What "level" should they be at by year 5?

[MrsSnape]

Its my son's consultation evening next week and I'm intending to ask what level he is currently at. Reason for this is that DS insists that most of the class are at level 4 but he doesn't know what he's at I'm worried he's falling behind.

So he's currently in year 4, due to go into year 5 after september...what level should he be at by now? I'm assuming level 3/4?

i think level 4 is probably right, ask the teachers?
have you last year's report which might tell you the expected level?

we were told level 3 by end year 4 is average, level 4 by end year 6 is average

They are 'supposed' to be at level 2 by the end of yr 2 and at level 4 by the end of yr 6. These are the only proscribed levels AFAIK.
They are 'expected' to go up 2 sub-levels a year. (Each level is split into sub-levels a, b and c with a being the highest.)
So, if a child was a 2c at the end of yr 2 they 'should' be a 2b at the end of yr 3 and a 3c at the end of yr 4.
If you know your ds's yr2 SAT results then you can work out what he 'should' be achieving now ...

oh yes

Sorry - that should be "if a child was a 2c at the end of yr 2 they 'should' be a 2a at the end of yr 3 and a 3b at the end of yr 4.

If most of the class are at level 4 at the end of Year 4, that's above average - children tend to move up one level in 2 years, so those who got level 2 at KS1 (Y2) SATs would be expected to be at Level 3 at the end of Y4 & level 6 at the end of Y6.

(It's a bit more complicated than that in practice, because there are sub-levels & the levels at KS1 are not directly comparable to those at KS2 - for one thing the KS2 tests have much more emphasis on children deciding how to use their skills to solve problems/do their writing or comprehension.)

Levels are divided into sub categories
1c
1b
1a
2c
2b
2a
etc etc etc

THe government expectation is that an "average" (whatever that means) child will be at level 2b at the end of year 2 and a 4b by the end of year 6, thus achieving 2 sub levels every academic year.

So, at the end of Year 3 an "average child" will be at Level 3c/b, by the end of Year 4, Level 3b/a, and by the end of Year 5, Level 3a/4c

Levels are worked out in Maths, Reading and Writing (as in the genre, not handwriting) there will also be a level in Science, but it may well just be the number and not the sub-level (the a, b or c)