If you’re taking A levels in English language, English literature or history you’ll need to think about the written piece of non-examination assessment (NEA). It counts as 20% of your overall A level grade.

NEA needs to be marked to the standards of the awarding organisation and to be recognised as the work of the student. Exam centres making entries for subjects that include NEA are responsible for the marking and authentication (confirming that it is the work of the student) of your work.

In a conventional school setting this isn’t usually an issue, because the teacher will be familiar with each student and their work. For distance learners, however, it can present a challenge as it can be difficult and often costly to have someone supervise and mark your coursework independently.

A benefit of enrolling through NEC is that your tutor will get to know you and your work through the assignments you submit and they are able to both authenticate and mark your NEA. We’ve worked closely with awarding organisations to build rigorous processes to allow this to happen. As a registered exam centre we will then make your examination entry and you can then choose one of our fifteen partnership exam centres to sit your written exams at. We have excellent relationships with all of our centres which allows us to offer a seamless process from start to finish.

When do I need to do the NEA?

The NEA will need to feature in your learning plan and there are some dates you’ll need to stick to for each stage. The deadline for your final submission is 15th March and you’ll have some other dates to meet to prepare you. Don’t worry, you’ll get reminders along the way!

Will I get support?

Yes. Not only with planning and entering your coursework, but the ‘About Assessment’ section of your course is full of helpful information to get you underway. You’ll also have your personal tutor and the NEC support team, a combination that will give you the best possible chance of success.