UK Assessment Calendar

[salohcin98]

Can anyone help?

I am looking for a UK Secondary School Assessment Calendar.

To be specific, I am trying to source the typical dates of exams each term.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Every school will be different.

The only nationally set assesments (and they are different from scotland to England so I know about England) are at the end if yr 11 (GCSEs) and yr 13 (A levels.). Rouggly aged 16 and 18.

Is that what you mean? Otherwise it will be entirely up to the school how and when they assess progress throughout the years.

Every school will be different.
The only constant (except of course this year and last year) is GCSEs and A levels.
GCSEs roughly start 2 weeks before the May half term and go on 3 weeks after it.

Otherwise a rolling programme of end of topic tests, plus some larger tests at some point in the summer term at least for core subjects, could probably be expected.
Even GCSE mocks aren't at a common time, with some being held around November and some schools waiting until January or so.

The exam boards have ones for each year for GCSEs and a levels which will give you a good idea of formal assessments (pre Covid at least, not sure what they have done this year).

Internal exams each term would be different from school to school but logic would say they probably would be at the end of the term rather than the middle.

Hello Logic won't always be right though. DD definitely had some exams one year at the start of the summer term.

We’re doing lots straight after half term next. Our pattern of internal assessments changes all the time depending on what else is going on. Often mid term or beginning. To be fair assessments are now pretty much ongoing all year round and Covid will have changed things for lots of schools.

OP. If you explain why you ask, we might be able to help, even if we can't answer your exact question.

Only public exams are preset with timetables published months in advance. Gcse and A levels are typically from early May to third week of June, but there are submission and performance deadlines throughout the year.

@salohcin98

Can anyone help?

I am looking for a UK Secondary School Assessment Calendar.

To be specific, I am trying to source the typical dates of exams each term.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Yes, I know about the external exam period and impact of Covid this year. I think being a little more specific would help, so here we go.

I would like to know when these exams would be typically timetables int the school calendar:

Year 10 (midterm exam? End of term exam?
Year 11 (midterm exam? End of term exam? Mock exam?
Year 12 (midterm exam? End of term exam? Mock exam following the old AS staged route)
Year 13 (midterm exam? End of term exam? Mock exam following the old A2 staged route)

Thanks again for your feedback; it is incredibly helpful.

Best.

I honestly don't think we can help you.
Different schools have different assessment timetables.
Even y11 mocks aren't all done at the same time.

If it is about booking holidays, then the best advice is don't book any in term time in those years, and avoid booking any until you see how your school does it.

Aside from the national exams - and don't forget that not all home nations do GCSE and A level - it's entirely up to the school.

A calendar such as the one you suggest would be useless, because some schools domocks in November, some immediately in return in Jan, others after a week or so back, some just before half term, others just after.

So you could see every week every week blocked off for assessments and exams, because somewhere there will be a school doing them.

Most schools will have mock GCSE exams at some point in year 11 and mock A level exams at some point in year 13, but exactly when, will be up to the individual school. Most state schools won't have formal 'mid year' exams in either year 10 or year 12, but probably will have end of year exams in both (DS2's grammar school still does do AS, so they do have mocks in year 12).

If you are wondering what actual individual schools do, their calendars are usually accessible on their websites - obviously the calendar for this specific academic year may look very different, of course.

I'm sorry op but it will vary from school to school, as everyone has said.

Couple of examples: school I worked in had year 10 mocks in the summer, a bit before the actual GCSEs started, and year 11 mocks in November and December, over a period of about three weeks.

My kids school had year 10 mocks later in the summer and year 11 mocks right after Christmas.

And a school with November to 11 mocks might well have more in Feb or March.

Mid term and end of term exams are not really a thing in most schools I know, in an formal way. OTOH most subjects will have regular tests and tracking of progress via mini exams.

@salohcin98 the answer to your question doesn’t exist.

Unless you are referring to a specific school who might be able to tell you what their schedule is for a specific academic year. I say might as it often changes.

It literally differs from school to school.

Many might not even do all the assessments you refer to. We certainly don’t. We do Y10 mocks for example. We do in class assessments constantly on the teachers schedule. Nothing formally structured like you list.

Each school differs. Some schools do y11/13 mocks pre Christmas, others January, others February. End of year internal exams can fall any time in summer term and may move year on year in same school, depending on other events. You need to ask the specific school but even then it may fluctuate.

As everyone else has said, this is something that will be specific to each school, there's no one schedule. My secondary DCs are at different schools. One does y10 mocks - middle of next term. One doesn't do them at all. One does y11 mocks in November, one does them in January. This year one school is doing all the internal assessments next week, normally they do them next term. It's so variable no one can answer!

Why do you need to know? There isnt a formal "end of year exam" or midterm exam. The only exams are at the end of year 11 and year 13.

Different teachers will assess differently throughout the course. So some homework assignments, some in class, some past questions (ie a question from the paper but not the full paper.) There arent exams that "count" more than any other assessment.

Are you from a country where things are done differently?

Or thinking about holidays?
Or wanting a sense of progess for your child?
Or researching for a book?

If you say the why we might be able more but there aren't really exams as you describe them.

Apart from mocks. But those will again be done differently in each school...

Just ask your dc's school. Nobody can tell you on here because all schools follow a different pattern.

I'm also interested to know why you are asking @salohcin98, and agree we may be able to better help if you can say why.

But ultimately, ask at your child's school. I wouldn't even use exams as a criteria for deciding between schools, because what happens will vary even between teachers in the same faculty. I used to set a mini reading exam at the end of year 7, to help me with my assessment feedback, but my colleagues didn't necessarily do the same.

@MarchingFrogs

Most schools will have mock GCSE exams at some point in year 11 and mock A level exams at some point in year 13, but exactly when, will be up to the individual school. Most state schools won't have formal 'mid year' exams in either year 10 or year 12, but probably will have end of year exams in both (DS2's grammar school still does do AS, so they do have mocks in year 12).

If you are wondering what actual individual schools do, their calendars are usually accessible on their websites - obviously the calendar for this specific academic year may look very different, of course.

This is very helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

[quote MacCoffee]@salohcin98 the answer to your question doesn’t exist.

Unless you are referring to a specific school who might be able to tell you what their schedule is for a specific academic year. I say might as it often changes.

It literally differs from school to school.

Many might not even do all the assessments you refer to. We certainly don’t. We do Y10 mocks for example. We do in class assessments constantly on the teachers schedule. Nothing formally structured like you list.[/quote]
This is very helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

@clary

I'm sorry op but it will vary from school to school, as everyone has said.

Couple of examples: school I worked in had year 10 mocks in the summer, a bit before the actual GCSEs started, and year 11 mocks in November and December, over a period of about three weeks.

My kids school had year 10 mocks later in the summer and year 11 mocks right after Christmas.

And a school with November to 11 mocks might well have more in Feb or March.

Mid term and end of term exams are not really a thing in most schools I know, in an formal way. OTOH most subjects will have regular tests and tracking of progress via mini exams.

This is very helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

@LIZS

Each school differs. Some schools do y11/13 mocks pre Christmas, others January, others February. End of year internal exams can fall any time in summer term and may move year on year in same school, depending on other events. You need to ask the specific school but even then it may fluctuate.

This is very helpful and appreciated. Thank you.