Oral and Continuous Assessment Skills
Where oral assessment is examined, this domain covers speaking, listening and presentation. You are assessed on clear communication, organisation, audience awareness and active participation in discussion, not on accent or performance alone.
Core rules
- Structure a presentation: hook, purpose, signposted main points, evidence, conclusion.
- Speak at a controlled pace, with audible volume and clear pronunciation of key terms.
- Maintain eye contact and use brief notes rather than reading a script.
- Listen actively: paraphrase a previous speaker, ask a clarifying question and respond to the point made.
- In group discussion, take turns, invite others and disagree politely with reasons.
- Use visual aids only if they clarify; do not let them replace your explanation.
Worked example
Presentation opening: 'Every minute, a rubbish truck of plastic enters the ocean. Today I will show how our school can cut single-use plastic in three practical steps.' Reasoning: the first sentence is a concrete hook; the second states the topic and previews the structure. The speaker has not read a script and has given the audience a reason to listen.
Traps that cost marks
- Reading notes word for word and losing eye contact.
- Dominating a discussion or interrupting others.
- Ignoring a counterpoint instead of responding to it.
- Speaking too quickly when nervous, making key terms unclear.
- Presenting with no clear opening or conclusion.