Diploma in Digital Applications

Diploma in Digital Applications
AcronymDiDA
TypeTechnical education
AdministratorEdexcel
Year started2004 (pilot)[1]
2005
Year terminated2020
Duration2 years
OfferedAnnually
Restrictions on attemptsFour moderation windows
RegionsEngland
Wales
Northern Ireland
Isle of Man
LanguagesEnglish language
Annual number of test takers200,000 students (2007)
WebsiteEdexcel: DiDA

In England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man,[2] the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) was an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14–16). DiDA was introduced in 2005 (after a pilot starting in 2004) as a creation of the Edexcel examination board. DiDA was notable for its time in that it consisted entirely of coursework, completed on-computer; all work relating to the DiDA course was created, stored, assessed and moderated digitally.[3] In the late 2000s it was generally taught as a replacement for GCSE ICT, and the GNVQ which had been withdrawn in 2007.[4] DiDA faced controversy in its lifetime, particularly after the Wolf report found that it was primarily being taught by schools because it was the equivalent of studying four GCSEs at once, which had a major impact on league table scores.[5][6][7] From 2012 a revised DiDA and CiDA were taught by a smaller number of centres, with the original qualification removed from league table consideration in 2014. The revised version was ultimately discontinued in 2020.[8] At the scheme's launch, 200,000 students were enrolled on the qualification;[9] this had declined to 6,000 on the revised version in 2016 and to 1,400 students by the time of the final report in 2020.[10][11]

  1. ^ "Top head says keep science exam". March 8, 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  2. ^ https://www.gov.im/media/1356615/percentages-of-non-ebacc-subjects-20122016.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ https://democratic.bridgend.gov.uk/Data/Cabinet/201307231430/Agenda/$109358.doc.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ "Qualifications glossary". August 13, 2008 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-vote-office/5-KeyStage4Qualifications.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  8. ^ https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Digital-Applications/CiDA/2012/Specification-and-sample-assessments/9781446938645_CIDA_L2_ISSUE_4.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  9. ^ "Computing quandary | Tes Magazine". www.tes.com.
  10. ^ https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Grade-statistics/DiDA/January-2016-DIDA.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  11. ^ https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Grade-statistics/DiDA/grade-statistics-june-2020-final-dida.PDF [bare URL PDF]