This article was first published on the ECCTIS Blog
The Independent Examinations Board in South Africa has recently added the Advanced Programme: English to their suite of qualifications. The IEB conducted a pilot study of the AP: English in 2011, with the national roll-out being launched in 2012. The AP: English is a new qualification offered by the IEB in addition to the National Senior Certificate, intended to provide the opportunity for students to study English in further depth and increase the number of students following programmes including English at tertiary level. It followed the launch of the then newly developed National Senior Certificate and AP: Mathematics in 2010.
Following the benchmarking study undertaken in 2010, which examined the NSC and AP: Mathematics, this study sought to benchmark the AP: English against UK qualifications. It confirmed that the AP: English can be considered comparable to GCE Advanced level standard.
Exemplar GCE A level programmes were used to assist with the benchmarking study. The majority of the core components of the GCE A level programmes were also covered by the AP: English, although some differences were observed in the entry requirements and the content of the programmes. However, these differences were deemed to be due to cultural differences between the two systems rather than an indication of disparities in academic level. There were clear links between assessment standards and objectives, as well as the depth and breadth of the programmes in providing the skills required for tertiary study. This resulted in the following comparable level:
| Independent Examinations Board Programme | Comparability |
| Advanced Programme English | Is considered comparable to GCE A level standard |
Further information on the IEB AP: English can be found on the IEB website. For information on the project work undertaken, please contact mailto:projects@naric.org.uk.
