Year 10 Next Steps for KS4 Success – Information for Parents and Carers
As students move through Year 10, they begin the most important stage of their Key Stage 4 journey. To support them in making strong progress, teachers have created the Year 10 Next Steps for KS4 Success report—an easy to use guide designed to help families understand what students need to focus on, how to strengthen learning habits at home, and where to access subject specific support.
This guide is intended to help you have purposeful conversations with your child about their effort, home learning routines, and next steps in every GCSE and BTEC subject they study.
Year 10 Next Steps Report
What is the purpose of the Next Steps report?
The report brings together, in one place:
1. Expectations for effort and home learning
- The opening section outlines the key learning behaviours that lead to success, both in class and at home.
- It includes an Effort grid, which shows the difference between Good and Outstanding learning behaviours—such as arriving equipped, completing home learning on time, keeping excellent quality exercise books, and using feedback to improve.
2. The importance of high attendance
- The guide highlights that students should aim for 98% attendance or higher, as this is closely linked to strong examination outcomes.
3. Clear subject by subject next steps
Each subject page shows:
- What knowledge and skills students need to secure at different grade boundaries
- The topics they should revisit or complete
- What strong progress looks like at their target grade
- Useful revision materials, including links to Teams resources, recommended websites, after school sessions, and revision guides
This allows families to see exactly what their child needs to do to move from their current level to their next target.
Support for responding to teacher feedback
The report helps students use teacher comments more effectively by showing them:
- How to revisit areas they are not yet confident in
- How to use exercise books as revision guides
- How to self test and consolidate knowledge over time
Preparation for Year 10 assessments
Year 10 includes two formal points of assessment:
- Spring Progress Exams (to identify their currently working at grades alongside class work)
- End of Year 10 Exams