Practical Skills in Action: Getting Ready for Your NEA
Half your marks come from the non-exam assessment. Learn how the two NEA tasks are organised and how to plan a practical that runs smoothly, with a time plan, dovetailing and trialled dishes.
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Getting ready for your NEA
In Food Preparation and Nutrition, half of your marks come from the non-exam assessment, or NEA. It has two tasks: a written food investigation and a practical assessment where you cook a menu of dishes. This module shows how the NEA is organised and how to plan your practical so it runs smoothly.
Key NEA words
Learn these four terms before you plan your assessment.
The two NEA tasks
The NEA is split into two separate tasks.
The mark of a good plan
A strong practical rests on a strong time plan. List every task in order, put a time next to each one, and dovetail wherever you can, for example baking one dish while a sauce simmers. Start the dish that takes longest first, and leave time to taste and adjust before the end.
Match the word
- NEA
- time plan
- dovetailing
- sensory evaluation
- the part marked from coursework, not a written paper
- tells you what to do and when during the practical
- starting one job while another is still cooking
- checking how a finished dish tastes and looks
Match the NEA task
- food investigation
- food preparation assessment
- research
- trialling
- a written report on how an ingredient behaves
- cooking a menu of three dishes
- finding out about the task before you plan
- testing a dish before the final practical
How many dishes?
In the food preparation assessment, how many dishes do you plan and cook in the session?
- Three dishes.
- One dish.
- Five dishes.
- As many as you like.
What goes in a time plan?
Select the TWO things a good time plan includes.
- A time next to each task.
- Points where tasks overlap.
- The final mark you will get.
- Your shopping receipts.
Order the NEA work
Put the stages of the food preparation assessment in order, earliest first.
- Research the task and possible dishes
- Plan and trial your dishes
- Write your time plan
- Cook the dishes on the day
- Evaluate what you made
Complete the facts
The coursework part of the course is the _____. Before the practical you write a _____ to order your tasks. Doing two jobs at once to save time is _____. In the practical you cook a menu of _____ dishes. Judging the taste and look of a dish is _____ evaluation.
How long is the practical?
The food preparation assessment is a single session lasting 3 hours. Multiply 3 by 60 to find the length in minutes. What is the answer?
Spot the good habits
Tap the TWO habits that make a practical run smoothly.
- dovetail tasks to save time
- start the longest dish first
- cook the dishes in a random order
- skip writing a time plan
What should you do?
Read each situation and choose the best action.
- One dish needs 40 minutes in the oven and another needs 5 minutes of frying. Which do you start first?
- You have made your three dishes and there are ten minutes left. What is the best use of the time?
- It is the day before the practical and you are not sure one dish will work. What should you do?
Plan your practical
Explain how you would prepare for the food preparation assessment so that it runs well.
- Describe how you would plan and trial your dishes
- Explain what a good time plan includes
- Explain how dovetailing helps on the day