Current school levels

[Morgan0210]

Hi,
My dd will be taking her exam next sept so were just starting the journey lol... For those of you who's children who have just taken their exam would you be kind enough to let me know what levels your children are at school? My daughter is year 5 and her current levels are levels science 4b maths 4b English 5c.
Thanks

[CardyMow]

My DS, at the start of Y5, was on Level 5c English, level 6b Maths, and level 5c Science.

[CardyMow]

His reading was reported as level 6 (no sub level) at the start of Y5.

[Morgan0210]

Hi cardymow,
Excellent grades! Is your child at a private school?

[CardyMow]

Hahaha no. He is at a state Primary. His year group is apparently the highest achieving they have ever had, and these levels are not unusual in his year! There are around 3 boys and 5 girls on or around these levels in a year group of 30, and more not far behind.

He was ill for the first sitting, but had to take the second sitting, and got 337.171. Which was far lower than the school or I had expected, given his practice papers. His illness did affect his score

[aang]

I'd be very cautious about inferring too much into SAT levels as there is not enough consistency into how these grades are calculated, what is actually testetd or even what the levels show (for example, level 6 is not officially tested until secondary schools but some primary schools award such scores).

As a crude rule of thumb, successful 11+ pupils tend to be working at 5b in maths and english by year 6, so working backwards with two thirds of a level per year means 4a by year 5. Be aware that the english paper is often notoriously difficult with secondary level standard passage in the reading comprehension. The Essex 11+ exam also weights 50% to verbal reasoning which is seldom taught at all in state primary schools. Getting a high score in verbal reasoning is the easiest strategy for doing well....

[Turkey Lurkey]

My DS received his 11+ results this week and he's currently working at Level 6 across the board for english and mathematics. I'm not sure about reading. His state primary in North Essex officially holds Level 6 SATS and he'll be sitting those next May. This will be the second year they've been able to properly offer this to students and everyone's quite excited about this years cohort.

[moved]

Level 6 is now tested in primary schools at the end of year 6. The test does not indicate that the child is a secure level 6, but does indicate that s/he has reached the appropriate threshold. About 2% achieved this last year and quite a few of them are in the local grammars. More children achieved a level 6 in maths than English.

Although the SATs are very different in design and format, they are a measure of children's ability. Schools have access to optional tests and state primaries use APP grids to determine the level of a child.

[CardyMow]

Aang - level 6 is thoroughly tested at this Primary. These DC's will be sitting the level 6 SATS paper, and the levels are not awarded by the Primary class teacher in isolation. They are given after a consultation with the Maths teachers from the local Secondary school, using the marking scheme they would there, to "ensure continuity of grades across transition".

In other words, the Secondary Maths teachers don't want people coming up assessed as level 4 when they are only actually level 3, or assessed as a level 6 but actually being level 5. Now if they are awarded a level in Y5 & Y6, they will be working at that level when they go into Y7.

[moved]

The two fine levels doesn't lead to EP at the end of year 9, which secondary schools award on a regular basis.

5b end of year 6 -> 6c end of year 7 -> 6a end of year 8 -> 7b end of year 9.

As this would leave 7a, 8c, 8b and 8a unachieved, that rule of thumb appears to fail.

I have taught children, who were high attainers, that were already level 7 by the end of year 7. There are also children who have gcse maths in year 6.

I see no reason for a primary teacher with a maths background to be incapable of assessing a child accurately.