CAT scores, explanation needed!

[tommyspud]

Hi
my son is in Year 7 and has had a bit of a bumpy start to Year 7. He was working at greater depth in all subjects in Year 6 and throughout primary though he seems to have plateaued since starting high school.

He has always had a real aptitude for Maths and is in one of two top sets though middle sets for everything else. I have requested his CAT scores and the deputy head has said he is lower end of average and give me his overall score. I wanted to do a bit of independent reading on the subject to gain more understanding before I approach school again for more clarification. Can any secondary teachers recommend any websites or articles that would be useful and easy to understand for a non teacher please?

For context I work with key stage 4 and 5 pupils but in a non teaching role so I have a good understanding of GCSE and equivalent qualifications but CAT scores are totally new to me!

Thanks

My understanding is that it's standardised by age (calendar month), and the range is 69-141, so if your child scores 100, that means they've scored exactly "as expected for their calendar month" in that area. You get outliers like 141 more often in maths and quantitative than you do in verbal.

DH is a teacher and sent me this when we were given DS1's CAT scores earlier this year: www.tes.com/magazine/archive/cat4-data-quick-guide-everything-you-need-know#:~:text=Students%20who%20score%20exactly%20as,range%20from%2069%20to%20141.

Lots of previous threads on here about CAT tests already over the years. Just google mumsnet and CAT and you'll get a bunch.

Thanks both! The article was really useful @Xiaoxiong