Target from SATS scores

[littlequestion]

My DS is in year 7. His school organise Maths and English sets according to targets. I've queried his English target as it seems low but have been it's computer generated and can't be changed. He got a scaled score of 115 out of 120 in his reading SATS but has a GSCE target of 6 which seems low to me. Writing was "expected standard". It means he can't be in the top set however well he's doing. I was just wondering if a) that target sounds low and b) it's normal for targets to be set in stone?

Your DS's school is stupid if it has a policy of not moving pupils to top set no matter how well they're doing because of some number generated by a computer that doesn't even know him. It's putting an artificial cap on his attainment based on one day when he was 11.

Ask them if that is really their policy and whether he is now permanently excluded from top set and how they think that will affect his motivation.

Computer generated targets are set by an external company and schools can't change those targets, however there is absolutely no requirement for the school to pay any attention to them, and there are plenty of arguments against them being shared with parents and pupils. Schools can absolutely issue new targets based on how the pupil is actually doing. The targets are an average target designed to be accurate over a whole cohort, not on an individual basis.

The target for English does seem low when considering his SATs result, but it has probably also taken his maths into account (yeah, I know...but that's how targets are generated). Was his maths score much lower?

Ah thanks Noble - his maths was 105 I think. But he has the same targets for Maths and English which seems crazy.

I know at some schools they base targets on Fisher Family Trust data which takes postcode into consideration.
Therefore, even if you have a super bright kid in a deprived area or a lower ability child in an affluent area both on the same SATS score I belueve this can come into play and the child in the 'poorer' postcode may have a higher target. It seems so odd and crude how they base those targets.

Sorry - child in 'poorer' postcode has a LOWER target..

At DDs school the target grade based on the SAT score, when printed out for parents of students in years 7 - 9, will be approximately 2 grades below what is actually expected of them at GCSE.

They have put this information on their website because so many parents were querying it. Could it be that your school is the same?

I am also surprised that they are saying they cannot be moved through sets. Is it perhaps more of a case that they like them to stay put for the first year and then have a look at how they are progressing in the summer? I know that at the beginning of year 8 every student seemed to be moved up or down a set and then eventually they decided to just not bother with sets at all but that's a different thread