GCSEPOD LAUNCHES NEW SECONDARY SCHOOL TRANSITION ASSESSMENTS

One of the UK’s leading education software providers, Access Education GCSEPod, has launched a new initiative to help teachers cut down on the time spent marking assessments – introducing self-marking Year 7 transition assessments.

 

Mirroring the SATs papers students take at the end of Key Stage 2, the transition assessments give teachers an accurate, up to date overview of their new students’ ability – identifying key areas of strength and weakness.

 

Focusing on the core subjects of numeracy and literacy, teachers can benefit from 3 entirely self-marking Maths assessments, and 3 English papers – proven to cut marking time by two thirds. 

 

Schools can now sign up for full access to all 6 assessment papers. The transition assessment will also be available to all GCSEPod subscribers from November.

 

The new feature comes as part of GCSEPod’s wider Key Stage 3 support, having recently introduced new KS3 curriculum content in light of demand from industry experts keen to shake up current practices.

 

Emma Slater, Head of Education at Access Education GCSEPod, said:

 

“For a number of students, the move from primary to secondary education can be a difficult transition, and it’s been shown that this period of change can negatively impact attainment in numeracy and literacy. We know that progress at KS3 has a direct effect on results in all subjects at GCSE, so our aim is to aid teachers in building a solid Maths and English foundations from year 7 onwards.

 

“It’s no secret that school budgets are currently stretched thin, meaning that many teachers are time and resource poor. With our new transition assessments, in Maths and English, teachers will save valuable time, allowing them to focus their attention where it’s most needed – in the classroom.

 

“A teacher with a class of 30 could save a massive 15 hours of work by using our self-marking transition Assessments.”

 

With the results of the assessments available in a downloadable file, teachers are able to upload the data into their own monitoring systems, and share with colleagues.

 

Maths teacher Judith Wills, added:

 

“Every September a new class of year 7 students eagerly arrive at teachers’ doors, and while teachers sometimes have the KS2 results for each child, it can be difficult to know exactly what the student can do now. These papers aim to provide teachers with a clear indication of what the students can still achieve after the summer and to help ease the students into their new year of learning.

“There are 3 papers, resembling the KS2 SAT papers, but they are multiple choice to allow for instant feedback and marking. There are shadow papers to accompany them for teachers to use either as revision material or to retest later on in the year.

“The students will receive their results at the end of the assessment, allowing them to go back and look at their answers and teachers will receive a report showing the marks, as well as individual, class and year reports to assist them in gauging students’ current understanding.”

Extending out to a total of 30 GCSE/ IGCSE subjects, users of the GCSEPod learning and revision tools are proven to achieve one grade higher, on average, than non-users. The GCSEPod content and assessments are accessible both in the classroom and at home, providing learners more flexibility and freedom when it comes to managing their progress and revision.

 

To find out more and sign up, visit https://www.theaccessgroup.com/en-gb/education/software/education-resources/key-stage-3-curriculum/#assesments