Levels a, b & c?

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Just got dds year 7 report. Her effort grades & exam results seem good but for each subject there is a NC level.

I know a bit about these & she seems to mostly have Level 5s with a couple if Level 6 & two level 4 (art & French)

But which is better out of a, b or c? Is a top. Eh she has level 5a in ICT & Level 5c in music.

And how do these levels relate to GCSE? the guide says most 16 year olds achieve level 7 or 8 what grades do they equate to

Are they expected to improve by 1-2 levels each key stage end?

A is better - a 5A is higher than a 5C. The magic number is three levels progress from KS2 until the end of KS4. So a Level 4A at primary should be a minimum C at GCSE. A 5A in Year 7 to me therefore translates to a B minimum at GCSE.

She didn't do sats & her junior school didn't use levels just their own in house tests with percentages so its interesting now to find out where she's at.

So she needs to work on her languages a bit by the looks if things (not concerned about art as although she tries hard she's not good at it & will probably drop it for GCSE )

French & art were 4c

a = working at the top end of that level
b = working securely at that level
c = insecure at that level

Officlially, level 5s at KS2 should translate to predicted A\A* grades at GCSE.

However, the reality in my experience (as a secondary school teacher) is that level 5s tend more typically to result in GCSE grade B's. That being said, a lot will depend on the what happens in the intervening years, which are fraught with the perils of adolescence.

What the KS2 data does is provide a guide as to academic potential. Of course, the reliability of such data is now questionable given the loss of KS2 SATS in favour of (totally unbiased of course) teacher assessments. We have never taken on pupils with inflated KS2 levels from primary school

A 4c in languages at this point in year seven is better than average - a 4c in languages at the end of year seven is better than many! Remember, that even if she studied languages at primary she effectively started in September at Level zero.

oops, hit post too soon.

To achieve a L4 in MFL your child needs to work from memory - 4c means she is starting to do this IYSWIM. I think she's doing fine!

And I guess that key stage 2 results are only in 3 subjects anyway (maths, English, science) so don't take account if a flair for a particular subject or a mind block subject (eg the difference between art & music for dd)

These levels were done in January so it's after one term in year 7. I guess we may get an end of year report.

In primary they did French, Spanish & German in a termly carousel. She wasn't very good at French & wanted to do German at secondary but her new school doesn't offer it. However the change if teacher has done her good and she enjoys French much more now. Neither she, ds or me clicked with the primary MFL teacher.

I teach secondary and primary MFL - a termly carousel in primary (even after four years at 30 or so mins per week) would likely result in a smattering of vocabulary but very little linguistic understanding - it's supposed to awaken them to the idea of other languages more than anything - unless she was in the private system in which case she may well have had more time devoted to languages. It's a shame she didn't click with her primary languages teacher, could it have been the shortness of time? It's hard to build much of a relationship in that time - I'm two terms in an sometimes struggle to remember the names of my 60 KS2 pupils. I think it's such a shame that she was made to feel she wasn't very good at it by the teacher too - how is that helpful to her (or your DS's) learning at that early stage!? I praise the slightest thing!

After meeting the teacher to talk about ds I found her very difficult & she was totally closed to the idea that ds may have aspergers & therefore need some support/adjustments.

Dd has now joined a lunchtime languages club & is off in a school trip to France at Easter where she us very excited at having to perform tasks like order a drink in a real French cafe so finges crossed

I feel strongly that all children should study a language at GCSE.

Well, I'm glad that your DD has turned a corner at least :)

I hope that given time your son finds a way to get something from his language lessons too.