KS2 SATS Results - what do they mean?

[suedonim]

I've searched on MN and Google for info about SATS results but not found what I'm looking for. I've just received dd2's SATS results and want to know what they mean.

She is Level Five in all areas, which I gather is good, but I don't understand what the marks are. Eg she has 36 in Reading. Is that a percentage, or what? She has a reading age off the scale of 15+yrs so I'm not sure how 36% would correlate with that?

Have a look here Sue

It sounds like you have her actual marks so not a percentage - the table shows the reading was a mark out of 50.

For maths you may have an overall mark or it may be broken down into the individual papers.

Oh and well done to her on getting 5's

It's Saggar BTW. Must change name back.

Yes - level 5 is as high as you can go without being put in for a separate paper, which is extremely rare.

they abolished the extra papers some years ago, so 5 is the highest they can get on the tests - well done to her! The teachers can mark them higher in their assesment though.

Giving the raw test results to parents without some explanation is a bit daft imo - but then they all are rather meaningless numbers anyway.

A child who gets a level 4 at the end of KS2 is now expected to get a level 6 at the end of KS3

a child who makes a 5 at the end of KS3 is expected to get around 5 A* to C grades at GCSE (ball park figues, obviously children will vary)

a child getting a 5 at the end of KS2 should get a 7 at the end of KS3 and would probably be expected to make around 9 A* to C grades at GCSE.

But kids performances can go up as well as down!

I didn't realize that some people have done SATS already - why don't we do ours until next Spring sometime? There was another thread about this today as well. Isn't it a bit brave of the school to do the tests so early - I would have thought they would want to leave it as long as possible!

The table is perfect, thank you Saggar! And the other explanations are great, thank you.

Seeker/Snorkle, these are last summer's results. We live abroad and the school has only recently received the results as the papers have to go back to the UK for marking. The previous year, the papers never arrived in Nigeria despite being sent twice! I guess that's why we don't have any info with the results, too.

Lol at your health warning, MB. I hope dd doesn't go down like Northern Rock!

To be honest I just assumed they were last years results, suedonim, & didn't even consider the timing was odd. I think MBs way of looking at it in terms of what you might expect at GCSE is very good. Although the range within her predictions is broad and there are lots of caveats it's very understandable. Just knowing that the reading score was 36/50 doesn't really tell you anything unless you know how hard the test was, although knowing it is comfortably above the boundary for a 5 is a bit more helpful.

Sorry, Snorkle, I wasn't clear enough when I was explaining why I thought we had no info with the results. I didn't mean that you were confused about timing - oh heck, I'm confusing myself now, hehe!

The GCSE prediction is useful, in terms of what SATS means, I can understand that. But I'm now concerned dd isn't doing as well as she could, because the maximum she got at Level Five is four above the lower end of the range. But then some are out of 50, some 100 etc. Tis confusing - give me the Scottish system any day!

Also bear in mind that the tests for KS2 and KS3 for that matter bear NO relation or similarity to the GCSEs or whatever equivilent your dd might take in years to come. What I mean by that is that the tests are of a particular type and are dissimilar to the way GCSEs are studied for, examined and marked ( I know, sensible way of doing things, isn't it?!)

But mb is also right that broadly speaking a level 5 at this stage bodes well for the future, but tisn't a guarantee of anything.

(and I know it's not very helpful at all, but my first reaction to your thread title was that they mean Jack Shit!) But that's just in My Own Personal Opinion of course, speaking as a teacher!

I bet the OP has just had parents' evening and been told that child is expected to reach level 5

Lol at Jack Shit comment. I've been told that by a teacher, too. I know SATS are nothing like GCSE etc, as I have three dc at uni, so have BTDT blah-de-blah. I just feel at sea with this stuff especially as dd is the only child without a home tutor, but I suspect I need to take a chill pill and forget about SATS.

Fortyplus, you've just lost your money - there were no predictions!

The SATs reading test is actually a comprehension test ie read a passage then answer questions on it.