King's College School Murcia: Enhancing lower secondary curriculum and assessment practices

The school caters for students from 18 months to 18 years from over 25 nationalities and offers the English National Curriculum taught by British qualified teachers and assistants. Read how they have enhanced their lower secondary curriculum and assessment practices with our Pearson Edexcel iLowerSecondary curriculum.

Achieving curriculum coherence and standardising assessment

King’s College Murcia were looking to further improve curriculum coherence and assessment practices at Key Stage 3. They wanted to make sure the schemes of work reflected the latest teaching practices and were consistent in approach, to ensure the high quality of teaching and learning was maintained across the school. They also wanted to standardise assessment lower down the school.

Reinforcing best practice and consistency

The school chose Pearson Edexcel iLowerSecondary, a complete teaching and learning programme for use in international schools, to provide improved structure and consistency across the school. The programme includes sample schemes of work, exemplified units of work, internally assessed progress tests, externally assessed achievement tests and a comprehensive professional development programme.

“The Pearson iLowerSecondary Curriculum has enhanced our teaching and learning approaches in Key Stage 3. We are delighted with the impact on outcomes and believe in a seamless approach from lower secondary into International GCSE. Our students enjoy the content and feel well prepared for their next step!”

Dawn Akyurek, Head Teacher

LMS integration, independent learning, and solid progress tracking

Following implementation of iLowerSecondary, King’s College Murcia has started to integrate elements of the programme, such as schemes of work and lesson plans, into Canvas, the school’s learning management system.

The Progress Tests have transformed how assessments are carried out and used in the lower school. Students have become more independent and have increased agency in their learning which has been achieved through their improved understanding of the assessment objectives.

From as early as Year 7, students can be taught how to interpret mark schemes and get clarity on what is being expected of them. Using the iLS Progress Tests as the cycle tests also provides robust data which can be used for tracking progress with accuracy on where they are between Grades 1-9. This helps with accurate grouping and streaming students with minimal disruption and allows for earlier intervention and challenges for students.

“The Edexcel iLowerSecondary curriculum offers several benefits for our students at King’s College School Murcia. The clear and well structured pathway enables students to have a consistent learning experience making the transition between Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 fluid. The built- in tracking system helps educators monitor individual student growth, address learning gaps promptly, and tailor support to meet students’ needs, ensuring steady progress throughout their learning journey.”

Sophie Gardiner, Head of Key Stage 3