By Criterion (Cohort Review)
Step back from individual scripts and view your whole cohort grouped by criterion: spot systemic misunderstandings across Pass, Merit, and Distinction tasks before planning reinforcement lessons.
- Cohort-Wide Pattern Spotting: View all open flags grouped by specification code (P1 → D2) rather than by student to detect class-wide bottlenecks.
- Diagnose Systemic Misconceptions: Distinguish between isolated student issues (1-3 learners) and cohort-wide gaps (10+ learners stumbling on command verbs).
- Informs Lesson Planning & IV: Instantly target starter activities and standardisation discussions around the most heavily flagged criteria.
The cohort criterion perspective
When assessing a batch of 25 student assignments in By Script, it is easy to lose track of broader class-wide patterns. You might notice that Aarav struggled with external stakeholder analysis, and twenty minutes later notice that Riya did too—without realizing that 14 out of 22 students in the class stumbled on the exact same requirement.
The By Criterion lens reorganises your entire batch by specification requirement. Instead of sorting by student, it aggregates every open flag under its corresponding Pass, Merit, or Distinction criterion code.
The screen, in 15 seconds
By Criterion groups open issues into clean, collated criterion cards:
Spotting systemic misunderstandings
When analyzing BTEC submissions, evidence gaps generally fall into one of two distinct categories:
| Gap Type | Cohort Prevalence | Underlying Cause | Recommended Assessor Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated Student Gap | 1 – 3 students per class | Missed lessons, incomplete independent research, or misreading assignment guidelines. | Provide targeted formative feedback via individual Student Links. |
| Systemic Cohort Gap | 8 – 18 students per class | Unclear assignment brief instructions, misunderstanding of the required command verb (e.g. describing rather than analysing), or insufficient prior teaching on a complex model. | Schedule a 20-minute whole-class booster workshop before final summative grading. |
Pass, Merit & Distinction bottlenecks
BTEC criteria are hierarchical: learners cannot achieve a Merit without securing all Pass criteria, and cannot achieve a Distinction without securing all Merit criteria.
Cohort review routine: 4 simple steps
- Open By Criterion after initial scan: Once student assignment files are uploaded in By Script, switch to the By Criterion lens.
- Scan the flag counters: Look down the list of criteria cards. Identify which criteria have the highest counts (e.g., 12 students need attention).
- Read sample excerpts: Glance through the quoted student passages under the bottleneck card. You will quickly see whether the flaw is conceptual or a simple structural omission.
- Drill into individual scripts: Click any student name in the card to jump immediately to their full submission in By Script or open their Student Peek drawer.
From flags to classroom intervention
The ultimate value of By Criterion is informing your pedagogy. When you discover that 10 students missed Merit criterion M1 because they described organizational charts without explaining how communication flows affect decision-making speed, you can deliver an immediate, highly targeted classroom exercise.
Worked cohort analysis: Unit 1 M1 & D1
Criterion: M1 (Analyse how organizational structure and purpose support business goals).
Observation: 14 out of 20 learners in Group 10A wrote extensive paragraphs describing the Chief Executive, Marketing Director, and Sales teams of their chosen businesses, but failed to connect these roles to specific corporate objectives (e.g. market expansion or cost reduction).
Assessor Resolution: The BTEC Coordinator pauses individual feedback typing, delivers a 15-minute exemplar workshop on linking hierarchical spans of control to cost management, and authorizes learners to refine their analysis prior to final summative sign-off.