality in places and/or limited intonation in
places and/or limited use of filters and effects.
If the difficulty of the music performed is at difficulty level 1 the
mark awarded in this grid cannot exceed this level.
Level Mark Technique
Level 3 5–6 ● The performance demonstrates basic technical control, as
heard in basic coordination, breath control, diction, and/or
pedalling.
● There are one or two moments where the demands of the
piece are beyond the current ability of the performer.
● The handling of sonority is good, as heard in consistently
good tone quality except at the extremities of the pitch range
or at moments of technical difficulty and/or good intonation
and/or good use of filters and effects.
If the difficulty of the music performed is at difficulty level 2 the
mark awarded in this grid cannot exceed this level.
Level 4 7–8 ● The performance demonstrates convincing technical control,
as heard in convincing coordination, breath control, diction,
and/or pedalling.
● The demands of the music are within the ability of the
performer.
● The handling of sonority is convincing, as heard in very good
tone quality across the pitch range (satisfying, interesting and
even as the music demands), including, where appropriate,
very good and sensitive tonal contrast throughout and/or
very good intonation and/or very good use of filters and
effects.
Performance assessment grid 2: Expression and interpretation
In this grid, marks are awarded for communicating a musically convincing
performance through the use of musical elements as appropriate to the piece
performed. The text in italics is to be applied to ensemble performances.

Level Mark Expression and interpretation

0 No rewardable material
Level 1 1–2 ● Inappropriate or inconsistent tempo throughout.
● Little or no appropriate dynamic contrast, and little or no
attention given to phrasing and articulation.
● The performance communicates poorly.
● In ensemble performances there is little awareness of
balance.
Level 2 3–4 ● An unsuitable or inconsistent tempo in places.
● Limited use of dynamics, phrasing and articulation to shape
the performance.
● The performance struggles to communicate and may sound
mechanical.
● In ensemble performances there is occasional awareness of
balance.
Level 3 5–6 ● The use of tempo is usually appropriate and consistent
● Some use of dynamics, phrasing and articulation to shape
the performance, but several opportunities, notated or
otherwise, are missed
● The performance demonstrates some involvement with the
music.
● In ensemble performances there is a good awareness of
balance throughout
Level 4 7–8 ● The use of tempo is appropriate and consistent throughout.
● Appropriate use of dynamics, phrasing and articulation to
shape the performance.
● The performance communicates very well, with no more
than one or two less successful moments.
● In ensemble performances there is excellent awareness of
balance throughout.
Performance assessment grid 3: Technical control (accuracy) and
expression and interpretation (fluency)
In this grid, marks are awarded for the technical control (accuracy), and the
expression and interpretation (fluency) of the performance, as appropriate to the
chosen instrument(s) and piece, including making use of musical elements as
appropriate. The text in italics is to be applied to improvised and/or ensemble
performances as appropriate.

