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End of year exams?

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:29 pm
by JamesDean
Mr Gove's daft idea for today (he seems to be on a roll at the moment) is that state school children take the common entrance exam at the age of 13. This prompted a discussion at swimming this afternoon amongst some of us Moms, and I was amazed to hear that not all secondary schools do 'formal' exams at the end of each academic year. Now, I realise they must test (or how can they measure progress?) but part of my education was being examined at the end of each academic year. This not only showed whether or not I'd understood what I had been taught over the year but also (and in my mind very importantly) prepared me for taking formal exams in years 4, 5 and upper 6, and on to higher education.

So I thought I'd ask those who already have DC in local secondary schools, do they sit exams at the end of each year or is the process very different now?

Cheers,

JD

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:53 pm
by kenyancowgirl
KES do - they pretty much test every term anyhow but have formal exams for a whole week in the summer, that they sit in the hall or gym, under proper exam conditions.

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:00 pm
by JamesDean
kenyancowgirl wrote:KES do - they pretty much test every term anyhow but have formal exams for a whole week in the summer, that they sit in the hall or gym, under proper exam conditions.
Glad to hear that, KCG! Our school tests every term in yrs 4, 5 and 6 so DS is very used it - in fact its 'test week' this week. He'd be asking for a 'booklet' to do next year if one wasn't provided on a regular basis! :lol:

In a way, I would expect this of a grammar school, so I'm not surprised - anyone got any experience of other schools, esp comps? DD is still adamant she's not sitting the 11+!

JD

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:57 pm
by ToadMum
Most schools have some kind of publicly accessible calendar on their website - you could look at the schools you are interested in to see whether they have "year x exams" timetabled?

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:06 am
by serendippyty
Stratford High don't, KES do, AGS do. That's the three secondaries mine go to.

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:16 am
by Brum Mum
I've heard talk about there being exams this week for year 7 at St Benedicts if that helps?

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:19 am
by Warks mum
Shottery has internal exams at the end of years 7 to 10. As I remember, they are sat under 'exam conditions' with girls from different years sitting next to each other so there's no chance of sitting next to someone doing the same exam!

This year they are reinstating AS mocks for year 12 at KES - I think they are immediately after half term in February. In the past there have been AS modules after Christmas but they didn't happen this year, hence the mocks.

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:29 pm
by ginx
Here in east Warwickshire, at my dd2's gs, they have tests (not sure they're long enough to call them exams) frequently. I'm not sure this is entirely fair, but she gets half termly reports, not to tell me her "working at" level, but just the results of one test. Some tests are sprung upon her without warning, others she has time to revise (and probably doesn't).

So her half termly reports just show the results of one test. She is in year 7 so I don't know about end of year.

My two older children in years 10/11 are at a comp. They have quite a few tests too, also shown on their reports now - their reports are termly. They have end of year mocks from year 9, sat under proper exam conditions, using past papers. This is to let them know what it is like to sit a proper exam, I suppose. Ds1 in year 11 had proper GCSE mocks in Nov of year 11.

I suppose I know more about my dd at gs from her frequent reports.

Re: End of year exams?

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 4:00 pm
by JamesDean
Thanks for all your replies - I was just wondering if they were 'formal' or classroom based. I'll ask parents with DC already at DD's chosen comp to see what they do. It's quite formal in many respects, so they may be in exams too :wink:

JD