Practice Test 1 - Comprehension
The Comprehension Test
This test carries between 10 and 12 marks. You will be asked a series of questions on a passage of text from a government report or a school based document. These questions will test your ability to identify, for example, main points in a text, the distinction between fact and opinion, and how to make inferences and deductions.
Read the following extract from the HM Chief Inspector of Schools Annual Report 2013/14 and answer the questions which follow:
1. Primary schools in England are getting better, but improvement in secondary schools has stalled. Eighty two per cent of primary schools are now good or outstanding, which is an increase of three percentage points over last year. By contrast, just 71% of secondary schools are at least good, a figure that has not changed since 2012/13. The proportion of pupils doing well in the national tests at the age of 11 has risen by three percentage points this year. In comparison, GCSE results have not risen over the last three years and the gap in attainment at GCSE between pupils from poorer backgrounds and their more affluent peers is not closing quickly enough.
2. Strong leadership is crucial but not enough schools have good leaders. Inspection shows that, out of all schools, there are nearly 3,500 where leadership is not good enough. However, there is a disproportionately high number of secondary schools where leadership has been judged inadequate or as requiring improvement. Twenty three per cent of secondary schools have weak leadership compared with 16% of primary schools.
3. The best schools focus on high-quality teaching. Successful primary headteachers and their staff know their pupils’ abilities well and they ensure that teaching is focused on getting the basics right, particularly literacy. In contrast, less successful secondary schools are struggling to identify the needs of their pupils accurately enough to teach the curriculum in a way that meets those needs. Weaker secondary headteachers fail to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistent across all subject areas. They have not developed staff or managed their performance effectively.
4. Good teachers are in short supply where they are needed most. Schools can only be as good as the people who work in them. However, our evidence shows that the areas of the country where standards are lowest not only have the most urgent need for strong leaders, but they are also not attracting or retaining teachers of the right calibre. The schools in these areas often also serve disproportionately high numbers of pupils from poorer backgrounds. The allocation of teacher training places needs to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of high quality teachers to meet the needs of disadvantaged areas. Schools will never succeed in narrowing the achievement gap unless this problem is solved.
5. Secondary schools are not stretching our most able pupils. Too often, high-attaining 11-year-olds do not go on to achieve A and A* grades at GCSE. This year our inspectors looked carefully at how schools were challenging these pupils. In a third of all secondary schools inspected, they recommended that able pupils should be given more challenging work and that teaching should take better account of their abilities.
6. Although children from poor backgrounds are doing better, particularly at primary, they are still too far behind other pupils. The achievement gap between economically disadvantaged children and their peers is not closing quickly enough in secondary schools. The achievements of disadvantaged children from some ethnic backgrounds show that it is possible to close the gap, but poor White children continue to perform less well than all others. This year, inspectors focused sharply on what schools are doing to support the most disadvantaged children.
7. The right school culture is critical for improvement. Pupils need a structured learning environment where expectations are high if they are to succeed. Our recent report ‘Below the radar’ highlighted significant weaknesses in pupils’ attitudes. It identified low-level disruptive behaviour and persistent challenges to teacher authority, particularly in secondary schools. Parents and teachers told us that this is a major concern for them. In schools inspected this year, there was a substantial fall in the number of secondary schools in which behaviour was judged good or outstanding compared with those inspected in the previous year.
8. Without effective challenge, support and intervention, many underperforming schools do not improve. Where headteachers are not sufficiently supported and held to account, underperformance and failure often follow. This decline occurs regardless of whether a school is in a multi-academy trust (MAT) or maintained by a local authority. Our inspections of academies in weak MATs found a worrying lack of urgency to bring about improvement. Our inspections of weak local authorities identified that they know too little about the attainment and progress of pupils in their area. These MATs and local authorities are not giving enough support to underperforming schools and not challenging coasting schools adequately.
8. Without effective challenge, support and intervention, many underperforming schools do not improve. Where headteachers are not sufficiently supported and held to account, underperformance and failure often follow. This decline occurs regardless of whether a school is in a multi-academy trust (MAT) or maintained by a local authority. Our inspections of academies in weak MATs found a worrying lack of urgency to bring about improvement. Our inspections of weak local authorities identified that they know too little about the attainment and progress of pupils in their area. These MATs and local authorities are not giving enough support to underperforming schools and not challenging coasting schools adequately.
9. It is too early to judge the overall performance of free schools. We have inspected 76 of the 237 free schools and therefore it is too early to draw firm conclusions. However, those inspected to date have a similar profile of inspection judgements to other schools and our inspections indicate that free schools succeed or fail for broadly the same reasons as all other types of school.
10. Too many academies do not receive effective challenge and support. More than 2,000 academies are not part of a MAT and some have become isolated. Isolation can lead to underperformance. Our analysis of academies that experienced a sharp fall in inspection grade last year shows that most had not made arrangements for external support and challenge until it was too late and serious decline had set in.
11. Schools have responded positively to the challenge of inspection. Two thirds of those schools re-inspected this year that were previously judged as requires improvement got to good or outstanding following a tailored programme of challenge and support from Her Majesty’s Inspectors.