Students at Island School sit examinations offered by the UK Examination Boards (Edexcel, Cambridge Assessment International Education and AQA) and the International Baccalaureate Organisation.
The majority of Year 10 students are entered in iGCSE First Language English exams while a selected few are enrolled in iGCSE Chinese.
In Year 11, students sit the rest of their GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and iGCSE (International GCSE) examinations in May and June. Results are published in mid to late August.
In Years 12 and 13, students may study the IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma programme, leading to examinations in six subjects in May of Year 13. Students studying the IB Career Programme will sit three exam subjects and 3 BTEC Level 3 courses (through Edexcel), which are assessed at different intervals throughout Years 12 and 13 to enhance the learners’ practical experience through vocational education. IB Diploma and Career Programme results are published in early July while BTEC final results are normally available in mid-July.
Measuring academic performance
One of the keys to providing excellent education is managing and measuring academic performance at different stages.
We measure student performance at different points in their school career for several reasons:
- To provide extra help where needed.
- To help students choose which subjects to study at Island School and which Higher Education choices are best for them.
- To help counsel students about their performance with respect to their potential.
- To provide predicted grades for student applications to Universities and other Higher Education courses.
- To understand if the actions put in place by teachers to help students are affective.
Students take the following tests:
At the start of Year 7: The MidYIS test which assesses their standard in Maths, English and Science.
At the start of Year 10: YELLIS
At the end of Year 11; IGCSE exams and the Computer Adaptive Baseline Test. (Students joining Island School at the start of Year 12 take the Computer Adaptive Baseline Test on arrival at Island School).
At the end of Year 13: International Baccalaureate or BTEC.
We participate in a programme run by the University of Durham’s Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring www.cemibe.org. This takes all this data and compares it with data from schools from around the world to show the extent to which our results under or over perform.
How we help students
The teacher guiding a student will talk to them about their data and discuss its implications. An important example of this is the use of IGCSE and Computer Adaptive Baseline Test results to give an idea of potential International Baccalaureate and BTEC scores. The system uses the current scores of a student and then maps them against the thousands of students over the years that have the same scores at the same age. It is then able to show what other similar students have done in the past.
When teachers are making predicted grades for students we base most on their work on the course they are taking, their class and homework, assessment scores and exam performance. However mapping data can give extra information that may justify a more optimistic grade prediction.
As well as the individual reports, the data is grouped together to give a value as to whether our students have performed as well or better than other students with the same ability around the world. This can be broken down by subject area and gives management, department leaders and teachers feedback which is used to create plans for the future and improve our practice.