Ecctis has worked with the International Examinations Board of South Africa (IEB) on multiple occasions to support the benchmarking of existing upper secondary qualifications, the development of new qualifications and the assessment of quality assurance procedures.

Ecctis has consequently supported the IEB to move from the provision of qualifications used on a national scale within South Africa, to those used and recognised internationally.

The National Senior Certificate (NSC) is prescribed by the Department of Basic Education as the exit qualification from senior secondary school and as an access route into higher education. The IEB is a government-approved provider of the NSC and accredited by Umalusi, the independent national body from quality assurance in South Africa.

In 2009, the IEB commissioned Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) to undertake a benchmarking study of their newly introduced NSC in the Republic of South Africa. Specifically, the benchmarking exercise was designed to consider how the NSC compared with the GCE A level as the senior secondary exit qualification in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The specific objectives of NSC benchmarking project were:

• To provide an analysis of the state-developed qualification construction and design features, including the rigour and robustness of the NSC
• To review the IEB testing and assessment mechanism at NSC level.

An initial component of Ecctis’ well-established methodological process for mapping international qualifications is desk-based research. In this case, a desk-based review of NSC materials was conducted to gather the key programme information required to evaluate and benchmark the following give subjects: English Home Language, Mathematics (including Mathematical Literacy and Advanced Mathematics), Physical Science, Geography and Life Sciences. The report also considered the provision of IEB Advanced Programme Mathematics along side tis analysis of Mathematics; an additional subject the IEB had developed to stretch highly competent and interested mathematics students.

Ecctis’ desk-based research also composed reviewing the organistic if the secondary educations system within South Africa, specifically:

• How the NSC had been established by the centralised National Education Board
• How the IEB had developed its own NSC examination papers and procedures in relations to the NSC curriculm.

Ecctis also conducted stakeholder engagement with a wide range of stakeholders including those from Umalusi, Higher Education South Africa, the Department of Basic Education and expert advisors at the IEB in order to hain contextual information and garner broader opinion of the NSC,

An initial interim report with an overview of relevant documentation from the Department of Basic Education and the IEB, as well as planned areas of consideration and discussion for the full report including:

• Overviews of the South African and UK education systems
• A qualitative judgement of the NSC as tested through the UEB, including suitability for examining senior secondary school levels
• Comparability judgement of the NSC programmes to UK qualification
• A series of targeted and actionable recommendations for IEB stakeholders.

The project research facilitated the success of the NSC as a national qualification and consolidated its status within South Africa.

Ecctis made a recommendation to the IEB regarding the development of an advanced paper in English Home Language, which would likely result in closer alignment of the subject with the GCE A Level. The IEB went on to develop the Advanced Programme: English which Ecctis benchmarked in 2012.

Piloted in 2011, and fully launched in2012, the Advanced Programme: English (AP: English) was designed as an extension programme to the NSC, providing students with the opportunity to study English in greater depth and preparing them for tertiary study. [1]

In 2012, Ecctis were commissioned to conduct a further benchmarking analysis of the IEB AP: English as a complementary analysis to the 2010 NSC Benchmarking study.

The principal objective of the study was to determine the comparability of this recently introduced programme in the context of a recognised standard of secondary school education, to facilitate greater understanding and recognition of the programme.

[1] Advanced Programmes are now referred to by the IEB as IEB further Studios Counters.

The research activities conducted as part of the study were solely desk – based. The following stages were followed:

• An initial qualitative review of the AP: English programme, enabling consideration of the qualification’s core components
• A review of similar components in the Edexcel GCE A Level English Literature and English Language and Literature courses as the selected comparators
• Application of Ecctis’ established benchmarking methodology to identify key similarities and differences between the individual core components of the selected qualifications.

The final report issued to the IEB contained the comparability judgement regarding the alignment of AP: English with the GCE A Level, as well as a series of recommendations for terminology use in selected IEB documentation.

The International Secondary Certificate (ISC) was developed out of the IEB’s provision of the NSC, which would no longer take place internationally after 2021. Like the NSC, the ISC is designed to provide an international upper-secondary qualification which may also be used to prepare students for entry to higher education.

In 2021, Ecctis was commissioned again by the IEB to undertake an international benchmarking exercise of their new qualification, offering bespoke support to facilitate the NSC-ISC transition.

The principal objective of the ISC benchmarking exercise was to as certain the international comparability of the qualification in context of three selected education systems; Australia(New South Wales), UK and Kenya. The project research sought to provide an international perspective and to support understanding and stakeholder recognition of the ISC award in each individual context.

Ecctis deployed its established qualification benchmarking methodology, also integrating some bespoke additions and modifications to the standard methodology:

• A programme level review of the ISC and the comparator qualifications
• In Depth compariative subkect analyses for a series of subjects seclected by the IEB; English, Mathematics, French, Geography, Biology, and Physical Sciences (Physices and Chemistry)
• Analysis of still development and skill assessment opportunities in each curriculum
• Analysis of Research methodology component of the ISC’s Competences for Lifelong Learning.

Ecctis issued a final report to the IEB, which included summaries of the aforementioned information, in addition to:

• Three comparability stantemtns comparing the ISC to Australia, Keya and the UK
• Key finding, incliding top-level cinparabilty
• A series of recommendations for programme develoopemt
• A review of quality assurance processes.

• Deeper stakeholder understanding of comparability between the ISC and the selected international programmes
• Support for the identification of any subjects-level aspects of the ISC which significantly differ from appropriate comparisons curricula internationally
• A follow-up quality assurance review conducted by Ecctis in 2023, following a full year of curriculum implementation and assessment (as suggested by this study).

In 2023, Ecctis was commissioned to conduct a detailed review of ISC quality assurance procedures in practice, following the first full assessment cycle. By conducting this review, Ecctis continued to support the IEB on their journey through their transition from NSC to ISC delivery.

Ecctis conducted a series of desk-based research activities, including a detailed review of the quality assurance handbook, assessment samples, marking samples, and marking guidelines; for continuity these materials pertained to the same ISC subjects analysed in the 2021 benchmarking study. This study also comprised of stakeholder engagement activities. Exploratory meetings with employees of the IEB and from Stellenbosch University’s Unit for International Credentialling (SU-UIC), the external quality assurance body for the ISC, allowed for the triangulation and enhancement of the desk-based findings.

The final conclusions from both the initial quality assurance analysis contained in Ecctis’ 2021 benchmarking study and this 2023 review were synthesised into a final report featuring three main sections:

• An assessment and marking review
• A review of quality assurance structures and procedures
• Overarching conclusionary views of the ISC’s quality assurance, with future areas of transition and anticipated development.

Suggestions made by Ecctis as part of the project research:

• Assist the IEB and SU-UIC to sustain the quality assurance standards evidenced thus far
• Support the IEB in maintaining consistently high standards in their transition from NSC to ISC delivery
• Support the IEB in ensuring that their students are equipped with the necessary supporting evidence to access key HE destinations or other desired destinations.

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