Ofsted chief calls for return of KS3 testing

[JIM CURRAN]

Ofsted chief calls for return of national tests for 14-year-olds

Abolition of key stage 3 exams has allowed standards to drop and gap between rich and poor to grow, says Sir Michael Wilshaw

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... ools-exams

[maizie]

Well, let's hope that the new Osted chief knocks that one on the head.

KS3 testing was always so pointless

[JIM CURRAN]

I would agree Maizie that KS3 testing wasn't great but I do think that a five year stretch without any formal testing is, given the stats quoted, proving problematic. I always feel rightly or wrongly that these things don't matter so much to children from more advantaged backgrounds but tend to work against children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

[maizie]

It is up to the individual school, of course, but the Sec I worked at 'formally' tested all year groups, from Y7 on, under exam conditions, every year. I'd always assumed that many schools do this.

The abolition of KS3 NCTs were a huge relief to staff & pupils alike. It seemed to make no difference at all to GCSE results. They added absolutely nothing to our knowledge of the capabilities of individual pupils.

The school is in an area of high social deprivation. GCSE results have been extremely good for a number of years, both pre & post the abolition of KS3 NCTs.

[chew8]

When I was at school in South Africa, we had formal school exams twice a year from the age of about 7 onwards and took them very seriously - in fact, children were kept down a year if they didn't do well enough. I think all school in S.A. did something similar.

Jenny C.

[JIM CURRAN]

In the school where I taught we tested all our children twice a year, once at Christmas and then again in June. Many of the children who came to the school failed to achieve Level 4 in either English or Maths at KS2. We still have selection at 11 and the most able are creamed off to the Grammar sector. The KS3 tests gave us external validation of how much progress our pupils had made over that 3 year period. Every one involved took the tests very seriously and they became a good indicator of GCSE grades. I remember over 50 years ago at my local Grammar school having to sit an exam called the Junior Cert in year 10.