Please can someone explain SAT levels to me please

[blossomhill]

I have posted before but have changed the title to make it more obvious what I am talking about.
My ds who is 7 in January had his annual review day. he is doing really welll and his reading is coming out at 8 yr 6 months, spelling 8 yr 8 months. Anyway tonight he has come home with his targets on a piece of paper and it has rated him for him numeracy and literacy for SATS. He has been given a 2c mark. Please can someone explain what this means/indicates and how these results work as I don't have a clue.
Thank you

Am sure a teacher will explain it properly - it's not at all clear even when you get the report. 2 is the National average for KS1. This broken up into 2a, 2b and 2c. Now, I can't remember whether a is higher than c or the other way round! But, it's just telling you that he is within the average (which is good) range for his age but is either at the slightly lower or higher end of that. Clear as mud?

a is higher I believe.

But a 2 at any level is very good for a child who has only been in Y2 for half a term, and won't be 7 until January (he won't be doing his actual SATs until May). You said targets though, bh - is this 2c the level he is at now or the level they expect him to get in May? (Or isn't it clear? As Tinker says SAT communications might as well be written in Sanskrit sometimes.)

This table shows the basic levels they should reach at each stage - no a/b/c though.

Thanks JanH

Well it was his target setting and it was done beginning of October when he was 6:8 months.
It is so confusing because if he is average why is he almost 2 years ahead in reading and spelling?

It doesn't make sense at all!

do you want any further explanation BH? give me a shout if you do

Popsycal - yes please I just want to know where ds is actually at educationally. The sat level apparently means he is average but then the reading and spelling tests are saying he is 2 years ahead. Surely that isn't average? Thank you!

Hi Blossomhill, I'm a teacher and agree that we may as well send out a foreign language essay at times! Your Ds sounds like he is doing well, he is above the average for his reading and spelling. The confusion arises because his predicted SAT's grade will have been taken from his general work i.e. not a special test, which is where his reading and spelling ages have come from. It's one thing to ask a child to spell well in a test and a completely different thing to ask them to do it in everyday work!! Plus a grade is given based on spelling, reading and writing all lumped in together so this can sometimes throw the prediction! If your son's school is the same as any of the ones I've ever worked in then they will predict a lower grade than they think he can actually achieve (this way he's bound to make them look good!!)
2a is the highest of the a,b,c system, he'd then go onto a level 3 - heading towards wonderous genius level at his age!!! HTH

Thanks Mahoosivemamma

Don't read too much into the SATs gradings tho. Dd got 3s in hers at the end of Y2. I have just had her first set of assessments in Y8 and her teachers have assessed her as being above average in effort but average in attainment in most of her subjects.

The reading thing doesn't seem to factor in much either, as she has a reading age 5 years ahead of her actual age.

Also a teacher - the reading and spelling test results should sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt, depending on which test it is. The one we do in our school - one question can mean then difference of about 6 months or so for RA or SA!!!

All assessments do really is measure the child's ability to do the test. I always encourage parents to see the whole picture; test results and their everyday work too, as this gives a much clearer picture of achievement.

He sounds like he is doing really well though so I wouldn't worry!