What exams and when in secondary?

[MayMoveMayNot]

Firstly, I wasn't educated in the UK so I have little knowledge of it.

I have a DD at secondary and it's a mainstream state school.

What exams do they usually do and when? If I'm correct GCSE's are taken at end of year 11?

My DD is in Yr9 currently, she's come home this week some revision books which already say Combined Science GCSE, I didn't think they started these until Yr10?

I'm trying to look at what exams are on and when, DD has an EHCP and needs quite a bit of support in regards to planning and revision, so I'm trying to assist with getting a study routine in place.

I'm aware mocks take place at some point, when are these usually?
Is there any exams usually in Yr9 at all?

Thanks for any help.

It depends on what your school does and what exam boards they use.

in our school they do science practical and English lit in year 10 and the rest in year 11. Some of the year 10 ones are just after Christmas

Some schools start the GCSE curriculum in year 9 so they have more time to go through the content and time for revision afterwards.
GCSEs in year 11 are likely to be the only 'official exams' but mocks and other assessments will likely happen regularly. Starting to revise little and often from now will likely make the whole process easier. Making revision cards or mind maps of what has been learnt that day/week that can then be utilised properly closer to the mocks would be useful.

Oh yes I forgot modular exams and btec exams they may also happen during Yr 10 and 11.

I would speak to the school. Some of my friends' kids did an exam at foundation level at the end of year 9 to give them more space on the timetable for exams they're likely to get higher marks on (the highest mark you can get is a 5 on foundation and they're a lot easier than GCSEs). I would also find out what adjustments your daughter is getting.

Mock mocks are usually end year 10 and then proper mocks Christmas year 11 with actual exams in June

Thank you very much!

So are there likely to be practice mocks in school as well?

GCSEs are no longer modular.
It is quite common for GCSE science courses to start in Y9. They use mocks / end of year exams to work out whether pupils will be taking Higher tier (grades 5 -9) or Foundation tier (grades 1-5).

Above should read GCSEs are no longer modular in England!

All the exams are taken in school and invigilated by school staff. It is crucial that your daughter has her reasonable adjustments in place before the actual exams - so eg if she should get 25% extra time/a scribe etc, those should be already in place by the year 9 exams so that the school can successfully apply for her to have those same adjustments in place for the actual GCSEs.

Yes, definitely

Yy no modular elements to GCSEs in England any more apart from practical exams in subjects like drama, food, textiles.

Ask the school @MayMoveMayNot about when internal exams are, as this varies from school to school.

Has your dd picked options - the non compulsory GCSEs she will take? (History, language, art, drama, DT) If not, they will ge chosen next term. But as everyone takes science, they are maybe starting GCSE content now.

Not many schools take any GCSEs early ime, but I would also check that with school.

Btw - a foundation GCSE is still very much a GCSE qualification, although the content is less and simpler than a higher GCSE. You can only do these in maths, science and MFL but they certainly count.

In Dc's school they started GCSE content in year 9 for science and History but History was after Easter. They had in school exams at the end of year 9, end of year 10, then mocks in both November and February of year 11 then the official GCSEs in May/June of year 11.

Some schools sit some GCSEs early, my niece did English Lit in year 10 leaving all of year 11 to concentrate on the more important English Language. You will need to contact the school to find out what yours does. Also as your DD has an EHCP contact SENCO to see what support specifically she will get and if she is allowed extra time in exams. My son didn't have an EHCP but was allowed to "pause" his exam to give him time to process what the question was.

Now is the time to find a revision technique which works for your child. Mine both hated mind maps but did well with flashcards plus online stuff sometimes this is done through the school ie Corbett Maths and they get a sign in from school. Mine also used Seneca for science. Mine just used the free part of that, we didn't pay. A huge amount of information is available on YouTube on all subjects from teachers for their own students but also everyone else. Find out which exam boards they use because there are several so you need to find revision that is tailored to that exam. This will be on the revision guide, the most popular one is AQA. There are foundation and higher papers, these only apply to maths, science and languages I believe from memory.

Past papers are in no way helpful at this point as she hasn't covered the content but it may help you see how it is laid out. All are available online including the mark scheme and the examiner's report which tells you what students did well on and where they need to improve. They are useful over the summer of year 10 and onward. Any more questions, just post on here, the secondary board is very supportive.