Bahamas Junior Certificate, BJC, is an examination
curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education of the
Bahamas which
is typically sat after three years of study by
junior high students at the end of Grade 9. Junior students at
Queen's College usually sit most, if not all, of their BJC
examinations by the end of Grade 8. Students at Queen's
College HIgh School sit BJC examinations in English Language,
Mathematics, General Science, Health Science, Religious
Education, Social Studies, Art, and Home Economics.
Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education, BGCSE,
is based on the United Kingdom GCSE (General Certificate of
Secondary Education) and the IGCSE (International General
Certificate of Secondary Education) models, but it has been
tailored to meet the specific needs of the Bahamas. BGCSE
examinations are designed to be taken after three years of
high school study culminating at Grade 12. At Queen's College,
most BGCSE are taken between Grades 10 and 11, and usually
after only two years of accelerated study.
Most BGCSE examinations have
two levels; a core level that covers the fundaments skills of
the course and students are awarded grades G through C and; an
extended level that covers more advanced concepts and in which
students can receive a grade of A through C for the subject.
Many BGCSE examinations have
a practical component that accounts for 30% or more of the
examination grade. This practical component comes in the form
of a written coursework or a series of laboratory practicals.
Pitman's
Pitman Qualifications are part of the British
City & Guilds vocational product range. Gaining a City &
Guilds Pitman Qualification provides students with an
internationally respected award recognising important
workplace skills such as communication, IT, accounting, and
administration.
Pitman exams can
be taken at the Basic, Elementary, Intermediate, Higher
Intermediate and Advanced levels. Queen's College High School
offers Pitman examination preparation in Computer Word
Processing, Accounting and Desktop Publishing.
PSAT
stands for Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. It's a
standardized test that provides firsthand practice for the SAT
I: Reasoning Test and SAT II: Writing Test. It also gives you
a chance to enter National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC)
scholarship programs.
The PSAT/NMSQT measures:
verbal
reasoning skills
critical
reading skills
math
problem-solving skills
writing skills
All Tenth Grade
students at Queen’s College sit the PSAT test in November.
The SAT, or
Scholastic Aptitude Test, is a three-hour test that
measures verbal and mathematical reasoning skills students
have developed over time and skills they need to be successful
academically. Many colleges and universities use the SAT as
one indicator among others-class rank, high school GPA,
extracurricular activities, personal essay, and teacher
recommendations-of a student's readiness to do college-level
work. SAT scores are compared with the scores of other
applicants, and the accepted scores at an institution, and can
be used as a basis for awarding merit-based financial aid.
The SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800 (for
math and verbal) and is typically taken by high school juniors
and seniors. The test is administered several times a year,
but all Eleventh Grade students are entered sit the exam in
November, giving them opportunities to re-sit late, if
necessary.
The SAT II, or
Scholastic Aptitude Subject Tests, are one-hour, mostly
multiple-choice tests, which measure how much students know
about a particular academic subject and how well they can
apply that knowledge.
Many colleges require or recommend one or
more of the Subject Tests for admission or placement. Used in
combination with other background information (your high
school record, scores from other tests like the SAT I, teacher
recommendations, etc.), they provide a dependable measure of
your academic achievement and are a good predictor of future
performance.
Queen’s College offers SAT II subject tests
in Math Level IC, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Spanish and
French. Twelfth Grade
students are presently given the opportunity to sit SAT II tests in
November of their senior year.
General Certificate of Education-Advanced Level, A-levels
For a long time
Queen's College has been the only high school in the Bahamas
that offers GCE A-level examinations to its students.
Recently, the GCE A-level curriculum has been re-structured to
allow the full advanced GCE to made up of six units. Students
can sit unit examinations individually, or in groups, to
received certificates in Advanced Subsidiary GCE (GCE-AS), and
upon taking all subject units, will lead to the student
earning a certificate for Advanced GCE (GCE A-level) in that
particular subject area.
Presently Queen's
College enters students to sit Advanced Subsidiary units in
History, English Literature and Mathematics.
Through college-level AP courses, students enter a universe of
knowledge that might otherwise remain unexplored in high
school; through AP Exams, students have the opportunity to
earn credit or advanced standing at most of the American
colleges and universities. Presently, Queen's College High
School is revising its timetable and curriculum to include the
opportunity for advanced students to sit at least three
Advanced Placement examinations in Spring of their senior
year. Currently QC offers the following AP Courses: English Language and
Writing, Spanish, French, Psychology and Microeconomics.
is typically sat after three years of study by
junior high students at the end of Grade 9. Junior students at
Queen's College usually sit most, if not all, of their BJC
examinations by the end of Grade 8. Students at Queen's
College HIgh School sit BJC examinations in English Language,
Mathematics, General Science, Health Science, Religious
Education, Social Studies, Art, and Home Economics.