KS1 Levels

[carolb54]

My DD is now in year 2 and I have been informed that schools do SAT at this stage to determine which group they normally go to in year 3. I was looking at the different levels and stages in KS 1 (Level 1, Level 2c, Level 2b, Level 2a, Level 3 and Level 4).

Can someone please educate me on the different stages within KS1 and what does a child need to achieve to be an average child or is in line and on par in achieving what is acceptable at this stage?

Thanks

2b

Don't think many (if any at all) children get level 4 in KS1.

Talk to your DC's teachers to find out what sort of level they are working at.

SATs mey influence groups children are initially put in fir year 3 but their purpose is to report on the school rather than the children.

And as lovecheese put so succinctly the average for the end of year 2 is 2b

Thanks for your updates.

Pleasure

highest you can get at ks1 is a level 3, many children go backwards in year 3 however as testing is totally different then so a level 3 at ks1 is not the same as a level 3 at ks2

if your child achieves L1 then they should be offered additional support in Y3 as realistically the Y3 curriculum is too much for them. This is something that should happen but because parents don't understand the levels not everyone pushes for it

I thought that levels are supposed to be the same throughout KS1 and KS2. There can be inconsistencies, especially with separate infant and junior schools, but they aren't two different sets of levels.

Pixie, I think one of your DSs was assessed at level 4+ wasn't he? I knew I shouldn't have made a blanket statement about level 4 not happening without checking first

Levels and assessment criteria are the same.

But what happens is they frequently assess your child at the start of Y3 as 1 or 2 sublevels below where they were assessed at the end of Y2.

So then they have to spin you a line about levels not being the same, or the jump to juniors being huge, or children forget stuff over summer, or some other line, as there is no other polite way for them to get out of the fact that they have downgraded your child :(

"highest you can get at ks1 is a level 3, many children go backwards in year 3 however as testing is totally different then so a level 3 at ks1 is not the same as a level 3 at ks2"

This is totally incorrect.

Key Stage 1 assessment, as others have said, is teacher assessment only. It is compiled from many, many sources of evidence, and the tests are a very small but statutory part of this.

Teacher assessment at level 4 has always been possible in Y2 for very, very able children, just as a level 6 teacher assessment is possible in Y6.

The school policy on assessment is used to assess at Y2, and this has been the case since assessment became teacher assessment only in 2005 - so a level 3 in Y2 is exactly the same as a level 3 in Y3. Children should not go backwards in Y3. This used to be the case when the assessment in Y2 was test only, which was not timed, and assessment in Y3 was optional SAT only, and was timed. The two assessments were not directly comparable, and children often did seem to go backwards. Please don't let any teacher tell you that this is the case now!

Difficulty can arise between separate Infant and Junior schools, where the Infant school may be under pressure to achieve good results and where there is not good cross moderation between schools. Moving schools can also stall children for a little while - different environments can affect progress, for a short while only though.