KS2 levels

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:52 pm

bucks mum1 wrote:Hi Andyb

I believe they add the writing and reading scores together.

My DS sounds similar to yours - he isn't that great at English much stronger at Maths and Science. He achieved a 4 in reading and somehow a 5 in writing. His overall level was given as 5.

This link sets out the thresholds.

http://testsandexams.qca.org.uk/18988.aspx

Thanks for posting the link. From conversations in the past with his teachers, I am guessing his writing was low to middle level 4 and reading mid to high level 5. Hopefully the quality of his writing will improve with maturity.

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:26 pm

andyb - You could ask for the marks as we were even given the papers by our DC's Primary school.

Rob Clark · Post by **Rob Clark** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 11:40 pm

I don't think the comment above is true

Well, no offence but it quite clearly is true - at least based on the previous thread for which Etienne provided a link.

It may not be true in your DC's school, which is precisely why I asked the question of Bucks as a whole!

I would have preferred "We're usually looking for three level 5s".

Etienne, yes quite right, the devil's in the details.

bucks mum1 · Post by **bucks mum1** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:34 am

OK. Point taken.

I guess at the end of the day approximately the top 25% of Bucks children are selected for Grammar School through the 11+ and the top 25% achieve 3 level 5's in the SATS. However as the two testing methods are different it is not the same group of children who achieve both.

Rob Clark · Post by **Rob Clark** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:20 pm

Bucksmum, sorry, my last post sounds more brusque than it was intended to.

My reason for asking the original question was because at DDâ€™s school, like yours, more children seem to get 3 x level 5s than pass the 11+ but that doesnâ€™t seem to be true county-wide (though of course the figures are pretty close, as you point out).

Of course youâ€™re right to say that the SATs and 11+ are completely different types of tests, but DDâ€™s SATs results do at least lend some credence to our belief that because of her complicated and serious medical history, her classwork and curriculum work were a better gauge of her academic level than a one-off test.

This was part of our case at appeal, but obviously if you have a panel chair who pretty much dismisses the relevance of SATs, thatâ€™s a tough case to makeâ€¦

bucks mum1 · Post by **bucks mum1** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:45 pm

I totally agree with you and having read your case I am sorry you did not get through the appeal. At the end of the day, as Guest 55 has pointed out, SATS levels are often a better indicator often of how children will progress. I hope everything works out well for your DC.

Looking for help · Post by **Looking for help** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:15 pm

Rob Clark wrote: This was part of our case at appeal, but obviously if you have a panel chair who pretty much dismisses the relevance of SATs, thatâ€™s a tough case to makeâ€¦

I think this happened to us too, and I feel very angry about it - obviously they will only accept people who can prove academic ability - if that is not the KS2 curriculum, then what else are we to use?

My son also achieved 3 x level 5s, and interstingly his actual scores are very much higher than his three siblings currently at GS, but he did not pass....

LFH

Rob Clark · Post by **Rob Clark** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:22 pm

bucksmum â€“ thanks for the good wishes. SATs were important to DD for a) her confidence and b) enabling her (we hope) to do separate sciences at her secondary school, as that is where her chief interests and abilities lie.

Looking for help â€“ well in our case itâ€™s quite clear (we have the clerkâ€™s notes) that the panel based their decision primarily on HTâ€™s recommendation (an HT who doesnâ€™t seem to think that sticking needles in your leg a minimum of 4 times a day and needing external medical assistance more than once a week constitutes an extenuating circumstance).

If one personâ€™s subjective opinion is given more credence than nationally applied curriculum tests, I think the whole system is pretty much not fit for purpose, frankly, but there we go.

Looking for help · Post by **Looking for help** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:11 pm

Rob, I agree entirely, there is no sensible approach to the process, and although I'm sure it has been said that appeals panels are human and therefore there must be subjectivity, I think that there should be controls in place to ensure the fairness of the appeal.
Hey ho, I am bitter and twisted,

and feel as if we were treated badly, I'm sure others who were succesful imagine the process works very well.
That's human nature for you

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:30 pm

Guest55 wrote:andyb - You could ask for the marks as we were even given the papers by our DC's Primary school.

I've done that today - purely out of curiosity really to see how the marks were split - just how bad was his written work in comparison with his reading