Year 4 maths tests

[Stayhomemummy]

Hi
Does anyone what maths tests they might do in year 4. My DS is in the top set, the whole set were given two tests. On the 1st test my DS got them all right and was told he had a 4a. They were then given another test (harder according to my DS) where he scored 57/63 and was told that was a 4b. I'm just curious as to whether these would be year 4 optional sats or something else. My DS was a little downbeat after getting a 4a and then 4b on a harder test.
Thanks

Hi Stayhomemummy:

I'm not a teacher, but this does sound like normal in-class assessment of achievement (so mock SATs) - not quite sure why there were two different exams (maybe old papers from different years).

Working to 4a/ 4b is still very good - so do tell your DS he's doing very well. The expected level of achievement in Y4 would be a 3b (see Mumsnet information of progression through NC Levels here: www.mumsnet.com/learning/assessment/progress-through-national-curriculum-levels

The thing to see is that working to a 4b means he's working where most children are at at the end of Y6 in England - so that's fantastic! He's well on track for a 5 at KS2 SATs which is a great achievement! I think you should really make sure he understands that and assure him with several weeks left in this term if he's not quite a 4a, he's very close and can get there if he keeps up the great work.

HTH

Not sure what the papers are but my daughter is doing SATS in year 6 and there are two maths papers -one where a calculator is allowed and one where a calculator isn't allowed. They test different aspects of maths and she gets one overall mark based on the mark in both tests. Maybe that is the same for your ds?

QCA papers have a test A and a test B. It tends to be easier to score highly on the A paper than the B. The last few pages of test A are the same as test B in most of them. Some schools might give a different year's test B to the children so they don't have two pops at the same questions.

It is perfectly normal for a child to score higher on the A paper. The B paper just has a higher top level, so children are put in to give them the chance.