Topic 6

A ‘reasonable degree of confidence’ does not mean absolute certainty. However, it does mean that the centre has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the work is authentic. Ideally, all of the work in the portfolio should have been done under the direct supervision of a teacher, at school. Under these conditions the teacher can be reasonably confident that candidates have not had inappropriate access to the internet, to open books, or to the assistance of families or friends while doing the work.

However, we understand that direct supervision by teachers may not be possible in all circumstances, including where schools have been closed for prolonged periods, or where the candidate is a private candidate. It is therefore acceptable for some or all of the work in a portfolio to have been done at home, as long as you are confident that sufficient measures have been put in place to ensure the security and authenticity of the work.

We recommend a combination of the following measures, depending on local circumstances and the availability of different options:

• Inform candidates well in advance whenever any work they are to complete without the direct supervision of a teacher is intended to be included in their portfolio. This will help them to ensure that appropriate conditions can be arranged.
  
  
• Discuss and agree with candidates the most appropriate ways to ensure the security and authenticity of their work, given their personal circumstances and the availability to them of different measures.
  
  
• Arrange for the candidate to nominate in advance an appropriate responsible adult who can provide written confirmation that the work is the candidate’s own and that no assistance has been given.
  
  
• Arrange a time during which you can supervise the completion of the work remotely (e.g. using videoconferencing software through laptop cameras).
  
  
• Consider whether the work done at home is of a realistically consistent standard with other work that the candidate has done under direct supervision.
  
  
• Check the work for possible plagiarism. If you discover plagiarism in a candidate’s work during its production, you should resolve this internally. If you discover plagiarism when you come to submit work to us, you must not submit it. For help on preventing and identifying plagiarism, see www.cambridgeinternational.org/teachingandassessment