First off thanks for posting this RoadRunner! DD1 was rather mysteriously told this week that 'at the moment' her group of Year 6 pupils were all entered for L6 Math SAT and final decisions would be made this week and was confused. And I've no idea how this is meant to work.
So as AmberTheCat has explained - it seems they're making that final decision on who to put forward for L6 Maths this week and I'll let DD1 know. So Thank You! Explains why she's taking 3 practice SAT tests a day at the moment.
Martorana - asked why does it matter.
Well in an ideal world of course it doesn't.
But in a target driven world where working to the target is all you are required to do - the higher your child scores at the end of primary school the higher the target will be throughout secondary school and the changes in how progress is measured (against low/ middle/ high ability pupils) means that schools now will focus on higher achievers, instead of diverting all resources to low achievers for KS3 SATs and/or C/D boundary at GCSE.
KS3 Target is roughly two full NC Levels higher than KS2 SATs performance from what I can work out. (e.g. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182413/DFE-RR096.pdf)
So scoring L4 at KS2 means expectation of at least L5/6 at KS3
Scoring L5 at KS2 means expectation of at least L6/7 at KS3
Scoring L6 at KS2 means expectation of at least L7/8 at KS3
L5/6 is the notional achievement target for KS3
This is important because in ordinary comprehensives (around here at least) a lot of energy is expended catching Y7 pupils up to the right standard (so still teaching multiplication tables to x12, how to divide - both inverse multiplication & on to bus stop method/ forms of long multiplication/division; ratios, proportions, fractions (adding/ subtracting/ multiplying/ dividing), percentages, etc...).
Scoring L5 or below here means you are doing this fairly rudimentary maths work (basic multiplication/ division skills) for at least the next two years.
Scoring L6 means that from at least Y8 you move on to more challenging mathematics. Which frankly is necessary if you want that option open to pursue further study in STEM (Science/ Technology/ Engineering/ Mathematics) subjects. Because access to certain GCSE options will be dependent on performance on KS3 SATs. And of course access to A Level subjects is dependent on GCSE performance.
In effect scoring L6 means that the school can't ignore higher achieving pupils for 2-3 years. The system has somewhat changed as well to avoid this - but the reality is that English pupils do well internationally at the end of primary in terms of Maths but fall behind rapidly in secondary - and part of that is that this middle ability group (NC L4/ L5) can be left to tread water for years whilst lower achieving pupils are the focus of teaching attention.
See rather damning conclusions/ statistics on Maths in England toward bottom of this webpage: www.gov.uk/government/news/new-maths-hubs-to-raise-standards - in particular:
Alongside low participation, international tables show that England’s performance in maths has stagnated at ages 10, 14 and 15, while
30% of businesses in the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) education and skills survey last year reported dissatisfaction with
the standard of school and college leavers’ numeracy. Some 68%
of employers said they wanted both maths and science promoted more in schools.
Finally - just as an observation - many schools completely stop work for pupils after SATs in Year 6. It's a fun time working on end of year plays, special field trips, business projects, etc... - but it probably wouldn't hurt to encourage a few on-line maths games to keep those maths skills fresh for next September when the senior schools will start testing your child all over again.
Thanks & HTH