Students at The British School of Nanjing are subject to the same examination schemes as any child in Britain, allowing us to clearly benchmark our school against other children in England. Since our inception students have regularly performed extremely well, and on average 85% of our students are on or above the expected requirements of the English National Curriculum.

The standardised tests, which aim to measure the performance of all pupils following the National Curriculum, show the level of attainment in reading, writing, numeracy and science. The British School of Nanjing administers SATs at the end of each academic year to all its students from Year 2 upwards. The tests aim to gauge the level of attainment of each student against UK established standards. The exams are set externally and independently, so all schools in England do the same test.

SATs

As in previous years, Children in Year 2 upwards took part in National Curriculum Tests (sometimes called “SATS”) towards the end of the final term. These tests feature papers looking at three key areas – maths, reading and writing – and usually take about a week. Children complete various papers that look at a range of skills carefully linked to the UK National Curriculum. These are then marked and leveled accordingly and can be used to compare children from different schools across the United Kingdom (as well as those around the world offering a British education)

As well as allowing us to report to parents and identify topics within subjects where individuals may need extra support, the information in these tests can also help us identify strengths in our teaching and areas where we can improve. The results from the  2010-2011 academic year are below, along with a brief analysis of what they tell us.

Maths

In 2011, 95% of our students were at least at the level expected for children in the same year group in the UK. 49 % ‘exceeded’ the level expected in the UK and 14% ‘excelled’, achieving levels considerably above those expected in the UK. This is a slight improvement over previous years with the number meeting the expectations rising again (from 91% in 2010)

Writing

The Writing test is often seen as a ‘trickier’ test than the reading one – in the UK in 2009, only 67% of year 6 students achieved the expected level and 19% exceeded this. As such, our results this year are especially pleasing: 81% of our students were at least at the level expected – up 2% from 2010 – and 42% exceeded these expectations.

Reading

In 2010, 77% of our students were at least at the level expected. (In line with previous years: 76% in 2008 and 77% in 2009). However, 2011 has seen a sharp improvement, with the effects of a more structure reading programme beginning to be felt and 86% achieving at least the expected levels and more than half our students (54%) going beyond expectations. Given that these figures include all our students, including those for whom English is not a first language, these results are excellent.

What This Means