Re-Examining Success: Raising Pupils Examination Performance at Secondary School: Systems, Techniques, Processes and Partners

It’s time to look at how to maximise examination success for your pupils and your school in a whole new way.

While the examination performance of pupils can define a school’s success, schools have been less than systematic in preparing pupils to give their optimal performance. They focus too heavily on outcomes and too lightly on inputs to the learning process which influence performance. Whole school revision strategies, if they exist, are often curriculum knowledge based, and not designed to support and challenge individual pupils effectively.

This book provides the research and practical insights required to radically review and remodel exam preparation provision with a view to ensuring more pupils, particularly those that are vulnerable, can perform to their potential. It explores recent knowledge acquisition and retention strategies, looks at reviewing pedagogical approaches across the curriculum, and addresses the need to work with pupils and parents in new ways. Most importantly it takes an ethical and mentally healthy approach to looking at effective exam preparation.

Individual teachers or school leaders can use the book to enhance their current provision at a personal level, while headteachers can drive more radical change by implementing the strategies and approaches at a whole school level.

David Hughes was a teacher and senior leader within the secondary and tertiary sectors for over 24 years, working in a range of both successful and failing schools. He has led and managed improvement projects at local authority, regional and national levels. Whilst working on the Building Schools for the Future programme, he was seconded for almost two years to support the development of the Opening Minds curriculum, devised in collaboration with the Confederation of British Industry as a twenty-first century learning model for schools, which mirrored the world’s most effective educational systems and addressed the attitudes, behaviours and competences required of the modern learner. He is an associate of the University of Nottingham School of Education and a writer for the educational press.