Levels!!! can anyone explain them to me??

[Gerz]

Ok we got the first day nerves out of the way, time for me to stress about the academic stuff!

DS (11) has been set his KS3 targets today. His current level is level 5b in everything. His targets are level 7b in Maths and 6b in everything else.

It seems low to me - or am I expecting too much? what target should they have by year 9?

That's very high, most year 9s won't have achieved that.

They are perfect expected levels for end of KS3.

oh! feel a bit guilty now, I thought they were low targets!

Plus, please don't worry about levels, they don't really mean that much. Focus on keeping him motivated, that's what really counts in secondary school.

Oops! OK, depends on the school I guess. The grammar schools around here expect levels 7's and 8's by end of Yr9. DD's school, non-selective expect 6's and a couple of 7's.

A 7 equates to a C grade at GCSE, I believe.

Beware though! The subjects he hasn't studied before, like MFL and drama, will quite likely be much lower in his first end of term results! Probably 3's or 4's!

But like Loopy says, don't worry too much. He obviously left Yr6 with acceptable grades and as long as you see an inprovement of at least a sub level every time, there is no reason to worry.

It depends a lot on the school, subject, department and individual teacher. Levels are not really a true indication of how a child is doing, a lot of teachers for a lot of subjects struggle to equate levels to work done. I have never known even the brightest y9 to achieve a level 7 in MFL. Top sets are expected 5s and 6s, and my school is a very good language college. Looking back, my GCSE A* pupils are mostly level 6 at y9.

I agree with loopyloops. The levels always seemed pointless to me. They're not something to worry overly about.
Your son's current levels and predictions look great. I think I had similar predictions/levels. I got all lvl 5s in Year 6, and by the end of KS3 I had all 6s, 7s, and a couple of 8s. I eventually got all As or A*s at GCSE without overworking myself, so if he carries on he should do very well.

So yeah, don't worry; he's doing great.

If his levels drop initially don't stress, as there is little correlation between primary and secondary levels ime. I quite often gave a student with a Level 5 at primary a level 3 or 4 for their first assessment, as the skills required to achieve a high level for subject specific work at secondary are different to the SATS skills and levels at KS2.

a level 7 at the end of year 9 means they are expected an A or a* at GCSE. level 5 kids get C's

hi, first reply here, my 12 year old has just moved up to year 8, at the start of year 7 she was expected to achieve for year 7 5a's and she is in the top class!!! if that helps

I hate the crystal ball method schools have adopted these days! And heres my proof it doesn't work.... My sons target levels in Maths and Science are 5a, yet he is already a 6b in Maths and a 6a in Science!!! Priceless isn't it. I'm hoping it isn't the excuse he needs to put his feet up for a year!!

Science works a little differently as they tend to do each topic to level 7 . Ds was level 7 from year 7 onwards and ended ks3 on a high level 7 bordering

DD yr8 was 5s at ks2 and all her targets are 7s and 8 for maths this is a comp.