Bandin/setting g in schools - is it based on SATs

[mids2019]

My daughter achieved 115, 117 and 118 in her SATs but appears(?) to have been placed in the lower 50% of her new schools intake by ability.

It may be we have not fully understood the banding system as it is a little opaque but I can't quite see 50% of the intake exceeding the SAGs results as the school is an average non selective comprehensive.

How should I reassure my daughter she has done well at primary school and ensure that banding/setting are as fair as possible?

Our (state comp) school based it on SATs plus a series of tests (CAT4-like) taken in one day in July of year 6. Kids had to come in for one day of testing. I believe SATs had heavier weighting though.

Her SATs scores alone would place her in the top band at most comprehensive schools?! Bottom 50% sounds odd.

Was there a banding test for entry to the school? (Some schools do a banding test and offer places within each band to ensure an 'even' intake.)

It would be very unusual for a secondary school to split the year in half based on SATs results. Do you actually know they have done this? (If they have, there's no way your DD is in the bottom half!)

If it's a big school, it's more likely that they have split the intake in half randomly.

One of my DC secondary just lumped them in then made changes after the Christmas holidays. They did mini tests about 2 weeks before the holidays in the school which I presume they used the results of.
The other DC school went of SAT results.
Hope that helps

Thanks all!

My child's school initially uses SATs but adjusts by half term, then termly after that.
Other schools use their own tests.

Unless your child's school is a super selective, there is no way they are bottom 50%.

Unless this is a grammar school, it’s extremely unlikely she will be in anything other than top sets based on those scores. Either they’ve done their own assessments and she did badly for some reason, or it’s not set at all (more likely I’d have thought). If you’re absolutely sure they’re sets, I’d contact the school and ask what basis they were set on and whether she’s definitely in the right set.

Our secondary ignores SATs completely

Are you sure they have been put into sets already? My school sets quite stringently, but new Year 7s are taught in form groups until October half term, and set after a series of mini-assessments (reading, writing and comprehension) plus their CAT scores. I don't think we really take much notice of SATs at all!

However, for timetabling purposes each class is labelled with the set the teacher will ultimately end up teaching. So, for example, if I am timetabled to teach set 5, that is what will appear on my timetable, even though very few of that form might ultimately end up in there after half term.

Contact the school. Quick email to form tutor/head of year or head of whichever subject(s) is/are the problem. It may be a mistake. They happen.

You say the banding system is opaque, so why do you think your daughter is in the bottom 50% of the year?

The school could split into two equal halves for timetabling purposes, or not have put any setting in place at this point.