Assessment at Oak Wood School

Internal Assessment, monitoring and reports 

The purpose of this guidance is to support understanding of assessment and reporting at Oak Wood School, including how targets are set and how progress in the curriculum is measured against them.  

A student’s target represents the grade they would be expected to achieve by the end of their time with us if they make strong progress. We believe that clear, aspirational targets are essential in helping students understand their individual learning journeys; these targets are personalised for each student and for each subject.  

Monitoring and Grading 

Oak Wood School’s internal assessment, monitoring and reporting systems are designed to provide a clear, balanced picture of each pupil’s progress and development across the academic year. To support this, we issue two key report types. The first focuses on Attitude to Learning, offering insight into areas such as attendance, punctuality, engagement, effort, preparedness and behaviour in lessons. 

The second report outlines Attainment, reflecting the academic progress pupils make in each subject over the course of the assessment cycle.  

Together, these reports ensure that pupils and parents are well informed about both academic achievement and the learning behaviours that underpin success. 

Attendance and Punctuality   

Attendance and punctuality play a crucial role in a student’s academic success, and both are clearly reflected in your child’s school report. Attendance is reported as a percentage and has a direct impact on attainment. Similarly, punctuality is reported in minutes late and also affects learning. Where small losses can accumulate quickly, leading to gaps in knowledge and reduced outcomes. We encourage all parents to support their child in maintaining excellent attendance and punctuality to maximise their academic potential.   

Rewards and Sanctions   

As part of our commitment to supporting positive behaviour and celebrating success, your child’s report will also include information on their behaviour and rewards. Behaviour is recorded as the number of behaviour points received per subject, helping to identify patterns and areas where additional support may be needed. These points reflect incidents where expectations around conduct or attitude have not been met. In contrast, reward points are given for positive contributions such as effort, achievement, kindness, and participation, and are also shown per subject. By reporting both behaviour and reward points, we aim to provide a balanced and transparent picture of your child’s conduct and the recognition they receive for their positive efforts.   

Knowledge is Key quiz score   

The Knowledge is Key quizzes are part of a school-wide initiative designed to help students develop and retain essential subject knowledge. Students receive booklets containing these sheets and practice exercises to support regular retrieval practice. In addition to homework, weekly form sessions include quizzes to reinforce learning. At the end of each half-term, students complete a quiz in lessons, and the average percentage results from these are recorded. These quizzes help identify gaps in understanding, allowing students to strengthen their foundational knowledge and make progress in each subject.   

Attitude to learning   

Your child's report will include a section on Attitude to Learning, which is based on three key areas: Ready to Learn, Engagement, and Presentation. These areas reflect how well a student is prepared for lessons, how actively they participate, and the quality of their written work. For each area, teachers will give a rating on a scale from Unsatisfactory to Excellent, providing a clear overview of your child’s learning habits. This helps highlight both strengths and areas where further improvement or support may be needed.   

Attainment & Progress   

Our school attainment reports are designed to give you a clear picture of how your child is performing in each subject. Each subject report will include a current grade, target grade, and a measure of progress.  

In year 7 our school attainment reports are designed to give you a clear picture of how your child is performing in each subject. Each subject report will include a target grade and an overview of progress. Instead of a single current grade, progress will be reported through clear descriptors against key component strands of the curriculum.  

Subject	Assessment Strands
Art	Subject Knowledge		Application	Refining Practice	Presentation
Computing	Computer Science		Information Technology	Digital Literacy
Cooking & Nutrition	Practical Skills	Nutrition	Food Safety	Planning	Creativity
Drama	Knowledge & Understanding		Responding to Drama	Creating Drama	Performing Drama
English	Reading	Writing	Speaking & Listening
Geography	Location & Place Knowledge	Human & Physical processes	Geographical skills	Mathematics & Statistics skills
Graphics	Visual Communication	Drawing & Technical Skills	Digital Skills	Design Process	Audience & Purpose
History	Period & Chronological Knowledge	Cause & Consequence	Change & Continuity	Sources & Interpretations	Historical Significance
Maths	Substantive Mathematical Knowledge		Fluency	Mathematical Reasoning	Problem Solving
Music	Sound production		Musical Grammar	Sound Creation	Musical Literacy
Languages	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking
Physical Education	Performance	Understanding	Personal Development	Health & Safety	Engagement & Leadership
Religious Studies	Knowledge	Use of Evidence	Explanation	Evaluative Judgements
Resistant Materials	Health & Safety	User & Purpose	Design Process	Making skills	Evaluate
Science	Biology	Chemistry	Physics	Working Scientifically

These descriptors indicate whether your child is Working Towards, Expected, or Strong in each area. Progress is measured against the expectations of our curriculum, which has been carefully sequenced and defined by subject leaders. Reports reflect how well your child is achieving within each component strand in relation to these expectations.  