Level Mark Accuracy and fluency

0 No rewardable material.
Level 1 1–2 ● The performance has several noticeable/obtrusive errors in
pitch and/or rhythm that impact on its success overall.
● Coherence and fluency are frequently compromised by
breakdowns and/or omissions.
● Improvised performances demonstrate little accuracy when
performing the stimulus and little development of this
material. The improvisation will lack coherence and contrast.
● In ensemble performances there is evidence of difficulty in
reacting and adjusting to other parts.
Level 2 3–4 ● The performance has noticeable/obtrusive errors or
omissions in pitch and/or rhythm, that have little or no impact
on its success overall.
● There are moments where coherence is lost, with some
hesitation and/or omission, but the performance is still
reasonably fluent for the majority of piece.
● Improvised performances demonstrate some accuracy when
performing the stimulus, with limited development of the
stimulus. The improvisation sounds repetitive, predictable
and/or formulaic.
● In ensemble performances there is occasional difficulty in
reacting and adjusting to other parts.
Level Mark Accuracy and fluency
Level 3 5–6 ● The performance has no more than one or two noticeable/
obtrusive errors or omissions in pitch and/or rhythm, that
have minimal impact on its success overall.
● The performance is mostly coherent and fluent despite the
occasional hesitation and/or omission.
● Improvised performances demonstrate a mostly accurate
performance and show some development of the stimulus.
The improvisation attempts to create variety but may rely
heavily on repetition, and be predictable and/or formulaic in
places.
● In ensemble performances there is generally good reaction
and, where appropriate, adjustment to other parts.
Level 4 7–8 ● The performance is largely accurate with no more than one or
two minor errors in pitch and/or rhythm. These errors have
no impact on its success overall.
● The performance is coherent and fluent despite the
occasional slight hesitation and/or omission
● Improvised performances demonstrate an accurate
performance of the stimulus, and produce an interesting
realisation of the stimulus. The improvisation is coherent, well
balanced and effective throughout.
● In ensemble performances a consistently responsive reaction,
and where appropriate, adjustment to other parts is evident.
Difficulty levels grid
Depending on how difficult the piece of music performed is, the marks for its difficulty
should be applied using this grid. The difficulty level of selected pieces of music can be
found in the Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9–1) in Music Difficulty levels booklet,
on the Pearson website. These can be used as indicators of the demand of pieces of
music and should inform the teacher’s judgement in assessing how difficult the pieces
performed by the students are. This booklet shows how levels of difficulty can be
applied to all instruments for all performances in an accurate and consistent way.
For this GCSE Music qualification, pieces identified as level 4 are identified as
‘standard’; above this (level 5 and above) pieces are ‘more difficult’ and below this
(levels 1-3) they are ‘less difficult’. Students selecting pieces of music up to difficulty
level 2, should be advised that to do so will mean that they are only able to access
specific levels and marks in assessment grid 1 (Technique). Pieces at pre-difficulty
level 1 are restricted to level 1 of the assessment grid. Pieces at difficulty level 1 are
restricted to level 2 of the assessment grid and pieces at difficulty level 2 are restricted
to level 3 of the assessment grid. Pieces at difficulty level 3 and above can access the
complete grid.
Specific examples of difficulty levels for ensemble performances are not provided in
the booklet. In all cases the difficulty level for ensemble performances must be
decided by directly comparing the student’s part with the examples for solo
performance provided and looking for an equivalent level.
Where instruments other than those listed in the Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE
(9–1) in Music Difficulty levels booklet are presented (such as non-GME instruments,
e.g. sitar), its difficulty level should be assessed at a comparable level of demand with
GME instruments.
Where there is no tradition of graded examinations for the instrument presented, the
difficulty level should be assessed at a comparable demand. For example:
Beatboxing will be less difficult if it involves a simple rhythmic idea maintained with
basic drum-kit sounds at a steady beat. To achieve standard level it would need two or
more of the following:
● Fills with alternative sounds
● Syncopated rhythmic ideas
● Dynamic contrasts
● A fast tempo
● A piece with contrasting sections.
More difficult pieces will be fast, include syncopation, make use of effects such as
echo or reverb, and include a wide range of imaginative sounds, including mimicry of
standard instruments and scratching effects.
Rapping will be less difficult if it has a single simple rhythmic idea, a steady beat and
simple rhymes. To achieve standard level it would need two or more of the following:
● A sung hook
● Syncopated rhythms, including breaks
● Dynamic contrasts
● A fast tempo making greater demands of articulation
● A piece with contrasting sections.
More difficult pieces will always be fast, requiring control of articulation, and make use
of syncopation. They will always have a sung hook.
When performing a live solo line over a pre-recorded/sequenced backing track, the
level of difficulty is assessed on the live part performed only.
When assessing students’ performances, teachers must take the raw mark (the total
from the three performance assessment grids out of 24 marks) and decide which level
of difficulty the piece performed was. The number in the corresponding difficulty level
column will provide the total mark (out of 30) for the performance.
This approach should be used to obtain the marks for both students’ solo and
ensemble performances. These marks will be combined to produce a final total mark
out of 60 for this component.
If a student has chosen to perform more than one piece of music for either their solo
or ensemble performance, the teacher assessing must apply a difficulty level to the
whole performance based on an average, although taking into consideration the
relative length of pieces where these lengths are unbalanced.

Raw mark Less difficult Standard More difficult

1 1 1 2
2 2 3 3
3 3 4 5
4 4 5 6
5 5 6 8
6 6 8 9
7 7 9 11
8 8 10 12
9 9 11 14
10 10 13 15
 Raw mark Less difficult Standard More difficult

11 11 14 17
12 12 15 18
13 13 16 20
14 14 18 21
15 15 19 23
16 16 20 24
17 17 21 26
18 18 23 27
19 19 24 29
20 20 25 30
21 21 26 30
22 22 28 30
23 23 29 30
24 24 30 30

Security and backups

It is the centre’s responsibility to keep the work that students have submitted for
assessment secure.
Secure storage is defined as a securely-locked cabinet or cupboard. Where students
are producing work, secure storage is defined as a classroom studio or workshop that
is locked or supervised from the end of one session to the start of the next.
For materials stored electronically, centres are strongly advised to utilise firewall
protection and virus-checking software, and to employ an effective backup strategy,
so that an up-to-date archive of students’ evidence is maintained.

Further information
For up-to-date advice on teacher involvement and administration of non-examination
assessments, please refer to the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) document
Instructions for conducting non-examination assessments (new GCE and GCSE
specifications) available on the JCQ website: www.jcq.org.uk