Target Grades, Examinations & Assessments
The examination targets set for students at SMHS are aspirational and represent a progress journey that will ensure students fulfil their potential.
A target grade will be set for each subject/course studied. Students will need to work hard and apply full effort to achieve their target grades. It is important that all students, who will already have attained good grades in L2 GCSE/BTEC at the end of Year 11, continue to be stretched so that they attain the highest grades in their L3 GCE A/BTEC accreditations.
Progress towards target grades is tracked from the start of Year 12 until the end of Year 13, (or Year 12 for one year courses). Progress is assessed formatively, (as the course goes along), and summatively, (at the end of units/sections/components), and assessment information will be continuously fed back to students by their teaching staff. Progress and internal examination data is reported to parents/carers several times each year and will include one full annual report.
Practice for Public Examinations
It is important that students have regular practice at responding to examination questions and tasks. This will be done regularly in lessons where teachers will help students to perfect their examination technique and confidence in tackling examination style questions. In addition, practice public examinations are scheduled several times during Year 12 and 13 so that students can experience and practice revising and sitting for a number of examination papers in a limited period of time, (as will happen when final examinations are taken).
Practice examinations are scheduled across the two years of sixth form courses at the following times:
- Year 12 – January
- Year 12 – May
- Year 13 – January
Public Examinations Timetables
There are public examination sittings at the following times:
- November
- January
- May/June
The main public examinations series will take place in the summer. The large majority of examination papers will be sat in the summer of year 2 of L3 A Level/BTEC courses.
