The Cambridge Checkpoint curriculum was designed to cover core content necessary for study towards IGCSE, O Level and IB Middle Years programmes.
Cambridge Checkpoint scores are also useful predictors of future IGCSE grades in the same subject. Research has shown, not surprisingly, that candidates with a given Cambridge Checkpoint score can go on to achieve a range of IGCSE results, depending on how well they prepared. The following table shows the IGCSE grades at the centre of the range.
Tests are set by experienced CIE examiners who are also involved in marking them. The tests are revised and vetted by an independent group of experienced CIE examiners.
All test items are pre-tested prior to being put into a live Cambridge Checkpoint test to ensure that they are appropriate in terms of difficulty and discrimination for Cambridge Checkpoint students.
Statistical techniques are used to ensure that tests in a subject can be compared year on year, as can topics/skills within subjects. The results of the tests – for the whole subject and for each topic/skill – are reported on a standardised scale of Cambridge Checkpoint scores. Cambridge Checkpoint scores range from 0.0 (a low level of achievement) to 6.0 (a high level of achievement). The average score for Cambridge Checkpoint students is about 3.0–4.0.
Two papers are set for each subject in order to divide up the time a candidate needs to be in a formal examination situation. In the case of Science the two papers are equal in terms of demand on students. In English, papers are staged, with paper 1 containing lower level questions. In Mathematics papers are divided into calculator and non-calculator.
The test was devised for first-language English speakers and the Cambridge Checkpoint scales calibrated against the performance of first-language English speakers (entry forms distinguish FLE and SLE speakers). The test can be accessed by second-language English speakers but they will be awarded scores rated against FLE scales.
Cambridge Checkpoint is not a certificated service although students receive a statement of achievement. Feedback comes in four forms: reports on each candidate, on each teaching group, on the Centre, and (at the end of the session) on the entire cohort. More feedback information can be seen on the overview page.
The Cambridge Checkpoint tests can be taken independently of the Lower Secondary Programme or alternatively can be used as a conclusion to the programme. All the learning objectives tested through Checkpoint are covered by the Lower Secondary Programme curriculum framework and so Checkpoint provides a suitable standardised test for use at the end of stage 9.
There are two Cambridge Checkpoint sessions a year. Each session lasts for three weeks and the approximate timings of the sessions are:
May session – the end of April and the beginning of May
October session – the end of October and the beginning of November
The exact dates of the sessions may vary slightly from year to year. They are published each year in the Administration Guide for Centres.
Cambridge Checkpoint is a window exam so Centres can organise their own timetable within the three-week period that is available. However, it should be stressed that, despite this flexibility, Cambridge Checkpoint is still a Cambridge test and should be conducted under examination conditions.
If you are an existing CIE Centre, registration for Cambridge Checkpoint is very straightforward. All you have to do is contact Cambridge International Examinations in writing, give your Centre details and explain that you are interested in taking Cambridge Checkpoint. If your Centre has already been approved for IGCSE, approval will be given automatically.
If you are not an existing CIE Centre you will need to contact Cambridge International Examinations in the first instance. Queries can either be sent to Customer Services, Cambridge International Examinations, 1 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB1 2EU, faxed to Cambridge International Examinations on +44 1223 553558, emailed to us at international@ucles.org.uk, or you can telephone our Customer Services Department on +44 1223 553553. We will send you a Centre Registration form, which will need to be completed and returned to the above address. If your school satisfies our criteria you will become an approved Centre for Cambridge Checkpoint, you will be allocated a Centre number to be used in all correspondence and you will automatically be sent entry documentation.
Entry forms will be provided by Cambridge International Examinations three months before the test window. You should note that Cambridge Checkpoint uses a different entry form from other Cambridge examinations. Instructions for the completion of the form will also be provided, as will an administrative timetable. Entries will be required one month in advance of tests so that relevant documentation can be produced.
Once your entry has been processed you will receive Statements of Entry detailing the overall school entry and individual candidate entry details. This provides an opportunity to correct any errors that may exist in your entry. Nearer the test window you will be sent question papers, which will need to be stored in a secure environment, attendance registers and script envelopes with return labels.
Scripts need to be returned to Cambridge International Examinations. Labels will be provided in order to address packets of scripts. The scripts will be marked at Cambridge and feedback data returned to Centres within four weeks of receipt.
At present all enquiries, apart from those specified above, should be addressed to Customer Services at Cambridge International Examinations in the first instance.