Diploma in Digital Applications

The course consists of five units. Using ICT is a compulsory unit. The other four units, Multimedia, Graphics, ICT in Enterprise and Computer Games Authoring were optional. Students who completed the Using ICT module alone received an Award in Digital Applications (AiDA), which was equivalent to one GCSE or Standard Grade. Those who completed the Using ICT unit and any one of the other four units received a Certificate in Digital Applications (CiDA), which was equivalent to two GCSEs or Standard Grades. Students who completed four modules in total received the full Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA), which was equivalent to four GCSEs or Standard Grades. Edexcel also made it possible for candidates to achieve a Certificate in Digital Applications Plus (CiDA+), equivalent to three GCSEs or Standard Grades, upon completion of Using ICT and another two units.{{Cite web|url=https://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk/qualification/10053268.seo.aspx|title=Qualification details for EDEXCEL Level 2 Certificate in Digital Applications for IT Users - National Database of Accredited Qualifications|first=awarding / standard-setting|last=bodies|website=www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk}}

The original 2004 pilot included three moderation windows; this was extended to four in the 2005 launch to give students one additional chance for a resit if they failed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/magazines/gnvq-new-alternatives-419983.html|title=GNVQ New Alternatives|date=October 12, 2006|website=The Independent}}

The qualification was available either as the equivalent of one, two, or four GCSEs as AiDA, CiDA or DiDA respectively.https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/id/eprint/6181/1/Remit_17__14to19_Learning_pathways_2005_2006.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}

Students who successfully completed DiDA units D202 and D203 were eligible to claim Adobe Systems Associate Certification, provided they attained a merit or distinction grade along with other requirements.{{Cite web|url=http://dida.edexcel.org.uk/VirtualContent/87674/Adobe_Associate_Certification.pdf|title=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000100/http://dida.edexcel.org.uk/VirtualContent/87674/Adobe_Associate_Certification.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-27 }} There were three different types:

• Web Media using Dreamweaver - Multimedia
• Multimedia using Flash - Multimedia
• Web Graphics using Fireworks - Graphics

The Adobe certification scheme was not widely adopted by schools, as most did not have the teacher expertise required for its delivery. While the original DiDA specification was approved for use until 2014, Adobe discontinued Fireworks in 2013.{{Cite web |date=2017-06-30 |title=The future of Adobe Fireworks « Adobe Fireworks |url=http://blogs.adobe.com/fireworks/2013/05/the-future-of-adobe-fireworks.html |access-date=2023-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630165604/http://blogs.adobe.com/fireworks/2013/05/the-future-of-adobe-fireworks.html |archive-date=2017-06-30 }}

The qualification was initially designed in response to concerns that schools were using the older GNVQ as a way to inflate their league table performance in the mid 2000s, as it counted as four GCSEs but could be studied in the time of one.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/edexcel-awards-c-grade-just-36-cent|title=Edexcel awards C-grade for just 36 per cent | Tes Magazine|website=www.tes.com}} Academies in particular relied on DiDA in the same way during the late 2000s, with one study discovering that hypothetically excluding DiDA from rankings caused the score of an academy to drop 21%.https://civitas.org.uk/pdf/secrets_success_academies.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}} DiDA faced criticism from some IT experts early in its development, describing it as a "soft option". The Thomas Telford School, which built the online platform for the GNVQ found that DiDA was "not a suitable alternative" (to the GNVQ). Ofsted was similarly critical of the qualification, describing it as "of doubtful value". Like many other qualifications DiDA was revised in 2012 to meet changing specifications from government, amid concerns that it offered "no basis for progression to further study or to meaningful employment", and was being taught in order to inflate league table scores at the expense of other qualifications. As a result of these changes the original qualification was removed from league table consideration in 2014. For 2015, the revised version was counted as a single qualification rather than four, and saw significantly less widespread adoption by schools.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7ee34ce5274a2e8ab48d51/2015_KS4_list.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}

Lewisham City Learning Centre was concerned about the volume of assessment evidence, with students required to create a large amount of documentation. Grading of these documents was determined by the structure, composition and language used, and not the merit of the projects they were related to. Schools were forced to spend the majority of lesson time on these documents rather than "higher level ICT skills", and avoided creative projects and professional software because of the time requirement. Few schools adopted the Adobe Associate Certification because of the issue. Teachers described the qualification as "very, very challenging" to teach,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/mar/07/elearning.technology1|title=New ICT qualifications branded 'too hard' or 'too soft'|first=Phil|last=Revell|date=March 7, 2006|newspaper=The Guardian}} and many teachers were unsure of what students actually needed to do in order to pass. Speaking to The Guardian, the ICT head of Moor End Technology College commented of the pilot scheme: "Students who were able to get through GNVQ will struggle with Dida. It will be very difficult for us to match the kind of results we have achieved with GNVQ. To get four full A-Cs you have to complete four Dida units. In the pilot some of my students struggled to complete one".{{Cite news |last=Revell |first=Phil |date=2006-01-19 |title=Back to basics |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/jan/19/secondaryschools.educationextra2 |access-date=2023-12-08 |issn=0261-3077}} Many other schools ultimately found it too difficult for low achievers.https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/diploma.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}} Edexcel significantly lowered the grade boundaries for the 2006 academic year, with the pass threshold set at 36% due to these concerns. For 2007, 700 schools which had previously offered the diploma switched instead to the equivalent OCR Nationals. The scheme also faced organisational issues, with some centres continuing to teach using the 2005 version (discontinued in 2014) as late as 2018, by which point Pearson considered it "no longer fit for purpose".https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Digital-Applications-(CiDA-and-DiDA)/CiDA-and-DiDA/2014/Exam-materials/DA204_06_pef_20180822.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www1.edexcel.org.uk/dida-0906-d201/html/SPB201Index.htm DiDA SPB (Using ICT from 2006)]
• [http://www1.edexcel.org.uk/dida-0906-d202/html/SPB202Index.htm DiDA SPB (Multimedia from 2006)]
• [http://www1.edexcel.org.uk/D203_SPB_0911_FINAL/html/SPB203Index.htm (Graphics from 2011)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202000221/http://www1.edexcel.org.uk/D203_SPB_0911_FINAL/html/SPB203Index.htm |date=2012-02-02 }}
• [http://www1.edexcel.org.uk/dida-0906-d204/html/SPB204Index.htm DiDA SPB (ICT in Enterprise from 2006)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080807123854/http://www.chalkface.com/products/ICT/DIDA/ DiDA ePortfolio-builder]
• [http://www.didacourse.com Website dedicated to the DiDA course]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000100/http://dida.edexcel.org.uk/VirtualContent/87674/Adobe_Associate_Certification.pdf Requirements for Adobe certification]

Category:Educational qualifications in the United Kingdom

Category:Information technology in the United Kingdom

Category:Information technology qualifications