Can a teacher help me with how old SATs levels convert to new GCSE levels

[Leveled]

So if a child was getting 4b at the end of six year where they should be by year 11 please.

Probably around grade 3/4/5. 4ish. Obviously not an exact science!

Thanks Noble!

In our school we said that level 4 ks2 should have converted to a B by Y11 so 4b would probably be a 5 target in my school with a view to get 4 or 5.

But as noble says, it's not an exact science.

Thank you.

So if an end of year 10 who had got 4b in year six and 4a at end of the first term of year seven had received level 1 and 2s in mocks at the end of year ten that would be cause for concern?

It would depend on a few things if inwas concerned or not. I usually work on the principle of 1 grade under target in y11 and 1-2 grades under target in y10 for proper mock exams (Obviously if their mock is a topic they've just studied then ignore my advice).

The first questions i would want to ask are:

1. Let's have a look at the paper. Is this an exam technique issue? If so then I'd be less concerned if their class work was otherwise good.
2. How much revision did they do? Too often y10 mocks aren't taken seriously and students think they can stare at their notes a bit before and then do well. If they've not revised properly and tried to wing it then that's a lesson for them to learn and as long as they moved forward then I wouldn't be worried.

If their mock and class work are both under expectations then I would be concerned and, as long as they were putting the effort in, I would be reflecting as a teacher on what I need to do to help them get it

How about bands? Apparently the English teachers have been marking English mocks and saying "this is a Band 3" "this is a Band 2" - which is apparently not the same as the GCSE numbers 9-1. Any idea what these English bands are and how they translate into GCSE numbers (which I now think I understand).

Bands are how the mark scheme is divided up.
Grades boundaries (and so the grades themselves) are allocated after the papers have been marked.

It's much safer to say to students 'This is a band 5' or 'bottom of band 4' than to say 'This is a grade 6'.

For my subject 50% in the summer got a grade 5. The boundaries were super generous at the top end too. Anyonr resting on their laurels giving grades out is taking a risk in my eyes.
If I could get away with never grading a GCSE piece of work then I could be tempted.

Thank you Maisy. That is very useful and helps me with what to ask at parents evening.

My pleasure.

What i would ask are:

1. What are their strengths?
2. What areas do they need to develop and work on?
3. Are they in line with expectations progress for this stage in the course?
4. If they continue to work as they are (attitude to learning) then what would the teacher expect them to achieve in the summer of y11?

So if an end of year 10 who had got 4b in year six and 4a at end of the first term of year seven had received level 1 and 2s in mocks at the end of year ten that would be cause for concern?

I'd be concerned at my child getting those grades unless there were some substantial SEN limiting their ability to achieve. With effort any kid who got a 4b KS2 grade ought to be able to get grade 5s at GCSE.

Getting organised with revision now and doing additional work each week (I'd concentrate on core and subjects which are important for desired career) gives a huge advantage because so many teens leave it until Y11.

Bimkom The English GCSE mark schemes are divided up into levels/bands. They don't correspond to grades.
As an example, here's part of the mark scheme for the Literature Paper 2 Section B (seen poetry).

So if an end of year 10 who had got 4b in year six and 4a at end of the first term of year seven had received level 1 and 2s in mocks at the end of year ten that would be cause for concern?
If these grades were for subjects other than Maths or English then most teachers last Summer had no idea what the grade boundaries were for the new 9-1 GCSEs so any "grade" given was an educated guess.

Mongertruffle: So I am still desperately confused about these English Bands. Yes, DS was waiving something that looked like this around to try and explain to me.
I guess the problem is that I am a simple kind of parent who just wants to know whether my child is going to pass English and English Lit, or rather, is he going to get the minimum grades that he needs to go on to do the science subjects he wants to do at the place where he wants to do them. English is not going to be an A Level subject, so at the moment it just feels like a means to an end. And while I hope he will continue to enjoy poetry (or relearn to start enjoying poetry, given that compulsory analysing it to death seems so often to be the deathknell for enjoyment), after June, I don't expect him to have to analyse a piece of poetry ever again. It is not a skill he is planning to take with him into the future. So what I want to know is how are these bands likely to translate into a GCSE mark which may or may not hold him back from his planned science career.