The current progress, in years 9 to 11, is calculated by comparing your child’s performance in recent assessments with the expectations based on their individual starting point. These starting points are determined using a combination of their KS2 results and CAT4 test scores and are benchmarked against national data from high-performing schools in the top 20% across the country. This allows us to provide a fair and ambitious measure of progress that takes into account your child’s potential and helps us identify where further support or challenge may be needed. 

At Key Stage 5, progress is measured using value added scores, which compare students’ A-Level outcomes with expectations based on their prior attainment at GCSE. Targets are generated using each student’s average GCSE scores, which are benchmarked against national data to predict likely A-Level and Vocational performance for students with similar starting points. Progress is then evaluated by comparing these predicted grades with the grades ultimately achieved. This approach provides a fair and meaningful measure of progress, recognising the academic development students make during their time in the Sixth Form and helping the school to identify where additional support or appropriate challenge may be required.

Annual Internal Assessment Cycle, Calendar and Deadlines 

The Oak Wood School Annual Assessment Cycle Calendar provides a clear overview of how assessment, review, and reporting take place across the academic year. It is designed to ensure that assessment activities are purposeful, well-timed, and aligned with teaching and learning priorities, while avoiding unnecessary duplication or overload.  

By mapping out key assessment points, moderation, analysis, and reporting windows, the 2026-27 calendar supports consistency, transparency, and effective use of assessment information to inform teaching, support pupil progress, and communicate clearly with parents and carers. 

	Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	Year 12	Year 13
September	CAT4 & NGRT Tests	CAT4 & NGRT Tests	CAT4 & NGRT Tests	Tutor Event	Tutor Event	Assessment 1 Window
October	Tutor Event	Tutor Event			Sixth form open evening	Reports issued	Assessment 1 Window
					Walking Talking Mocks
November			Reports Issued	Reports Issued	Trial Exams		Reports Issued
			Progress Evening
December	Reports Issued	Reports Issued			Reports Issued	Assessment 2 Window	Trial Exams
January	Progress Evening			Assessment 1 Window	Progress Evening	Reports Issued	Reports Issued
						Progress Evening	Progress Evening
February			Reports Issued	Reports Issued	Walking Talking Mocks	Assessment 3 Window
			Options Evening		Trial Exams
March		Progress Evening			Trial Exams		Assessment 3 Window
					Reports Issued		Reports Issued
April
May					GCSE Exams		GCE Exams
June	Reports Issued		Reports Issued	Trial Exams	GCSE Exams	Trial Exams	GCE Exams
July		Reports Issued		Reports Issued	GCSE Exams	Reports Issued	GCE Exams
August					Results Day		Results Day

Key dates   

We would also like to make you aware of the key dates in this year’s reporting cycle for each year group. 

Year 7 

Tuesday 8th – Wednesday 9th September 2026 – Year 7 CAT4 Tests   
Wednesday 6th January 2027 – Initial Attitude to Learning Report   
Wednesday 30th June 2027 – End-of-Year Attainment Report   

Year 8 

Tuesday 8th September 2026 – Year 8 catch up CAT4 Tests   
Wednesday 6th January 2027 – Initial Attitude to Learning Report   
Wednesday 7th July 2027 – End-of-Year Attainment Report   

Year 9 

Tuesday 8th September 2026 – Year 9 catch up CAT4 Tests   
Wednesday 4th November 2026 – Initial Attitude to Learning Report   
Wednesday 3rd February 2027 – First Attainment Report  
Wednesday 23rd June 2027 – End-of-Year Attainment Report   

Year 10 

Tuesday 8th September 2026 – Year 10 catch up CAT4 Tests   
Wednesday 11th November 2026 – Initial Attitude to Learning Report   
Wednesday 24th February 2027 – First Attainment Report  
Wednesday 14th July 2027 – End-of-Year Attainment Report & Results assembly  

Year 11 

Tuesday 8th September 2026 – Year 10 catch up CAT4 Tests   
Wednesday 11th November 2026 – Initial Attitude to Learning Report   
Wednesday 24th February 2027 – First Attainment Report  
Wednesday 14th July 2027 – End-of-Year Attainment Report & Results assembly  

Year 12 

Wednesday 21st October 2025 – First Attainment Report  
Wednesday 6th January 2026 – Second Attainment Report 
Wednesday 7th July 2026 – End-of-Year Attainment Report   

Year 13 

Wednesday 4th November 2025 – First Attainment Report  
Wednesday 24th March 2026 – End-of-Year Attainment Report