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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Do you think children in Year 7/8 should be taking exams?

39 replies

ellamorley1998 · 15/02/2018 13:01

Hey, I'm Ella and I'm a student journalist at the University of Essex. Sitting in a lecture, I came across an article which I would love some opinions on.

School Minister, Nick Gibb, is calling for children as young as 11 to take exams in the summer. He says that this will reduce their exam anxieties when they come to Year 10 and 11. Gibb has been criticised by MP's who have said that this was problematic and other commenters online have criticised the younger generations, declaring that the young "cannot cope with anything".

As parents, do you think this is a good idea? What's your opinions on the topic? How do you imagine your 11-12 revising for exams?

Here is some more information on the topic: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sit-more-exams-to-beat-stress-schools-minister-nick-gibb-tells-gcse-pupils-63n02jt8d

Thank you!

OP posts:

EdithWeston · 15/02/2018 13:08

I though pretty much all secondaries had end-of-year exams of some form or another.

Is it really frequent now not to do so?

AuntieStella · 15/02/2018 13:10

Children as young as 10/11 already take exams (SATS)

I think most secondaries have exams/tests all the way through. And had rather assumed that the minister was not well informed.

Allthebestnamesareused · 15/02/2018 17:07

All the secondary schools I know have end of year exams at the end of year 7-13 9 including public exams). Most have some form of mid year exams/mocks too.

If he means the results need to be published too then no I don't think they need be published.

kesstrel · 15/02/2018 17:37

Our local school has no end of year exams at all apart from GCSEs etc. And they only introduced mocks for GCSEs two years ago.

Some schools have an anti-testing, anti-exam ethos, which reflects a similar ethos among many education academics, education journalists, and some teachers as well.

I doubt anyone knows how prevalent this is in actual schools, but I would not be surprised if it was a significant proportion.

Children should take end of year exams from at least Year 8, IMO, as it gives them the opportunity to learn how to revise before it becomes genuinely important.

Rylanmakesmyheartsmile · 15/02/2018 17:47

Growing up we had end of year exams right the way through both primary and secondary. Afaik it is still normal for post-primaries in NI to have end of year exams (with actual grades) but I'm not so sure about primaries.

We live in Scotland and my DC have never sat an exam in their lives. Eldest is 13 and in secondary school and his first exams will be his Nat 5 prelims (mocks) in 4th year. It's absolutely ridiculous, but then children in Scotland can leave school having never sat an exam if they are entered for Nat 4s instead of Nat 5s anyway, so I guess preparing any of them for assessment is not exactly a priority

noblegiraffe · 15/02/2018 18:40

Given how data-driven schools are these days I can’t imagine many schools don’t already do this. As soon as kids start in secondary they’re sitting CATs and baseline assessments.

Nick Gibb doesn’t seem to grasp the difference between an end of year exam and a linear GCSE, where now a couple of exams count for the whole final grade with no cushion of good grades achieved in controlled assessments or previous modules. An end of year exam counts for what? Set changes at most.

Of course GCSEs are bloody stressful.

nocampinghere · 15/02/2018 18:57

I know some schools who don't do end of year exams until year 9, but they DO test very frequently - end of topic tests, half term tests etc.. just no big "end of year" exam.
I can see the advantage in that actually... little by little, step by step as they go along.

However they also need to learn revision strategies and techniques, which the end of year exams are a good practice for.

so i'm in two minds...

cricketballs3 · 15/02/2018 19:43

To be honest although I hate to admit it I do agree with him will have to wash my mouth out with soap

With the demise of modular exams, the first real experience that they will have is the end of year 11 - the pressure of facing an exam hall with the rules and restrictions that they will face together with having to sit writing in a hall for a lengthy period is not something that I think we should also add given the pressures that are facing.

I recently did do a mock with year 11 in the hall with full rules etc in place for the full time they would face in the real exam: explaining the rules etc and the consequences of not following them, my exam officer was also present with the very thick book from JCQ and pointed out the regulations and that they were ones set nationally (she did ease the situation reading out the most obscure rules!) and it did help them when it came to a real external assessment (they were doing a vocational qualification that has different exam dates).

Due to the mock exam they understood the rules, the routines and it was a 'safe' time if they broke a rule as it could be explained to them what they did and what it would mean if it was a 'real exam'.

Therefore, whilst I do not agree with testing for the sake of numbers/data I do agree with it for the experience

pointythings · 15/02/2018 19:49

The school my DDs go to does end of year exams right from Yr 7. That is in addition to tests at the end of each half and full term, though the latter are not under exam conditions.

The results are used to adjust sets for the following year and they do get kids used to exam conditions. I don't think they do anything to reduce the stress of real GCSEs though - everyone is fully aware of the difference and of the real and high stakes nature of the Yr 11 exams.

Julie8008 · 15/02/2018 20:51

There should be end of year exams in every year so you can know how much of the years work they have learnt. It should be a normal part of schooling. Is this not the case anymore?

