Expected levels at the end of year 8?

[SparkyDuchess]

Can anyone tell me what the target is for each subject at the end of year 8? I can find loads of information up to year 6, but nothing for year 8.

Thanks :)

Our school (non-selective comp) gives a little chart for expected grades for the "average student" for each term. Average remember: Mnetters children obv never average anyway.

So for example, to help the OP, it says end of Yr 8 English 5A, Maths 5A, Science 5A, Drama 5A, Geog/Hist 4B, ICT/RE/Art/Tech 4A, Music/PE 5C, MFL 4A.

Can I butt into this thread, sorry. My 10 year old (year 6) just go level 6a in maths the school said he is more suited to a less academic school (independent) how can this be if only level 5 is expected in year 8 ? We have only been here a year so I am unsure of how the system works.

For a 10 year old to get a level 6a is excellent and in any state school that would be exceptional.

When it says expected level, that's a minimum rather than an average - the expected level in Y6 is level 4, any student getting a level 3 or below would be seen as struggling.

KS2 levels do not correlate well with KS3 levels
BUT 6a in maths at KS2 SATs is top 5% of the population so I'd check what the school meant

Or even top 2%?

"So for example, to help the OP, it says end of Yr 8 English 5A, Maths 5A, Science 5A, Drama 5A, Geog/Hist 4B, ICT/RE/Art/Tech 4A, Music/PE 5C, MFL 4A."

That's interesting. DD is just finishing year 7 and most of her class are at that level or above for maths, English and science. It is only an ofsted "satisfactory" state comprehensive BTW.

Depends on the child and how ambitious the school are. Targets are a load of rubbish though. For example, many schools base their targets on KS2 Maths and English SATS. Which is no indicator at all for music, dance, drama etc but they all have the same target. It is also completely useless when you have children (often boys) who are exceptional at maths but poor at English. They will be 'failing' written subjects like Geog and Hist throughout school, not because they are doing badly or not trying but because of the way their target is calculated.

VJ32, could the teachers not change the targets to reflect the child' ability or are they set in stone from KS2? My son's Yr 7 science target was a 5b and he is now on a 6b so one would hope that his Yr 8 target would therefore be a 6a or 7c?

I have come to the conclusion over the past year that nc levels for secondary school kids are pretty much daft.

For example dd when she does an end of term assessment will be given 'x'-level. But that level only reflects her understanding in that particular aspect. It doesnt mean that she is that level across the whole of that subject. The end of year level dd was given was based on her end of year test. but that only reflected one year of teaching and she still has at two more years in those subjects with lots left to learn.

I also suspect that the assessed level varies from teacher to teacher and school to school depending on how conservatively they are judged by the criteria.

Yeah, totally agree Bad Kitten. Also, in English, you are averaging writing, reading and speaking and listening.... 3 totally different things.

Our y8s are given targets based on Fisher Family Trust but these can be lower than the actual levels that they are routinely achieving in their regular work. So at the end of the year they just tell the child that they have achieved or exceeded their target. I can't understand why the targets are not increased as the children progress.

I have no idea what the average grade is but I would guess around a 5b/5a. I am in year 8 at the moment and in my year there are 5 sets for Maths, in set 5 the grades range from around 3a-4a, in set 4 4b-5b, in set 3 5c-6c, in set 2 6c-6a, and in set 1 (which I am in) 6a-7a, however around 4 or 5 people (including myself) achieve level 8s but it is hard work and rare. My school is a state school and achieved Outstanding from Ofsted, so depending on which school your son or daughter goes to this could be different.

I think it is very unlikely that 5% of the population get a 6a. Even 6cs are incredibly rare in SATs and I went to a excellent primary school and only me and 2 other people managed to achieve a 6c. I don't think it is even possible to get a 6a, and even if it was primary schools do not have the resources to provide you with that you would need to achieve a 6a.

It's important to remember that the NC levels are just a guide and, in some cases, a pretty useless guide.

My DS left yr6 with 5a's in English and science and a 6c for maths. He ended yr7 with level 8's in English, maths, science and geography and level 7's and 1 level 6 for the other subjects. He's now about to finish yr8 having been stuck at level 8a for all subjects but drama, P.E. and art for the last 6 mths.

He's been quite bored and unchallenged by the curriculum available at his current state school and has done a lot of independent learning as a result. We've found the whole 'levels and targets' business quite useless. When he finished yr7 with a level 6a for P.E. and 7b for D.T., the school stopped him from taking part in the end of year 'reward trip' claiming his levels were too low in these subjects and he needs to improve despite him being well above the national average. I was stunned!

He's moving to public school from yr9.

z o m b i e

I just wanted to say that if anyone is reading this thread, in the nicest possible way, please ignore TheBankOfMum's post. Her son is obviously truly exceptional. Which is lovely- but not helpful on an "expected levels' thread!

my son was a 5b at the end of year year 6 and got a 6b by the end of year 7. the different schools must do the levels system differently.