secondary form classes based on academic ability?

[bluebluecow]

Dd starts yr7 in september. She's come home today with info on what form she will be in. Are the forms generally grouped according to ability or are they random? I presume she will go off to different classes for lessons but not sure!

She'll do some tests pretty soon into the new term which will dictate which level she is at. Her form tutor group isn't usually done by ability, however the usual maths, english etc may be setted. She will go off to different classes throughout the day.

Thanks for the reply. It was like that when I was at school (long long time ago!)but I wasn't sure if things had changed and form groups may be based on SATS results?

Forms are usually comprised of a mix of current friends (people who came from same school with her) and a balance of other gender & ages.

At our school y7s are setted by ability pretty early on for maths, English and ICT then for the rest of y7 taught either in their tutor group (what you have called form) or some random mix. Setting is based on y6 SATs but also on CATs done in the first week of y7.

Initial setting should change around a bit, at least approx. at the end of terms in y7.

Then more setting for other subjects is introduced in y8, and yet more in y9.

Year 7 was based on selection tests, but in year 8 my DDs form was based on overall aptitude and ability but there was setting for English, French, Science and Maths. It might be that some overseas students would be in a lower set for English or French, but top set for Maths and Science. Other people, vice versa. They did the other subjects as a form until year 10 when GCSE choices started and the classes were mixed ability if the group doing the subject was small. There were some movements up and down the forms and the top of one form was quite difficult to distinguish, academically, from the bottom of the group above. This was a school that achieved 100% 5 A-C grades though. I do remember my DD being upset that she had been demoted from X to Y and I had to speak to her tutor about why this had happened. It turned out to be an error as DD was 4th out of 70 in the summer exams.

Tutor groups are mixed
most other stuff is set
if they are clever it will be different sets for different things and the sets will be shuffled every half term depending on results
it works

In our school we were never told the rational for why DCs were placed in a given set. It transpired later ( about Yr 9) that setting was based primarily on CATs test which were taken in Yr 7. We were also told the sets reflected individual pupils target grades at GCSE which were predicted from the Fisher Family Trust, which it appears is an "mash up" of SATs and CATs, and demographics. It is quite possible shoe size, star sign and hair colour were also contributory factors . The only thing which did not appear in the equation was what DCs did in the classroom unless it was two levels higher than the level predicted by the FFT. So good luck with that one!

It is impossible to give an answer as every school is different. In most schools forms will be mixed ability. There is a common assumption that lessons will be 'set' by ability but this is mixed. Some schools do, some do for English and Maths only, some teach mixed ability across all subjects. You need to find out. I teach in a school where year 7 are taught in their form groups for all subjects. For us this is mixed ability. Most parents are surprised when they find out - typically at May parents evening when year 7 is nearly over.

depends in Ain each individual school. The school I work at, the form groups are mixed, but students are set for maths, English and science. A school close to us do have banded forms but also set the core subjects

It's different at every school but most commonly the form groups are mixed ability. She should be in a form with at least 1 friend from primary but it's likely to be more. English, Maths and Science and set based on SATS or CAT tests. All other subjects are either taught in form groups or other mixed ability classes.

DDs school, a top 100 non-selective comp, only set for maths in Y7 & Y8, all other lessons are taught in mixed ability tutor groups.
In Y9, they are set for maths, English and science.
Then, unusually (it seems) they start the 2 year GCSE course at the start of Y10 when there is much more ability setting across the whole year group.

Thank you for all the useful info. I will hopefully find out more at the parent's evening next week. She has been put in a form with another girl who is bottom of class for everything at current school which is why I was a little bit concerned.