MadameChauchat · 15/02/2018 21:01

My then 11 yo had his first end of year exam last year when he was in yr 7. He was expected to revise 6 hours a day during the May half term. I was a bit shocked when I saw the amount of work he had to do (even though he had seen it all before of course). It was too much, required a lot of planning and decision making: what is important to revise really well and what not given the limited amount of time. Their brain is just not ready for that kind of planning and I think it would be much better to build it up gradually over the years.

caroldecker · 15/02/2018 21:30

When I was at school there were exams at the end of every year and everyone's mark was posted up on the board.

pointythings · 15/02/2018 21:46

Madame 6 hours a day? At 11? Your school is clearly failing to teach its students much if they think that much revision is required. What will the expectation be by the time he hits Yr 11, 18 hours a day?

DD1 did GCSEs last year, got great results, did about that in the 6 weeks running up to the exams including revision sessions organised by the school. For Yr 7 it's ludicrous and would make me question what the school was doing.

Londo · 15/02/2018 23:16

Exams aren't a problem. Stress and pressure is. If kids learn how to write tests and study while being a well rounded person -- good. If instead they learn that they aren't good enough and stress that they are failure if they are perfect - bad. It really depends on the environment not the act of doing tests.

starzig · 15/02/2018 23:27

I think it's a great idea to do exams from a young age, it means it is more natural to them when they are older.

BackforGood · 15/02/2018 23:34

Not sure why we would have to 'imagine' our 11 or 12 yr olds revising for exams
All mine have had exams at the end of Yr7 - I presumed everyone did. We certainly did, long before 'Yr7' was invented.
Why wouldn't you ?

Kingsclerelass · 15/02/2018 23:40

Yes, why not? We did summer exams from aged 7 onwards. After a while you get so used to them, they just don't bother you anymore. And exam technique like read the question carefully, don't panic, pace yourself and don't go back and change things at the end through nerves, become routine.
It's just practice.

BlindLemonAlley · 16/02/2018 07:31

What I really dislike is that some teachers do not give regular homework but do give tests during the term with little notice. This means that students do not have the regular opportunity to practice and digest what has been learned, ask questions if they don’t understand but somehow they have to grasp it and cram it all in for a test that has a lot riding on the outcome. It also means that if there are any issues the teacher does not know until they do badly in a test. I feel this is unfair as often quite sets and levels are decided on these assessments when really regular homework plus assessments would be better.

theEagleIsLost · 16/02/2018 08:33

I know some schools who don't do end of year exams until year 9, but they DO test very frequently - end of topic tests, half term tests etc.. just no big "end of year" exam.

I don't know about yr 9 yet but yr 7 and yr 8 this is what DD1 school does bar the main statutory welsh tests held every year.

I was sitting formal exams end of every year from about yr 4 in primary and every year for most subjects in secondary ie in the main halls with proper exam conditions.

Without the welsh tests I don’t think my children would have experience the full exam conditions till much later perhaps even GCSE years.

theEagleIsLost · 16/02/2018 08:36

I'm not sure anything been done about teaching revison either - the tests are end of topic or end of term and they don't revisie for the welsh tests.

SpikeStoker · 16/02/2018 09:58

Yes, when you do something regularly it becomes ordinary. There is a theatre to formal exams which can be daunting if you're not used to it. Regular tests are also good, but getting students used to the "exam room" and also regularly practicing their exam technique and timing will only help when it comes to the "real thing".

noblegiraffe · 16/02/2018 10:39

Unfortunately the 'exam room' is used for PE and drama so getting pupils used to the exam room means massive disturbance to timetabled lessons.

Taffeta · 16/02/2018 10:41

Mine had the 11+ - DD was just 10 (Aug birthday).

Then EOY exams from end of Y7

Don’t agree with pressure stress or outcomes of 11+ at age 10 but do agree with EOY tests at age 12. Builds up good revision habits etc.

It’s the importance that is placed on the outcomes that provides the stress/pressure IME

kesstrel · 16/02/2018 10:42

I should add that my elder daughter went to a different school, which did have end of year exams from Year 7. The Year 10 ones were a lifesaver for her - she had been told by her teachers she was doing fine, but her memory issues meant she hadn't retained enough long term, and she did very badly on her school science exams. It was the wake up all she needed, and she started making revision cards that summer in order to catch up, and ended up getting As in her GCSEs the following year - a technique which has carried her through to success in university. For her, mocks would have been too late to allow her to catch up.

theEagleIsLost · 16/02/2018 11:47

Unfortunately the 'exam room' is used for PE and drama so getting pupils used to the exam room means massive disturbance to timetabled lessons.

This was the case for my secondary 20 years ago which did end of year tests every year for every subject.

It was the case for the primary I was in as well it only had one hall.

It's a current issue for DD1 current secondary school with welsh tests.

All the rooms were fully timetabled and classes had to be shifted around.

It was still a good experience to have exam condition well before formal exams despite all the disruption.

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