Schools in the U.K?

[kkiddle]

Hello everybody! I'm writing a paper that has to do with standardized testing in the U.S. It's a proposal essay, so I have to come up with a solution to the poor test scores that a lot of U.S schools deal with.
My vote is to do away with standardized testing all the way (mostly because I have a buttload of research that supports this claim ).

Are there standardized tests in the U.K? I'm not talking about college admittance testing; I mean like the MEAP test for people who know what that is (basically a "what level are you at, and what level should you be at" test.)

Anyway, how exactly do schools work in the U.K? Are they the same as the U.S?

Thanks for any help!

 

[LakeCondo]

Have you done an online search? I assume you'll need references for your research & sources found this way will give them to you. Also try Wikipedia.

 

[xsparkleworksx]

I know that UK schools are very different to the US with exams. We have various exams through school.
Unlike US schools instead of grades as years we have just "year" so compulsory school is;

Infants school - Reception class, year 1 and 2
(In year 2 you sit your first SATS test, which gives teachers a good idea what classes you should be in eg top set maths, bottom set science etc)

Juniors school - Year 3,4,5 and 6.
(In year 6 you have your second SATS test which again is a set of results which can be used to get you into a good secondary school/so they know which set classes to put you in)

Secondary school - Year 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
(Final SATS exam is in year 9 which is where your basic education ends, then year 10 and 11 are GCSE stage, where you can pick your own classes to go with the compulsory classes)

Then after year 11 there is an option is some schools for a "sixth form" or you can go to college. This is 2 years and you do your A levels there or BTECs which are qualifications to get into good universities. Basically each A level grade has a certain number of UCAS points so certain universities have a number you have to get over to be able to enter. Some people retake exams or some go to college to do another BTEC to bump up their number for a chance the following year.

I hope this is of some help!

 

[kkiddle]

Wow thank you so much. That is pretty intense, I thought the U.S tests were bad! Our tests don't really count for anything (except how we get funding; if our scores are low, we get less funding for that school,) until you do the college admittance tests (ACT, SAT).
@Lake condo: I'm not mentioning anything about U.K schools in my paper; I just wanted to get a feel of how it works elsewhere, to come up with a "solution." Sorry I should have been more clear! I could do a search, but it's so much better to hear from somebody from there.

Thank you both!

 

[BertNErnie]

xsparkleworksx wrote:

I know that UK schools are very different to the US with exams. We have various exams through school.
Unlike US schools instead of grades as years we have just "year" so compulsory school is;

Infants school - Reception class, year 1 and 2
(In year 2 you sit your first SATS test, which gives teachers a good idea what classes you should be in eg top set maths, bottom set science etc)

Juniors school - Year 3,4,5 and 6.
(In year 6 you have your second SATS test which again is a set of results which can be used to get you into a good secondary school/so they know which set classes to put you in)

Secondary school - Year 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
(Final SATS exam is in year 9 which is where your basic education ends, then year 10 and 11 are GCSE stage, where you can pick your own classes to go with the compulsory classes)

Then after year 11 there is an option is some schools for a "sixth form" or you can go to college. This is 2 years and you do your A levels there or BTECs which are qualifications to get into good universities. Basically each A level grade has a certain number of UCAS points so certain universities have a number you have to get over to be able to enter. Some people retake exams or some go to college to do another BTEC to bump up their number for a chance the following year.

I hope this is of some help!

you hit the nail on the head there my dear!