UAE: Students, schools gear up for GCSE, AS level, A level exams

Students in the UAE are gearing up for GCSE, AS level and A level exams, that are set to start on May 15, 2023 - less than two weeks from now.

The exams will return to pre-pandemic arrangements this summer all across the world.

Shedding light on how the preparations are progressing, Lewis Hammill, Deputy Head of Secondary, GEMS FirstPoint School – The Villa says, “We decided to run the timetable as normal during the examination series, not granting ‘study leave’. This increases student-teacher contact time, giving them more opportunities to learn from an expert. Directly before each exam, we provide additional time for subjects to run intensive revision sessions. Our message to staff is simple: Personalise the learning, feedback and motivational strategies. We need to make the most of every single minute with our students.”

Apart from rallying spirits and encouraging students to succeed, schools have also come up with some last-minute strategies.

“There are several things that we do to support our students," adds Hammill. "First, we can encourage them to focus on their strengths. Rather than trying to cover every topic in depth, they should prioritise the areas where they feel most confident, and then focus on the areas they need to develop. They should focus on the key elements of these topics, as opposed to the topic as a whole. This will allow them to see the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. In turn, this will help to build their confidence and ensure that they perform well in the areas that they are most comfortable with, and give those areas that they are not, a really good go."

"Second, we help our students to manage their time effectively. We all know that time management can be a challenge, but it is essential if our students are going to perform to the best of their ability. Heads of Department and Class Teachers place great focus on allocating the appropriate time to assessment objectives and types of responses,” he says.

Heads of Year and Form Tutors are continually encouraging students to use revision timetables and to break their revision down into manageable chunks.

Headteachers reiterate they are helping students as much as possible to stay on track and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Schools are holding extra lessons to ensure that all content has been covered and reinforced.

Alan Forbes, Head of Secondary, Star International School, Mirdif opines, “Preparations for our GCSE exams are progressing very well, with our Year 11 students working hard in all lessons. They have also been busy practising and revising at home. All subject areas have specific intervention strategies to encourage all students of all abilities to achieve their personal best. Lessons will continue for each subject until the final examination for that subject is taken.”

Although there are concerns raised over the teacher strike in the UK ahead of the GCSE- A level exams, but school heads here opine students in the UAE will have no ramifications by the disruptions abroad.

“At this stage, I cannot see any cause for disruption to our preparation for or to the running of our external exams due to the activity in the UK. This may well influence the ways things are planned for and covered for Year 11 students in the UK and perhaps exam boards might want to consider this when looking at grade boundaries, for example. But this can only favour international students whose lessons and teachers have not been affected by what is happening in the UK,” adds Forbes.

With the completion of courses, students are utilising the remaining time to review course materials and practise mock papers.

Gemma Thornley, Secondary Principal, GEMS Wellington Academy – Al Khail says, “Exam preparations are a crucial part of the academic year, and both staff and students are working very hard. Courses have now finished, and all lessons are focused on reviewing course materials, practising exam papers and making good use of the time they have remaining to make sure students have mastered the approaches to the exam requirements. Our teachers are providing guidance and support to students in a variety of ways including mentoring them for their well-being, grading past papers, and adjusting their lesson plans to focus on key concepts and skills.”

“We haven’t adjusted our school day as the intervention starts in the classroom, with a strong pastoral care programme wrapped around the students. For example, all of Year 11 have a personal 1:1 and group mentor who is part of the Senior and Middle Leadership Team who works with them on a Tuesday morning to look at exam stress, reflection tasks, planning schedules and managing time effectively. We have also devised a Learning to Learn programme this year aimed at Years 11, 12 and 13, where our students have been taught specific learning tools to enable them to revise, retain information and access the higher-order thinking skills during the revision process,” she adds.

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