At y8 in assessment what GCSE grade should DS be working to?

[123lookatme]

So they had yet again more assessments. DS is fairly bright I would say above average. His results were on this system thing school uses - home work score attitude score, then expected result actual result and a CAL (current attainment level) then an end column for Expected at Y11.

So the CAL scores are mainly 4.5 and 4.9 - D&T he did fabulously in and always does but his CAL was 3.9

Are these scores ie 4.9 equalivant to the 4 on the GCSE 1-9 scale

There is absolutely no way that the school have accurately assessed your DS to one decimal place in new GCSE grades. It's all guesswork. If they have reckoned your DS is working at about a grade 4 in Y8 then that means he's probably doing well, but in terms of future GCSE grades - nothing.

Look at his effort and behaviour grades and ask him where he reckons he is in the class, that would probably be more useful.

Current attainment level is just that,what he is working at at the moment from key stage levels. The 'average' child would be a level 4 in yr 7 and move to a level 6 in yr 9, that's the general idea, so he's well on track for halfway through yr 8 at a high level 4.
Ignore anything about GCSEs at this stage, way too many unknowns!
DT will be lower as they don't usually do it at primary, so they start at a lower level if that makes sense?

The 'average' child would be a level 4 in yr 7 and move to a level 6 in yr 9

That's assuming old national curriculum levels which have been scrapped, but it is possible the OP's school is still using them. The whole thing is a mess. Now the average child would be on a grade 4 at the end of Y11.

noble silly question but is it assumed that the average child will just pass exams then at grade 4 - so 50% of children in Yr 11 will not achieve a grade 4 ?

No, the pass rate is usually much higher than 50% but the distribution of grades (the bell curve) usually peaks at a C grade, except in subjects more usually taken by a brighter cohort.

For maths, the most common grade achieved is a C/4 and last year the mean grade was about 4.6.

Bugger, sorry! Totally my fault, am in Wales and I always forget we're about ten years behind England. Thank god tbh.