Year 7 grades

[sparkleyes]

Hi

Can anyone shed any light on the new grading systems. My DS is in year 7 and we have his first terms report in it he has end of y7 target and current grades and they are based on the new GCSE grades. So majority of his targets are 2s with a couple of 4s and he seems more or less on track with his current progress but I have no idea what these numbers actually mean.

I just want to know if he is doing okay or not!

Anyone else's school do similar?

It all depends on the school. We get a double sided A4 sheet explaining our DD's reports.

So for every subject our DD (y8) gets

• Attitude Level (how hard they think she tries)
• Vaguely anticipated GCSE grade end y11
• Rate of progress since y7

We look at Attitude first and other stuff second.

Do they say whether he's on target, and do they give any effort rating?What were his SATs scores?
Basically, if he got SATs or >100 and they are saying he's on target, then don't worry.

If they are currently performing at GCSE grades then say he is on 2 end y7 and goes up a grade per year then he'll be on 6s (old high Bs) by end y11. Though how they can say what a y7 is on wrt GCSEs is beyond me.

Really you need to ask the school.

Entirely school specific! No one on here can help (unless they also have DC at your school!)

As PP have says there is now no national system for KS3 grading and schools do what they like! Probably best to email your child's form tutor for an explanation.

Thanks I have contacted the form tutor I guess I would have anticipated that the uk would have a countrywide approach to monitoring progress and grades but since we have this new system everyone seems to do different things and I guess our children are the guinea pigs! We maybe back to A-C before he's in year 11 who knows!

OP my school bases targets on GCSE grades. In MFL (my subject) a high target for end of year 7 would be a 2h (higher) or a 3L. The idea is that what you would be able to do would gain you a 2/3 at GCSE. Bit of a finger in the air job tho!!

Dcs school seems to use the same system as OP's school. They have a chart that gives 2- as the average for Y7 and would be a 4 under the old NC levels. The average in Y9 is put at 3 and linked to old BC level 6. It looks like a bit of guesswork though! In the first term the grade also reflects what they'd covered by the time they produced the report so it may underestimate ability.

I’m equally baffled by my DDs first term progress report in Y7. It’s not related to the GCSE grades as it goes up rather than down - most of her targets are around 4 or 5 but her better subjects are 6s. I think it’s related to SATS scores from year 6 but as she hasn’t done SATS, I’m still baffled.

Batty Better subjects would be higher numbers if related to GCSE grades. Remember under the new system 9 is the best, and 1 the worst. 4 or higher is a pass at GCSE.

They may still be using the old NC levels (possibly adapted), as under the NC getting to a 6 by end y9 would have indicated an expected pass at GCSE by end y11.

We got an explanation sheet, ours are graded for GCSE, so there maybe letters starting at the lowest - being a D, then up to C etc, then once they bypass an A it becomes GCSE letters so 1 being the lowest.

We have a Minimum target for the end of year 7, and an achievable target and where they are now for AP1 (first term.)

I would contact the school for an explanation.