Assessment is an ongoing process that happens in some form in every lesson. Teachers use what they learn from the things students do, write or ask to inform the next steps in their planning. Teachers will sometimes look at specific pieces of work to evaluate student learning within a class, or across a year group. When we ask teachers to provide information for ‘Progress Reviews’ they will draw on all of this evidence, not only on ‘tests’.

Students will receive feedback on their work in a variety of ways. Our aim is for teachers to provide this at the point it is most helpful: usually when students are struggling with an idea or task, and often in a conversation rather than lengthy teacher writing in their book. We do not use grades or ‘levels’ on individual pieces of work; our aim is for students to always look to the ‘next steps’.

As students move up the school, they will experience more formal exams. These usually begin at the start of Year 10, and are intended to support students building up their knowledge through effective revision. These exams also give teachers and faculties high-quality feedback about elements they may need to revisit, or where students are secure and ready to move ahead.

When students complete internal exams we report the outcome to them as a percentage. We want every student to work on improving that percentage in each round of exams.