Skipping SATS year, will dd have issues getting into secondary?

[TheWindowDonkey]

Just that really. Dd has always loved school up until this year. She's in y5 and alternating between boredom and struggling with the work. Have spoken to her teacher, who is lovely, but has a reputation as being underqualified for the job she faces. We have been thinking about homeschholing for a while, but need to think about what we'd do if she wanted to return.

So, any teachers around who can tell me...if she doesnt sit sats will she have a problem getting into a secondary school?

Sorry, would love info from any knowlegable source, not just teachers. :)

No, SATs are not an entrance exam.

State schools have no entrance requirements in that way, and loads children who have been home educated until 11 transfer to secondary schools with no problems.

Plenty also sit the 11+ without ever having been to school before.

Not a teacher but have two children in secondary school. SATs are not a requirement for going to secondary and are used as a guide for how the primary school is adding value to a child's education. They are not absolute however, DS1's school practised SATs for about 3 months before they actual tests and DD1's school did them only because they had to.

They are used by secondary to give an idea of the child's overall ability and may be used to put similar ability children in groups but as most secondary schools use CAT tests within the first few weeks of year 7 (these given an indication of the longer term ability apparently) then I always wondered what the point of SATs actually are.

As Moa says a lot of children enter secondary having been home schooled so it wouldn't be a problem.

Thank you both, another ticked off of my list of need to knows.

For admission to a state secondary, the child's current educational setting can only be used as an admissions criterion in respect of named feeder schools.

You can look up the published admissions criteria for each of the schools to which you might apply and find out whether children attending feeder schools get priority, and whether your daughter's current school is a feeder school.

If not, then it makes absolutely no difference how your child is being educated in Y6. You just need to apply for secondary schools next year at the same time as everyone else, and then later on your dd can decide whether she wants to take up the place she's offered.