Math Set Exams Year 7

[HopelesslyOptimistic]

I understand some state secondary schools set year 7 students into Math Sets at the end of the first term.

Are these tests generally non verbal reasoning type tests or SATS arithmetic/reasoning?

Thanks

It's likely that they'll have a test (or maybe a couple) on the work they have done in the first term. They may also test across the KS2 curriculum. They might also look at classwork that term, KS2 results, and any other information they have. It's not something you really need to worry about - the important thing is that each child ends up in an appropriate set. If you are wanting to make sure your child is in the highest set possible, then just support them with what they are learning. The point of waiting a term to set them is that it's not done on the basis of a single test.

I don't think anyone will be able to answer your question definitively. My guess would be that if they're doing it after a whole term, it will be primarily based on how they do in informal maths assessments during the first term - basically how they perform in maths lessons.

It's possible that they will draw on insights from their CATS or similar to identify students who are underperforming, and maybe a bit of "X is very anxious so might do better at top of second set than bottom of top set" kind of thing.

If they were going to base it all on NVR or SATS they could do it in week 2.

Any sensible school will also let sets be flexible in y7.
My DD1 moved sets for her 3 set subjects in y7.
Interestingly she also went up a set every year for maths, starting in 7 equivalent, ending up in 3!

My DDs school sets originally from the Maths SATs results, then adjusts termly based on class performance and topic test results. (In both Maths and Science as its the same class for both). They take into account work ethic and behaviour as well as pure results.

There are only 4 Sets, as the year is split onto two for timetabling purposes.

Absolutely. You can usually trust a maths dept to gather data and make use of it! Equally I suspect my DD was kept in the same set because she finds change difficult. There's room for both.

The sets at DD's school overlapped. Some liked the challenge of being in a higher set with more able kids, others liked the confidence of being one of the more able in a lower set.

My school used maths questions mostly from gcse and past sats papers.

Non verbal reasoning would be unusual. I've never heard of it.

Thanks for your responses. I was asking on behalf of my sister. My niece gets very very anxious with exam situations and given she's now used to SAT type questions the thought of her having to learn the non verbal type questions I trust would tip her over the edge. Good to know this would be unusual. 🙏😊

We're the maths department, we'll be setting maths questions!

DC's school use the results of assessments done during the term together with a view of how the student is working in class and completing homework etc.

It's not a case of "result in one test = maths set" and I'd be deeply wary of any school that adopted such a rigid approach.

Shepherd I very much thought that. 🙏

Are the Q you plan an overview of what the children learnt in year 6?

Different schools use different types of tests. From asking kids at the open days they are not similar to SATS, more like an easier version of 11+ exams and include the shape based tests like this:

090bond 4online.indd (bond11plus.co.uk)

My DS starts Year 7 in September and I am having him continue using Atom Learning to maintain his knowledge so he doesn't forget over the summer.

We want to be able to set kids from set 1-4 so it goes from basic addition, subtraction, multiplying by 10, measuring a line sort of questions to fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, angle rules sort of thing. So up to Y6 content, but some tricky questions to sort out the set 1 from set 2.

Thanks both, really helpful. Interesting that non verbal reasoning shapes used. We think she'd struggle with that, in fact I probably would too 😂.

OP, “shape” questions doesn’t tend to mean non-verbal reasoning. Geometry is part of maths.

The ones that were linked in the post OP referred to are non verbal reasoning