End of year exams?

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JamesDean
Posts: 1537
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:03 pm

End of year exams?

Post 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
kenyancowgirl
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Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: End of year exams?

Post 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.
JamesDean
Posts: 1537
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:03 pm

Re: End of year exams?

Post 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
ToadMum
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Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: End of year exams?

Post 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?
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
serendippyty
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:23 pm

Re: End of year exams?

Post by serendippyty »

Stratford High don't, KES do, AGS do. That's the three secondaries mine go to.
Brum Mum
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Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:27 pm

Re: End of year exams?

Post by Brum Mum »

I've heard talk about there being exams this week for year 7 at St Benedicts if that helps?
Warks mum
Posts: 538
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:30 am
Location: Warwickshire

Re: End of year exams?

Post 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.
ginx
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: End of year exams?

Post 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.
JamesDean
Posts: 1537
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:03 pm

Re: End of year exams?

Post 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
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