Assessment
The latest news and analysis on exams in the UK, including key dates, timetables, results and statistics for Sats, GCSEs and A levels
Friday
17th May 2024
A-level exams 2024: Dates, timetables and key information
This summer’s A-level exam period began on 13 May. Find everything you need in our complete guide
Sats 2024: How did pupils find the tests this year?
Concerns were raised over a ‘deliberately tricky’ maths paper, but the reading test was not as difficult as last year’s controversial exam, primary heads report
Scotland and Pisa: new analysis of ‘troubling’ results
There are ‘only a few encouraging conclusions for Scottish education policy’ to mitigate declining Pisa scores in maths, science and reading, says Lindsay Paterson
Weekly round-up: RSE age limits and call for ‘digital Sats’
This week’s essential education news includes Ofsted scrapping its curriculum unit project and news that managed moves have ‘more than doubled’
Thursday
16th May 2024
Why teachers should be aware of TikTok ‘exam gurus’
Social media is awash with so-called ‘exam experts’ offering the key to grade 9 GCSE essays – and schools need to counter their dangerous influence, says Laura May Rowlands
Call to replace GCSEs with ‘digital Sats’
Government should also set goal to reduce curriculum content by 10% across all key stages, according to think tank
Wednesday
15th May 2024
GCSE maths: the power of productive struggle
A new intervention for GCSE maths resit students has been found to have a remarkable impact on students from disadvantaged backgrounds, writes Geoff Wake
GCSEs 2024: Exam dates, timetables and key information
This summer’s GCSE exam period began on 9 May. Find what you need in our complete guide to GCSE exams in 2024
Why extrinsic motivation might not be so bad for pupils
Popular wisdom says that extrinsic motivation should be avoided as far as possible – but have we been too quick to judge? Alex Quigley explores
Tuesday
14th May 2024
Participation in standardised tests yet to reach pre-Covid levels
Overall SNSA participation last year was just below 90%, reinvigorating calls for the tests to be scrapped and money invested in school staff instead
How to save teachers 5 million hours a year (without affecting learning)
Education researcher Samuel Sims has crunched the numbers and found a simple solution to give the profession back an enormous amount of much-needed time