As your child prepares for the challenges of S4, we have been considering how we can help them be ready for the unique pressures an exam year brings.

For many years our young people have fed back on how much of a shock to the system it is sitting in an exam hall for the first time. Combined with the time pressure of an exam paper it can be overwhelming.

With this in mind we will use some time in March to give our current S3s an experience of an exam diet.

They will -

·         sit some assessments under exam conditions either in the exam hall or areas used for young people who receive support.

·         follow the strict exam rules with regards behaviour, mobile devices etc.  

They will not -

·         sit full exam papers (1 hour maximum)

·         sit exams in all of their subjects

We hope that this gives our young people a real-life experience that prepares them better for S4 prelims and the final SQA exams. We also hope that it teaches them about time management and how to prepare properly for multiple assessments.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch at alva@edu.clacks.gov.uk

S3 assessments will take place between Monday 2nd March to Monday 16th March 2026.