Like all parents you want to help your child do their best at school and get good exam marks. But it's not always easy. Ask them about their homework and all too often you get blank looks or you don't see them for dust.

To make things even more tricky, some of the jargon used by people in education can be pretty baffling. There is, though, something we should all know about. You've probably heard about Key Stage 3 - KS3 for short. It stands for the first three years of secondary education when children are between 11 and 14 years old.

These are very important years because it's a time when children develop the knowledge and the skills that they need for their future education. Children are tested in English, maths and science at the end of Year 9, when they are 13 to 14. Doing well in the KS3 tests means that they are more likely to succeed when they take their GCSEs two years later.

But remember, children do not pass or fail these tests. Their results are simply given as a level. Most children are expected to achieve level 5 but their target is level 6. As well as the tests, teachers assess them in the other subjects they have studied.