To be pleased levels have been scrapped?

[pickingstrawberries]

I always felt they were completely meaningless.

They were often inflated, presumably so that the poor teacher didn't have to concede to a child going 'backwards' in his/her class.

They were always subjective anyway, especially in subjects like English, and made a mockery of MFL teaching at secondary level.

They meant parents and children alike obsessed about a number and not real actual technique or knowledge.

Anyone else glad to see the back of them?

I was delighted when I heard that levels were going. However, most schools still use them, those that don't have their own system, and all have to show consistent progress over time to OFSTED. So... really, it's done nothing useful!

Ah but Valancy it reduced the amount of time I needed to spend shuffling my bum on the u comfy chairs at parents evening!

'DS is working at this level in English ...'
'Oh, I thought levels had gone!'
'They have, but. Erm.'

Done and dusted; I normally have to listen to twenty minutes at least of well meant waffling!

At year 2 and 6 they will be given a score for each test/ subject: reading, writing, grammar (vocabulary/grammar/ spelling/punctuation) and maths. A score of '100' will mean the child is working at age related expectations.

Oh and if you want to get really political- this '100' score will be set after the tests have been marked. A school will be judged as not meeting floor standards if under 80% gain at least '100' in reading, writing AND maths at yr6. 10% of schools achieved this in 2013 if you take '100' to be equivalent to 4b (which it should roughly equate to, but not really as its a new, more challenging curriculum!). So 90% of schools will be judged to be failing. Oh and what happens to failing schools? converted to academies. And what's the government's agenda? Surely not to make every school an academy?

They get a new blazer because that means everything is okay.

I agree mrsseed. Exceeding expectations doesn't give enough information. Especially as government expectations appear to be continually lowered.

It all sounds a bit like prizes for all on sports day - no child must have a level above or below the next.

Maddening and even the teachers who know what old level it would have been are not allowed to tell you.

To be a proper academy after you've failed on the educational malarkey, the local custom is to find some randomer like the local postman to describe something about it as 'outstanding'. Possibly the view or even just the level of violence displayed by pupils. You then bandy the word round often and loudly, and use the phrase 'described as outstanding' in every piece of paperwork. If quizzed you say 'described as outstanding by a leading important local official'

Can't believe you just make levels up

The removal of levels will just lead to the increase in standardised and diagnostic testing. Is replacing teacher assessment with testing more robust? Maybe. I wish that I had shares in Rising Stars.

I assess for vocational qualifications in work based learning. It completely fries my brain trying to decide whether a particular piece of work meets the assessment criteria for x, or if it can be used to evidence y.

We're grilled by the external verifier in terms of our assessment but, in contrast to teachers, we're not held to account as to why Tom, Dick or Harry didn't hand in their work/it was shite and they didn't respond to feedback etc.