Assessment & Reporting
Explanation of Assessment Certificates at Key Stage 3
Our aim is that students learn more, know more, and can do more so that they can build a strong foundation knowledge and skills that will prepare them for success at Key Stage 4 and beyond.
The Assessment Certificate provides information on both how well students have learned the curriculum and how well they are engaging with their learning.
What have we assessed?
Our curriculum teams have assessed each student’s depth of knowledge in two ways:
- Content knowledge: How well the student knows what he/she has been learning each subject
- Procedural knowledge: How well the student knows how to apply that subject knowledge i.e. through practical skills, solving problems, or composing an argument
Each curriculum team has reported on both areas of knowledge using the following descriptions:
INITIAL, ESTABLISHING, SUBSTANTIAL, COMPLETE AND FLUENT.
Teams have arrived at their judgements using various forms of assessment, low stakes testing and classwork.
What do we expect of Key Stage 3 students?
By paying attention in lessons and practising hard, every student should be able to gain at least substantial knowledge of the material they have been taught in lessons. It is then through students’ independent practice outside of lessons that they build their knowledge to a level where they have learned material completely or fluently.
What other information does the Assessment Certificate provide?
In this report, teachers have recorded how well each student is:
- paying attention and
- engaging with practice
We use the language of ENOUGH, JUST ENOUGH, NOT ENOUGH to flag up where students may be ‘coasting’ or struggling with learning so that we can address this.
Explanation of Assessment Certificates at Key Stage 4
When students move to Key Stage 4 we use exam grades when we talk about how successfully students are learning the curriculum. This is because students follow a curriculum set out clearly by our chosen exam boards.
Although we do not formally assess against a fluency scale at KS4, the principles of the journey to fluency remain the same and underpin our approach to teaching throughout the school.
When do we assess students?
GCSEs:
Year 10 students are assessed informally, in class, throughout the course. This information is shared with parents early in the spring term. They sit their first set of mock exams in June. These are formal exams, sat in a larger exam venue.
Year 11 students sit formal mock examinations before Christmas, with results shared with parents at a Results Evening in January. They sit additional mocks in English, maths and science in February/March, with parents then receiving an updated results certificate.
External GCSE exams begin with practicals in April before ‘formal’ exams begin in May.
BTEC
Year 10 BTEC students will be sitting an external marked Pearson Set Assignment between February and May, this will count for 30% of their overall grade.
Year 11 BTEC students will be sitting a second external marked Pearson Set Assignment between October and December, this will count for 30% of their overall grade.
They will also sit an external exam in the summer, which will count for 40% of their overall grade.
What have we reported?
Our Assessment Certificate includes a mock grade and a current performance grade for each subject a student is studying. These performance grades are teachers’ current judgement on the grades that best represent how a student is likely to perform based on a range of factors:
- their current performance across all components of the course (including any coursework)
- their attendance to lessons
- the effectiveness of the students learning habits and routines
- the students motivation and engagement with the course
Please remember that there is variation across courses in terms of:
- the relative weighting of examined and non-examined content
- how much of the syllabus was assessed in the January assessments
This has been taken into account by teachers when assigning performance grades.
An explanation of these grades is below.
GCSE Tiers
Please note that only maths, science and modern foreign languages have tiered papers.
H = Higher. The grades range from 4-9
F = Foundation. The highest grade on a Foundation paper is 5.
GCSE Grading
Grades at GCSE range from 1-9 with 9 being the highest.
BTEC Grading
The BTEC Level 2 equivalents would roughly be as follows:
What other information does the Assessment Certificate provide?
Learning routines are vital and the five we focus on are below. In this report, teachers have recorded how well each student is:
- paying attention and
- engaging with practice
We use the language of ENOUGH, JUST ENOUGH, NOT ENOUGH to flag up where students may be ‘coasting’ or struggling with learning so that we can address this.
Explanation of Assessment Certificates at Key Stage 5
When students move to Key Stage 5 we use exam grades when we talk about how successfully students are learning the curriculum. This is because students follow a curriculum set out clearly by our chosen exam boards.
Although we do not formally assess against a fluency scale at KS5, the principles of the journey to fluency remain the same and underpin our approach to teaching throughout the school.
When do we assess students?
A-levels
Year 12 students are assessed informally, in class, throughout the course. They take informal assessments in the spring term, this information is shared with parents. They sit their first set of mock exams in June. These are formal exams, sat in a larger exam venue.
Year 13 students sit their formal mock examinations after Christmas, results are shared with parents in January.
External A-level exams begin with practicals in April before ‘formal’ exams begin in May.
BTEC
Year 12 BTEC students will complete two units during this year. They will be assessed either via internal marked and external moderated assignments or external exams. Students will be awarded points for each unit completed. The number of points awarded depends on the unit studied and the grade achieved.
Year 13 BTEC students will complete two further units during this year. They will be assessed either via internal marked and external moderated assignments or external exams. Students will be awarded points for each unit completed. The number of points awarded depends on the unit studied and the grade achieved.
What have we reported?
Our Assessment Certificate includes a mock grade and a current performance grade for each subject a student is studying. These performance grades are teachers’ current judgement on the grades that best represent how a student is likely to perform based on a range of factors:
- their performance across all components of the course (including any coursework)
- their attendance to lessons
- the effectiveness of their learning habits and routines
- their motivation and engagement with the course
Please remember that there is variation across courses in terms of:
- the relative weighting of examined and non-examined content
- how much of the syllabus was assessed in the January assessments
This has been taken into account by teachers when assigning performance grades.
The BTEC Level 3 equivalents would roughly be as follows:
What other information does the Assessment Certificate provide?
Learning routines are vital and the five we focus on are below. In this report, teachers have recorded how well each student is:
- paying attention and
- engaging with practice
We use the language of ENOUGH, JUST ENOUGH, NOT ENOUGH to flag up where students may be ‘coasting’ or struggling with learning so that we can address this.
