Thinking beyond memorising: cognitive levels
The school explains, again and again, that tests should ask pupils to apply, analyse and create, not just repeat facts. Pupils are taught the cognitive levels so they understand hard exam questions. This matters because it underpins the school's academic standard and its 75% aspirational pass.
How it developed: Starts as a parent explainer in 2018. By 2022 teachers use it as everyday classroom vocabulary, and by 2026 it is a response to pupils' complaints about unseen test questions.
The thread's title and description are AI-written, drawn from the episodes below. The quotations are verbatim from the episode audio, each linked to the moment it was said.
What was said
“What it's asking you to do is engage with the work and the material and the knowledge and skills at a higher cognitive level, not just about using it, but be able to solve problems with it, to analyze it.”
“traditionally, assessment is about memorizing a whole lot of information and facts and skills, and then regurgitating that for cognitive level one and two, and then being able to apply those skills and that knowledge for cognitive level three kind of questions.”
“But we want our kids to engage in the higher cognitive thinking spaces, which is synthesizing, analyzing, creating.”
“understanding how the paper's been structured gives you an element of control because you know what to expect, and it might mitigate some of the anxiety that's going into an exam.”
“And teacher will invariably say, well, in every good assessment, there is going to be one or two questions your child has never seen before. That's what your highest cognitive level is all about.”
Episodes in this thread
- 2 Things Every Parent Wishes They'd Known Sooner 21 November 2018
- Exams 2021 Term 2 - how to prepare 6 July 2020
- Breaking Legacy Thinking in Schools | Francois Naude 9 March 2021
- Are you ready to be a REAL Math teacher? 15 November 2022
- Capacity Building | Candice Yorke, Counselling Psychologist 19 February 2026