I have just received a Qualifications and Curriculum Authority letter about this year’s key stage 3 English exams. This states that marked scripts will be returned to us on August 24, and the closing date for review requests will be September 16.
I would like the QCA to note the following:l August 24 is in the summer holidays, when English staff are not required to be in school;l the autumn term starts on Tuesday, September 6, leaving nine working days to review more than 200 scripts at the busiest time of the new academic year, a timescale that is neither reasonable nor realistic;l the school will not be able to meet its legal responsibility to inform parents of their child’s English Sats result at the end of the key stage;l Sats results will not be able to be used for dividing pupils into sets for KS4.
I cannot envisage how this new set of dates improves anything in relation to the English KS3 Sats.
In fact, this schedule makes them a total waste of time for pupils, parents and the school.I trust the QCA will review the dates as quickly as possible to avoid the farce of last year.
CR Atkinson Headteacher St James’s Church of England secondary school, Lucas Road Farnworth, Bolton
