Are year 6 SAT results used to project GCSE results?

[EXtremeheat]

Just curious. DD has done well so not worried either way. I told dd to do her best but not to get stressed about them as the results were only important to see how the school were doing, but after reading stuff on here it seems they are used to set future targets too. Dd's secondary school is not linked to her primary and they do not set until year 8 (maths) and other subjects in year 9 I think.

They count for nothing..
DD was moved up 3classes in first month, as SATS only reflect how much the school taught them..

I really can't see how because parents have the right to remove their children from taking the SATS and private primary schools don't even do them. So not all new Yr 7 children will have done them.

I believe they are used for the expected progress measurements for secondary schools.

Many schools use their own assessments for setting etc although if a child comes in with very high SAT scores it probably will mean they will be pushed for high GCSE grades so that the school can show expected progress has been made.

They are used as a minimum target grade at my DC's school. It's stupid as how can her results in English and Maths predict her grades for music and geography?

Yes they are, by various agencies the government use to measure progress.

They compare students gcse grades who got similar year 2 sats results to your child to give a ‘predicted’ grade for your your child.

Yes, my sons' were. DS2 is now just about to start GCSE's. He has two prediction grades. First is based on SATs results, so for example Maths , based on SATs he is predicted a 7, and then alongside he has his current report grade , say a 6. It just gives an indication, where he could be looking to. I'm more interested in his current predicted grade.

They are used to give a progress 8 figure for the school. Which is basically how much each child has improved between KS2 SATS & GCSEs. Most senior schools spend the first term of yr 7 testing them all again, so don't worry too much.

Actually I always thought it was CATS which are used to predict GCSE results.

Not that it matters anyway.

Actually I always thought it was CATS which are used to predict GCSE results

I agree with this comment, all our local schools carry out CAT tests for year 7s in September and these are used to predict GCSE results.

Schools can use what they like, CATS, in-house tests or divination if they want! The Government uses SATS!

Spaniel is right. The government measure, progress 8, is based on SATS.

As spaniel has said, schools can use CATs to give a target, but the school’s targets will still be set from the SATs results.

I doubt many schools would set a pupil a target of grade 5 from CATs if their SATs suggest it should be higher than that.

Even more ridiculous - the grade used to predict Science GCSE isn't, as anyone sensible may assume, the Y6 Science TA we are obliged to report but the Reading and Maths test results.

As I understand it, SATs sets official target for GCSE. So, if the school doesn't make the pupil meet the target, it looks bad on league tables.

It can also affect children, if they didn't do well in SATs, their target can be set too low, so school don't need to push them. Also if they have done too good due to sats practice, their target will be set too high and children maybe pushed too hard and may feel like a failure.

So, as I understand, sats is important for both children and school.

It's ridiculous. My DS1 is going into Year 11. When he was in year 6 he was a solid level 4, through boosters and intensive work he got a level 5 (the school needed this as he got level 3 in year 2). Unfortunately, this has led to every report at high school having a lovely box coloured in red showing he's not meeting his targets where if he had got the level 4 he would be.

Cross post irvine. That second scenario is exactly what happened to DS1.

I thought the whole reason for cat tests was because sats are so bad at really measuring a child's achievements

My understanding:

Y6 SATs are used for government measures such as Progress8.

CATs are used by school to predict how a cohort will do as well as individuals.

Then actual attainment is used as time goes on to finely tune predictions which get more and more accurate as y10&y11 progress.

If a child is not making progress as per SATs, this can be a trigger for intervention, because schools know this is what they are judged on.

Yes, in our school they are. DS is just coming to the end of year 8, and in his last report (we get 4 a year) they decided to inform us of their target GCSE grades. These are based on Year 6 SATS.

Yeah, they can CAT as much as they like - they still have to meet those targets.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/progress-8-school-performance-measure

They are used for government targets but having a lower score is not a hindrance to doing well as most schools set according to CATS which are a more accurate test of ability than SATS (which can be artificially elevated by coaching/tutoring).

Nowadays Secondary Schools are assessed in Progress/attainment 8 so it's actually better to have lower SATS as these children are pushed harder because the school need to show added value to students progress.

Schools concentrate their efforts on the lower grades students in the hope they will improve their levels as this gives better results for the schools Progress/attainment 8.

daffodil
I'm not sure that's true? If you come in with high sets you'll be pushed to achieve higher grades as they need that to show progress, won't they? Or is Progress8 biased towards lower achievers? (I thought I'd read that if anything it was the other way around?)

Ultimately though SATs should make no difference, as a good school should be pushing all students to achieve the very best they can. And they should judge that on the student infront of them, not on the KS2 SATs score.

My kids secondary used them to set rough target grades when she started high school. These have since been mostly changed to reflect her actual working ability in each subject. Most were changed by the end of the first term, the rest by the end of the year. SATs only test very limited subjects. They are completely useless for most.