Quick Question on a grade DD got

[SuperGlumFairy]

Hi all,

Long story short, we moved from Australia to the UK about 2 months ago. Kids are settling into school well but I don't fully understand the system of grading.
My Yr 9 daughter came home today and said she had got a 6A on some English work she had done. What does that mean? Good, bad, average? She has no idea either and was too shy to ask anyone.

Cheers to anyone that can shed some light on this for me.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

In GCSE terms it would be a high "B", possibly a low "A".

So Good.

[adeucalione]

We were advised that the expected average attainment is Level 2 at the end of KS1 (Year 2), Level 4 at the end of KS2 (Year 6) and Level 5 at the end of KS3 (Year 9) - achieving these levels should predict a Grade C at GCSE.

My DS achieved Level 7s at the end of Year 9 (as your DD may well do in English) and is predicted As at GCSE - assuming that she continues to work hard and progress as she has been doing.

Some schools report sub-levels and these go up from 6c, through 6b, to 6a, to 7c (if that makes sense).

Anyway, a secondary school teacher will probably on in a minute to tell me I'm talking cobblers, but that was my understanding from DCs school.

[quirrelquarrel]

Really, Boney? I thought that even level 7 was a C at GCSE, because the two grade systems are just different and it's hard to equate them. Doesn't mean that a 7a student is on track for Cs, quite the opposite. I know that's probably not what you were suggesting though.

OP- in terms of grading, level five is average, level six is quite good, level seven is very good, and level eight is extremely good. She should be pleased with a 6a because it's at the top of the level and since it's the start of the year she could easily up it to a level 7+ by the end. And it's especially good considering she's adapting to a new school system.
It goes like this:
6c
6b
6a
7c
7b
and so on
From level one or two up to level eight.

In my good subjects I was getting level six in Year 7. However in my bad ones I was still getting some level fours in Year 9. Little comparison to be had with my GCSE results, it gets flung all over the place. A level 7 or an A* doesn't necessarily prove you have an aptitude for the subject- a 4a in Y9 English doesn't mean you won't be a writer. Better not to worry!