Why no standardised CAPS tests/exams​ in 3rd Term

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We get this question a lot.

Why don’t we have exams or tests for the 3rd term (September month)?

We do have a simple answer, but before we give you this answer you need to understand what is SBA first.

SBA – School Based Assessment
Schools across South Africa (private or public) needs to follow CAPS.  CAPS has different rules for each term and grade. For example:

Gr. 1 – 3
100% SBA.

Gr. 4 – 6
25% Test / Exam and 75% SBA.

Gr. 7 – 9
40% Test / Exam and 60% SBA.

Gr. 10 – 12
75% Test / Exam and 25% SBA.

(Gr. 12 however does have Trial Exams – September exams set by the Department only and may be different from province to province)

CAPS tests

Each grade and subject has different weights for each area or topic.

Teachers should give marks accordingly to CAPS Documents as outlined in each grade and subject. Best Education has both Afrikaans and English versions for each subject available.  You will find the information at the back of each Policy Document.

In term 1, 2 and four, all school must write standardised tests/exams. – available on Best Education.

The difference with Term 3 is there are no guidelines on what can or should be tested. It is the only term a teacher/educator will set tests (not exams) for learners.  The only thing teachers may ask is what they have done in classwork or languages and Maths it will be all work covered as it is broad. We suggest you work with ANA papers, all previous terms language and Maths papers.

In simple terms, all papers will be different except if you get a teacher who copied a previous exam.  Mostly all from past exam papers from Best Education.

There you go, now you know why we don’t have September tests.