A Summative Project Brief (SPB) substitutes for a formal examination. SPBs are set by Edexcel and are the means by which students' attainment is assessed. Students are expected to spend approximately 30 hours of classroom time working on a project.

The SPB is not a vehicle for teaching the course. Teachers should act as 'line managers' to students working on an SPB. They can monitor their progress, offer advice, make suggestions for improvement, and so on. If students require additional support and guidance, this must be reflected in the marks they are awarded.

Identification
SPBs are identified by their unit number and the month of release. For example, the D201 brief published in September 2011 is identified as D201 SPB0911.

All existing briefs have been re-titled to match this convention.

Lifespan
SPBs have a limited lifespan: 

• Those issued in September 2011 (0911) will be valid for moderation in June 2012, December 2012, June 2013 and December 2013.
   
• Those issued in September 2012 (0912) will be valid for moderation in June 2013, December 2013 and June 2014. This will be the only set of SPBs available in the final assessment session for this specification in June 2014.

SPBs for September 2010 are no longer valid and are now in the SPBs archive. They may be used for practice purposes.

Mix and match
Students can mix and match SPBs released in different years. For example, a student taking DiDA over three years could do the 0910 SPB for Unit 1, the 0911 SPB for Units 2 and 4 and the 0912 SPB for Unit 3.

September 12 issue
The 0912 SPBs (Units 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) are valid for moderation for the first time in June 2013 and thereafter in December 2013 and June 2014. The grade boundaries for these SPBs will not be set until summer 2013.