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How the term mark is worked out

Schools combine continuous assessment and the end-of-term exam in different ways, and there is no single right answer. This guide shows how to tell ZamSkools which way your school does it, so every learner's term result matches the way you have always graded.

Where to find it

Sign in as the school administrator or head teacher → School Settings → “How the term mark is worked out”. Pick the shape that matches your school, set the shares, and save.

The 'How the term mark is worked out' block in ZamSkools School Settings, showing three choices: End of Term only, Continuous Assessment plus End of Term, and Mid-Term plus End of Term. — The three shapes. The one currently in force is ticked — here it is “End of Term only”, which is the default for a new school.

The three shapes

1. End of Term only

Your CAs happen in the classroom and the exercise book; only the end-of-term mark is typed into the system. The term result is that mark.

End of Term 80 → term mark 80%

This is the default, and it is what most schools moving from a spreadsheet start with.

2. Continuous Assessment + End of Term

Each CA is entered on its own, then combined with the end-of-term mark by the shares you set. All the CAs are averaged together first, so it makes no difference whether you run two CAs or five — you never have to change the setting.

CA 60 and CA 70 → CA average 65
65 × 40% + 80 × 60% → term mark 74%

3. Mid-Term + End of Term

One mid-term assessment, combined with the end-of-term mark.

Mid-Term 60 × 30% + End of Term 80 × 70% → term mark 74%

Setting the shares

Type what each part contributes. Two things worth knowing:

They need not add up to 100. Entering 4 and 6 works exactly the same as 40 and 60 — ZamSkools works out the proportion for you.
Three parts are available, because these are what Zambian schools actually grade a term on: Continuous Assessment (CA / Test), Mid-Term Exam and End of Term Exam. Use as many as your school runs, and leave out the rest.

Continuous Assessment plus End of Term selected, with shares set to CA 40 and End of Term 60, and a worked example showing a learner scoring CA 60%, CA 70% and End of Term 80% receives 74%. — “Continuous Assessment + End of Term” with a 40/60 split. Each share also shows what it works out to as a percentage, and the worked example updates as you type.

A mid-term exam added as a third weighted part alongside continuous assessment and the end-of-term exam, each with its own share. — A third part added — here a mid-term exam sits alongside CA and the end-of-term exam, each with its own share.

What about the beginning-of-term exam? It is a diagnostic — it measures what learners arrived with, before you taught them the term's work. Counting it in the term mark would mark a learner on knowledge they were not yet meant to have, so ZamSkools sets it up as an exam but never lets it carry weight. The same goes for mock and final examinations: real exams, scored on their own, not parts of a term average.

Check the worked example before you save. The settings page shows what a learner with sample marks would score under your settings, worked out by the same engine that will grade your school — not an illustration. If the number does not look like what your school would have written by hand, adjust the shares until it does.

What happens if a CA was not entered?

Nothing bad. If a learner has no CA mark for a subject, the remaining parts are shared out over what is there — so a learner is never marked down for an assessment the school did not run that term.

Policy: CA 40% + End of Term 60%
Learner has only End of Term 80 → term mark 80% (End of Term counts 100%)

The system also records that the CA was missing, so you can see it rather than wonder.

The worked example panel showing a learner scoring Mid-Term 60% and End of Term 80% receives 74% under a 30/70 split. — The worked example is calculated by the same engine that grades your school — not an illustration. Change a share and this number moves with it.

What this setting changes

Where	Effect
Report cards	The subject total and the term average printed on every card
Class position	Rankings are computed from the same term mark
Growth Profile	Each subject's term-on-term journey uses these marks
Parent & pupil portals	Everyone sees the same number as the report card
SMS and USSD results	The same again — one rule, everywhere

It applies from now on, not retrospectively rewritten by hand. Term results are worked out from the marks whenever they are shown, so changing the policy changes what everyone sees — including for terms already entered. Change it between terms if you can, and tell your teachers when you do.

Who can change it

Can change it: school administrator, head teacher, deputy head.
Can see it: teachers, bursar and office staff — anyone who works with marks should know the rule in force.
Cannot see it: parents and pupils. They see the resulting marks, not the settings.

Your policy belongs to your school alone. No other school can see it or change it, and yours is never affected by anyone else's.

Choosing well

Start from what you already do. If your master sheet has one column per subject, you are shape 1. Do not add CA weighting just because it exists.
Match the share to the effort. If CAs are two short class tests and the exam is a full paper, 30/70 usually reflects reality better than 50/50.
Agree it once, school-wide. The setting is per school, so every class is graded the same way — which is exactly what makes class positions and growth trends comparable.