Assessment and Internal Exams

Key Stage 3 Progress and Attainment

An academic judgement is made in every subject based on your child’s current attainment to determine whether the progress they are making is above, in line, or below the school’s expectations. Students’ Key Stage 2 results from primary school are used to form a baseline of where they are at the start of Year 7 (their Key Stage 2 Average Score). We then use this to project where they should be at key points in the academic year to support in making an academic judgement about their progress and attainment, although this may not be linear it should generally follow an upward trajectory from their individual starting point.  

In Key Stage 3, students will complete summative assessments twice per academic year. Students are awarded a raw mark which is then converted to a % rank. This rank determines whether they are working towards, at, or above the level of knowledge and skill that we would expect in each subject at this point in their academic year. The table below indicates the scores we would expect your child to achieve based on their starting point. 

*Students are ranked by test score within the prior ability bands based on their Key Stage 2 Average Scaled Scores in Maths and Reading.

Reports

We will report home to parents twice per year, to inform you of the academic progress of your child.

The report will contain academic judgements, as well as judgements around attitude to learning, which are called ATL grades. These are graded on a scale of 1 (outstanding and exemplary standards) to 4 (urgent improvement needed). There are a number of factors taken into account when awarding ATL grades, as shown below.

Key Stage 4 Assessment and Reporting

Once at Key Stage 4, students begin to study a range of GCSE and vocational qualifications, dependent upon their pathway. During Year 10 and Year 11, students will sit a range of mock GCSE examinations, which will be used to inform tiering choices in some subjects, revision and intervention content.

GCSE Grading is based on a 9-1 scale, with 9 being the highest grade awarded. Vocational qualifications are graded on a different scale, but a L2P is equivalent to the standard pass at GCSE. Our expectation is that all students aim to achieve a strong pass, Grade 5, in both English and Maths GCSE’s to enable them to reach the highest pathway possible in their next avenue of study.