IGCSE to introduce review tests for class 5 students

From next year, primary school students of schools affiliated to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) board will be able to appear for a ‘checkpoint test’ at the end of Class 5.

From next year, primary school students of schools affiliated to the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) board will be able to appear for a ‘checkpoint test’ at the end of Class 5.

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The optional test, which will assess students on what they learned in the three-year period from Class 3 to Class 5, is part of a re-launched primary and secondary programme put in place by the board. The board is already offering these tests to students at the end of Class 8.

“We want to enable the tracking of student progress from Classes 3 to 8 so that students, parents and teachers know how they are doing,” said Andrew Sortwell, the board’s regional manager for South Asia, who joined office last month. “As a thorough assessment, it would help look at areas of students’ strengths and weaknesses.”

The first checkpoint test, scheduled for 2012, will be externally marked and aims to provide a “useful comparison” for students of IGCSE schools across the world. Students will be offered tests on Maths, Science and English. Around 450 students in the city will be eligible for the first set of checkpoint tests next year.

IGCSE schools in the city are looking forward to introducing the tests from next year. “It would provide an entire analysis of the child’s strengths and weaknesses,” said Vandana Lulla, principal of Podar International School in Santacruz.

“As a standardised test assessing students over a three-year period it is an excellent move by the board,” she added.

The University of Cambridge International Examinations hands out IGCSE qualifications. There are 254 IGCSE-affiliated schools in India, with around 50 of them in Mumbai.