Is it harder to move TO a top set than to stay in a top set?

[whitecatsandblackcats]

My DS just started in year 7. He didn't sit SATS (yrs 5&6 at a private school) so from the school's point of view he is 'no data'.

So he has been put into middle sets (he was in top sets at both his state primary and private primary).

School have assured me that they will continue to do baseline tests all through year 7 (and beyond) and that if results are appropriate, children can move sets. The tests are the same for all sets and are apparently designed to test skills rather than content knowledge.

But if the top set children are working at a faster pace with more challenging work, surely they are better equipped (better educated) to get higher grades in the tests. So from that it seems to me that it would be easier for a top set child to maintain a top set place than it would be for a middle set child to gain a top set place. So from that it seems to me that it puts these 'no data' children at a disadvantage.

Plus there is the fact that if they run out of top set places for any borderline children, I assume some will need to stay in the middle set (and then not be challenged as much which I assume would result in potentially lower grades than they are capable of).

Am I correct or is there something I'm missing? I'd be particularly keen to hear from teachers on this as well as parents.

OP I think you need to bide your time and see how your DS performs in assessments over the next few months. If he is a consistently top scorer in his set then this will provide the evidence you need to ask for him to be moved up. There will also be some kids in top set that are finding it difficult and they will move down so it is not always the case that the top set fills up.

What I will say is that not all schools and teachers are pro active when it comes to this so its important to speak to the teacher and share your concerns.

I agree op - dd can't move to top set because there is no room and that wouldn't matter so much if her teacher taught to dd's ability but she doesn't - she likes to teach nice non challenging material because she likes to have a lovely relaxed class - her words, dd is bored rigid. Have approached the school about this but so far nothing has changed.

It is certainly true that students are limited by sets later on. I think the main problem is with borderline students where the teacher is only teaching to the foundation paper. This might be ok for half of the class but the others could achieve more in higher paper if they were taught the syllabus to that level.