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New Key Stage 3 assessment system
Welcome to our short guide on the new Key Stage 3 assessment system at The Chase.
Assessment plays a key role in learning — helping us monitor progress, identify difficulties, and provide the right support. Most assessments are done in lessons to check understanding, with more formal tests used less often to track progress and keep parents informed.
We're making some important changes to improve how we assess at Key Stage 3. The biggest change? We're moving away from using Key Stage 2 SATs results to set fixed targets. We know these scores don’t always reflect a student’s true ability or growth across all subjects.
This new assessment system will be introduced first with Year 7, allowing us to carefully monitor its impact before expanding it more widely.
Our new approach includes two formal assessments each year in core and foundation subjects. Reports to parents will include scores, year group averages, behaviour and learning attitudes, and a judgement on progress.
To measure that progress, we’ll use starting tiers—flexible groupings based on prior attainment, not fixed targets. As students develop, we’ll adjust their tier to match their current achievement.
Thanks for watching — and for supporting your child’s learning journey.
Our Current Approach to Assessment
There are three tracking windows calendared during the academic year:
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Autumn
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Spring
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Summer
On each occasion, information is provided by staff to keep the assessment of students current and therefore as accurate as possible. Progress reports are then distributed to parents electronically via The My Child at School (for Parents) and Student App/WebPortal.
More information about the MCAS Parents App can be found here
Parents can opt for a paper-based copy of this report by emailing the school.
To better understand your child’s grades and the assessment criteria we use, please refer to the relevant Grade Descriptor Guides below.
