Year 7 grading post levels

[Iamnotminterested]

DD2 has just started year 7. Am I correct in assuming that her work will now be given a (new style) GCSE number instead of a level? If so what kind of grades would you expect this early on? I appreciate that this will differ hugely for new subjects such as tech and drama but what about for core subjects? Thanks.

I have two Y7 children in different schools. Each school has chosen a different approach in reporting progress to parents.

School G: each child is allocated to a 'pathway', which gives a sense of what grade they are heading towards at the end of Y11. The highest pathway they can be on in Y7 is 7; for more able children this could increase to 8 or 9 later. Parents are then given termly reports saying whether the child is on track or not for each subject.

School B: each child is given a target grade for GCSE in each subject, then interim grades are set for the end of each year. These assume an increase of one grade per year. So a child who is expected to get a grade 8 at GCSE will be given a target of grade 4 for the end of Y7. Parents are then given half-termly reports saying whether the child is on target for each subject.

These schools are both run by the same trust, so I'm not sure why they have chosen different grading systems, but I'm pleased that my twins won't easily be able to compare their grades.

So for the child who left primary school at 5c, I suppose I'm expecting maybe pathway 6 from school G, with the possibility of increasing to 7 in higher years.

For the child who left primary school at 5a, I'm expecting maybe grade 4s from school B at the end of Y7.

My point is that different schools will have very different systems.

No grading as yet. Hard scores from tests/exams with percentages and position in year group.
We also get effort grades, so ideally regardless of hard scores we should have effort grades of 1or 2 anything less you are likely to be achieving below potential.

DD's school is sticking with (slightly modified) NC levels for y7-9, and then the new GCSE grades for y10&11.

Don't assume anything. Levels haven't been officially replaced with any sort of coherent system so different schools will be doing things differently.

As for new GCSE grades, I'm teaching the new GCSE to Y10 at the moment and couldn't tell you what new GCSE grade they are currently working at so any school that thinks they can tell you what grade a Y7 is working at is having a laugh.

any school that thinks they can tell you what grade a Y7 is working at is having a laugh

I think it might involve a lot of extrapolation and a bit of imagination.

A lot of imagination! Most of the new GCSEs aren't even being taught yet, and the ones that are, we don't have a clue about.

Every school has to devise its own system, therefore there will be no comparison between schools.

Most schools won't use the new GCSE grades until Year 10 (possibly Year 9). My DS' school use the old NC levels to track achievement and progress in KS3.

Our school does use the new GCSE grading system in year 7, but only for english and maths. All other subjects are graded at the old NC levels. Apparently all subjects will be switched over quite soon to the new grading system and will appear as marks on all their work from year 7 onwards (poor teachers..)

Noble nails it once again!

Just tried to assess our y10s, talk about picking numbers out of the air!

Yep, dd was given an assessment level in Science for the end of Year 8 - she exceeded it in 2 terms into Year 7....targets are a load of rubbish.

I think my DD's school uses the new system. She got a 3 minus recently for English - I have no idea what this means though! She is in the top set.

Am pretty sure yr7 DS school is sticking with (slightly modified) NC levels for y7-8, and then the new GCSE grades for yrs9-11.