Year6 SATs

[lifeworthliving]

How much they matter in year7?

They don't.
The school may use them to guide as to possible academic achievement, but kids change, and any school who refuses to change sets on the basis of Y6 results in the presence of more recent evidence aren't doing te best thing for their pupils.

That said, DSs school only sets for Maths in 7 and 8. Y9 apparently they are going to set for more subjects.

KS2 SATs matter generally because they are used at government level to predict GCSE results, and the school is measured according to whether the pupils achieve expected progress from KS2 to GCSE (Progress 8 score). I think this year might be an exception though, due to the effect of the Covid pandemic.

However, in terms of how much they matter purely in Y7, it depends on the school. Some secondaries will put students into initial sets based on their SATs results, though many will do their own testing in the first term, or won't do any setting until the end of Y7.

Pre-Covid, they were used to inform setting (although most schools also did their own assessments for this reason too) and they then generated GCSE targets as secondary schools are measured on the progress children make from KS2 to KS4. A child with 100 as a standardised score would be expected to get at least grade 4 across a range of subjects, a child with 85 might be expected to get grade 2/3 and so on. Children who didn’t make at least expected progress would bring the school’s overall figure down, so the pressure was on the school to get at least expected progress and preferably more (this is the school’s Progress 8 outcomes if you want to know more about it).

This year? Who knows. We haven’t been told that these results won’t be used to inform P8, so I can only assume that they will be used for that measure. So they matter a bit, in terms of the expected outcomes for children - but good schools will aim for more than the minimum for every child anyway.

If the secondary school sets subjects like maths, science and english they will be used to initially place pupils into sets, however schools normally do CAT tests in the first half term and sets can be tweeked, although in my daughters case there wasn't a huge amount of movement in her top set classes.

They are also used to set their flight path for predicted gcse results.

Further to the answers above.

Because they are used to target GCSE grades, they can also be used by schools to decide on who gets interventions, so underperforming compared with your ability might mean you don't get interventions. However over-performing isn't great either as you might spend the whole of secondary being told you are 'behind'.

Ultimately in any decent school you won't be constrained by your SATs results and the school will teach the child infront of them. If your school isn't decent then you have bigger issues than the SATs results.

Secondary schools know that different primary schools prep differently and take that into account.

Does anyone know what SATS score is linked to what predicted grade for the purposes of the Progress 8 score?

I don't know if there is a direct link, but broadly if you get your 100s then you are expected to pass your GCSEs.
DD's secondary used to put up a chart of SATs v GCSE scores, and although there was a rough correlation it was very clear that attitude/work ethic at secondary could make a big difference both positive and negative.

haven't watched it, but this video from Ofqual came up hen i searched

Teendivided, that video is five years old and both KS2 and GCSE grades are different now.

Broadly speaking, 100 would be min grade 4, 110 min grade 6, 90 min grade 3.

They are not for your child's benefit, so do not give them another thought.

They don't 'matter' but secondary school will normally at least take a glance at them. Secondaries will likely have an assessment of their own in which they use to potentially stream/separate pupils in Year 7/8.

IMO the thing about SATs is they offer children a chance to simply 'do well' and leave primary school on a high. It's likely their first formal tests so it can be pretty motivating for them to revise, feel a bit of anticipation/anxiety, do the tests and perform well. It seems far better to start them on this (something that largely doesn't matter) than do nothing until GCSEs and watch them turn into an anxious wreck.

RichSherl, secondaries do a lot more than take a glance. GCSE targets are based on KS2 outcomes. Schools might set their own internal targets but the official ones that matter in published school outcomes are based on progress from KS2 to KS4.

I think I need to help my child catch up. Does anyone have any good online resources for helping kids in maths for sats prep?

The SATs just finished. Do you mean for next year? I would not worry about the SATs. But if you feel your dc is behind, Atom learning is great for Math and English. It is geared for 11+, but the 11+ is more difficult then SATs, so if your dc prepares for that they will Ace the SATs. To give an example my dd did the 11+ and when she did her math mocks for SATs she got everything correct (most she would miss is 1 if any). She is also strong in English, but I never saw any English mocks.

Hi, thank you yes I mean for next year. I'll have a look at Atom thank you!