Our resources follow the specification and topics exactly, concluding with a short test. Each test uses the command words you would expect to see in an examination such as state, describe and explain.

EVERY TEST 20 MARKS

All the end of topic tests contain a variety of question types and are differentiated. A maximum of 20 marks are available. This allows you to easily compare student performace across topics, but also means that a test can be completed in approximately 20 minutes. A useful summative assessment without dominating your lesson, and allowing time for other activities too.

THE RIGHT PITCH

The questions are pitched at a level that is commensurate with typical exam questions. However, they are not a substitute for real past papers, they are a simple test of knowledge retention and understanding from a topic. If your learners find them a little easy, remember this is because they have just learned the topic! That’s probably a good thing otherwise they haven’t learned very much!

QUICK AND EASY TO MARK

In our own lessons we ask students to bring their paper to the front when they have finished and then quietly work on independent programming tasks. Because the tests are short, this allows us to just about mark the tests as they are coming in, so that students often get their result in the same lesson. Of course full mark schemes are provided!

ROSENSHINE’S HIGH SUCCESS RATE

If students don’t achieve 80% (16 marks) they resit the same test at a later date. Achieving a high success rate is important if students are to perform well in final exams. Of course you can adapt this “pass mark” to suit different learners if that’s appropriate. In a comprehensive setting, expect some students to achieve about 10-13, most students to achieve 14-18 and a few to achieve 19-20. Using Smart Revise will also help your learners enormously. We don’t provide grade boundaries for our tests because they are too short, covering only one topic at a time for that to be meaningful.

ROSENSHINE’S MONTHLY REVIEW

It is a good idea to use the same tests again at a later date, just to ensure that students are retaining the knowledge. You’ll be surprised at how much they forget, but they will also become familiar with the questions. That’s the point, they are learning the answers!