Reading time: 3 minutes
Exam season. Those two words can strike fear into the hearts of even the most diligent learners. The pressure to perform, the sheer volume of material, and the anxiety of the unknown can create a daunting challenge. But what if we shifted the focus from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more personalised, tailored support system?
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Exams are stressful enough without the added pressure of feeling unprepared. But sometimes, life happens, and you find yourself with a stack of notes and a rapidly approaching deadline. However, it is important not to panic. If you’re down to the wire, there are strategies you can use to maximise your chances of success.
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Exam season can invite pressure, stress and anxiety in students that can be difficult to overcome. However, with a bit of patience, support and guidance you can ensure that you smash whatever exam crosses your path. We take a look at five ways you can calm your nerves and approach your next examination with confidence.
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With GCSEs returning for the first time in three years, student revision must be done correctly, so how can this be done? Look at these 4 great tips.
The Guardian recently released a story highlighting how in the UK “close to 2 million teenagers will be gearing up for their exams”. It suggested how students should start revising over Easter to get ahead and avoid stress before exams start.
So, here are 4 tips that could help with revision over Easter and beyond:
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With the release of this summer’s exam topics swiftly upon us, are you and your students fully prepared for them? Here’s some advice for you and your students, who may be absent, and what to expect this summer.
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Partly due to the current pandemic, online exams have become a practical alternative to paper exams, potentially for the better.
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Exams in Scotland are to be adjusted or cancelled in 2021, the Education Secretary has announced.
The biggest announcement has seen National 5 exams cancelled and replaced with teacher assessments and coursework.
John Swinney said it was likely students would face disruption and that the Covid-19 pandemic was “too big a risk“.
Here is what you need to know.
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School exams are to return in 2021 – the Education Secretary in Scotland, John Swinney, has said.
There was significant changes to original grading in the results of 2020 GCSEs and A-Levels, after exams this summer had been cancelled.
Mr Swinney was speaking at the National Parent Forum of Scotland. This blog post is about being prepared for exams.
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Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said he is “deeply sorry” to school pupils who had grades downgraded as a result of this summer’s exam algorithm and has said he is “determined” exams will go ahead in 2021.
The Education Secretary was speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday – his first appearance in Parliament since the decision was made to award pupils with their predicted grades for this summer’s exams.
Find out what he had to say by reading the blog post below.
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A school catch up plan is in operation within many schools in the UK. Scotland have announced plans to get all pupils back to school over the next two weeks. In England, pupils will return full-time from September.
But the need to get children caught up on many essentials means changes to the curriculum in others.
Exam body, Ofqual, said they had “significant concern” about school’s abilities to cover all the subjects that form the basis of exam questions.
What could this mean for how education looks in 2020-21? This blog post explains.
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Information is emerging about the methodology for awarding student grades for this academic year.
Grades look set to be informed by your current data and an element of student ranking within your subject. Grades will be moderated against prior KS2 data, prior school attainment data and national distribution of grades.
The process brings about many challenges – not least the threat of bias. But what should be taken into account to ensure a fair and justifiable approach.
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To revise is a crucial skill in preparing for exams. As end of year exams edge clearly, revision will form a crucial part of your strategy of best performing for an exam.
But when is the best time to revise? Is it during the day? Is it during the night?
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Exam season is difficult for everyone, and many students will find themselves feeling stressed as well as overwhelmed.
It can be hard to prepare them for the upcoming tests, but you can at least try to make it easier on them. Here are five simple strategies that you can use to help prepare students for exams.
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Pay attention at the back – the papers are marked, the grades are in. The long-awaited year of the GCSE shakeup can now be dissected and analysed.
The question is – what did we learn from the new GCSE results?
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The subject of whether or not exam results are an accurate measure of achievement is one that has found itself in the headlines quite frequently over the past couple of years.
There are many voices on either side of the debate – all seemingly promoting logical yet diametrically opposing views. So, do exam results matter and are they an indicator of ability?
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At the end of March, 2017, the government announced that they were looking to replace KS1 SATs with teacher assessments.
For years, teachers and parents alike have been pressuring the government to scrap SATs for seven-year-olds because they felt that these tests placed unnecessary stress on everyone involved, and were not reliable indicators of a student’s ability.
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Exam times are a very stressful period for students, and while a small amount of stress can be motivational, too much is the opposite and means that students won’t be able to perform at their best.
But what can be done to alleviate stress during this very important time? Mindfulness is a bit of a buzzword at the moment and it’s easy to dismiss it as the latest fad.
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As is commonplace for those in the education system, the past 24 months have marked much change, not least of which is the new GCSE grade scale.
Teachers, parents and pupils alike have faced a transition from the old scale of U – A*, to U to 9. Let’s explore what this change means and why it has been put in place.
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Teaching mindfulness is becoming increasingly popular in primary and secondary schools, and with good reason.
This mind-body approach focuses on living in the present moment and being aware of our thoughts and feelings.
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Whilst formative feedback is used as a tool for regular evaluation of achievement or to look at and set up methods to stem the areas where students need to make improvement, summative feedback is just as crucial and should be used in conjunction with formative assessment to give a rounded picture of learning rather than purely on its own.
Summative feedback can be used just as effectively as formative feedback as there are a number of tools and processes for obtaining the data and information regarding the learning which has taken place.
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From arriving at school on time to handing in homework when required, pupil time management is a key factor in their time spent at school. Getting ready for PE, changing back into their uniform for following lessons and arriving for school trips in a timely manner are all examples of how the time management of pupils is tested each day.
Children of all ages are easily distracted and combined with any thoughts of not wanting to be in a particular place at a particular time can quickly lead to lesson disruption and pupil and teacher frustration.
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In this month’s issue of ED Journal, we explored a few methods we believed would be beneficial to a pupil’s revision programme. Although the majority of the article focused on technological aspects, the use of certain websites for example, there was one suggestion we included that did not require any kind of technology (although it certainly could be incorporated). I would like to look a little more in-depth at this strategy and the theory behind it.
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Alongside the standard revision advice we issue to our pupils which includes the importance of not cramming, using cue cards and mind maps, completing practice papers and dissecting the marking criteria, at EDLounge we believe there are great possibilities for utilising more technological methods for revision purposes.
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Over the past 4 years we have worked with over 300 schools that have incorporated numerous strategies into their alternative curriculum environments. The primary focus in all of these establishments is to raise overall standards by delivering a suitable and well-rounded provision to help raise the students’ A*-Cs attainment. Some of these strategies have been successful whilst the majority have failed due to lack of support, funding or expertise.
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The next generation BTEC brings new challenges for all our schools: externally assessed units and new rules regarding coursework feedback. It is no longer BTEC ‘as we know it’. It’s a completely different regime. The bar has been raised to add more rigour and credibility to the subject.
No longer can BTEC be thought of as a ‘sink’ option for those learners who don’t want to do certain subjects or who don’t seem to fit well anywhere else or for your alternative curriculum students.
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