11 Plus Exams Forum

my dd has got level 5 english & science and 5b maths in year 5 sats.

what would she be expected to achieve in real year 6 tests & why are english science not divided into a,b & c?

is there any benifit in trying to prepare for year 6 tests or would that just distort the true picture of her achievments over the year?

thanks

What were these based on? There is no QCA Science paper for Y5.

None of the subdivsions of level 5 are 'official' ...


With these levels your child should be aiming for top level 5s - as close to 100% as possible ....

Blanca, I can't comment on the a,b,c thing but if you ask the teacher he/she will be able to tell you if it's just a level 5 or a high level 5. I would like to know if it was my child.

5s in year 5 is excellent BUT please don't rely on these results alone to secure a 11+ pass. You need familiarisation, whether it be with a tutor or diy. It's not level playing field out there and I only found that out after my daughter took the 11+. It nearly cost my high achieveing daughter a grammar place. Please do take this advice. Would hate to see you posting here in a year's time in the appeals section!

Agree totally with Tracey, it did cost my high achieving daughter a grammar place, - have heard unofficially from HT she's got all high level fives in SATs (waiting to be confirmed) - got 48/50 in english writing.
Please take heed from our stories this year, and practice as much as you can
All the best
bougalou

Blanca - I think you were asking if you should prepare your daughter for the KS2 SATs. I really can't see any point in this. She's probably already gone as far as she can in KS2 so you would just be going over stuff she already knows.

You may want to consider finding some other ways of stretching her or, if you are thinking of the 11+, concentrate on that. I would endorse what the others have said - level 5s at year 5 are no guarantee of 11+ success. One of my sons was level 5 in everything at the end of year 5 and passed the 11+ by a modest amount; another wasn't level 5 in anything at the end of year 5, but got a much higher mark in his 11+, despite being quite poorly over the exam period.

Blanca

I'm going to echo Tracy and Bougalou. Like Bougalou, it has cost my high achieving son a place at Grammar this year. He was level 5 in English and Maths in Year 5 (still awaiting Year 6 results - what a mess!) We didn't tutor - naive, very. Wherever you live, 11+ is likely to be highly-tutored - and you may only find this out when it's too late. People are very tight-lipped about it - and it's not until afterwards that you realise the vast majority are tutored. Please, please don't make the same mistakes we did.

I tutor both for conventional NFER verbal and non-verbal tests, University of Durham tests and independents. And I'm afraid I wholeheartedly agree with most of these posts.

While I shall ask what their KS2 levels are before embarking on tutoring, I do not anticipate success just because the child is on level 5 at end of Year 5 (or vice-versa). The Sats tests are not time-pressured and the maths is considerably easier than most 11+ maths papers so a methodical but not necessarily brilliant child may score very highly in them whereas a very bright but erratic child may not (but will sometimes get a Maths Challenge award because these tests are actually interesting to do). And while I do admire children on level 5A writing (probably the hardest to get) it is usually only independent schools who have a writing task attached so this child will not be able to show off their talents.

also the nfer tests includes material which is not covered until after the test is taken

thank you all for your words of wisdom, I am following Patricia's suggestions for bucks 11+. I am a bit of a worrier and was just wondering in case of appeal was it worth trying to bump up sats results. I would rather not as i think 11+ prep is more than enough for her to cope with but on the other hand if it could be her saving grace at appeal ?

Blanca - from what you have told us there is no need to assist your daughter for Sats, she is doing very nicely so please don't worry on that count. Concentrate on the 11+ prep if you wish her to have a chance at grammar. High sats predictions would help - it's not a guarantee - in an appeal but you really don't want to go down that route...