Year 8 levels. | Mumsnet

seeker · 2009-03-04T22:10:06+00:00

What sort of marks are your year 8 children getting for their work? We've got a parent's evening next week and I'd like to know what's averageish for halfway through year 8.

snorkle · 05/03/2009 09:38

you won't get average from mumsnet seeker, just some extreme examples.

I assume you are talking national curriculum levels? We don't get told those so I can't help. We get As & Bs etc. for achievement and 1s, 2s etc. for effort - so don't give a absolute measure of anything. I think As are supposed to mean always works ahead of what's expected for age; Bs are sometimes works ahead of expected for age; C work as expected for age and so on, but that still doesn't help you.

christywhisty · 05/03/2009 09:53

We had parents evening just before half term and we don't really get told a level as such.

From what I could gather ds is averaging
high 6's/7 in his science tests
mid 6 for maths
6 for history
no idea for geography or RE
3 for ITC but told they mark differently for those.
MFL any where between a 2 and a 5
no idea for Art or DT.

His teachers are all really impressed with his effort and enthusiasm, which is what I think really matters, and some of them did point out that the expectation at the end of ks3 is Level 5.
He has his yr8 exams just after easter and we will get his main report and levels a few weeks after that.

Docbunches · 05/03/2009 12:28

I've just dug out my DS's Interim report from last year, and I'm slightly reluctant to admit he got very much a mixture of level 4/5 with the odd 6 thrown in (although they do receive their Interim reports quite early in the academic year so it's not quite as bad as it sounds).

However, this year (Y9), his Interim report was hugely improved, for example he's achieved level 7 in Maths and Science - although in Maths it was not enough to keep him in the top set as you need to be working at a level 8 at his school even though it is a mixed ability comprehensive.

Hope this helps a bit.

ICantFindAFreeNickName · 06/03/2009 01:00

At my sons school they predict what they will get at end of Yr9 based on their current work.

3/4 Below national average

5/6 Average

7/8 Above national average.

Some subjects (Languages maybe others) tend to be one number lower for some reason.

mycatunderstandsme · 06/03/2009 13:41

My DD is in year 8. At the parents evening in Feb her levels were:
English 5B [has been at this level since year 7 so no improvement there!]
Maths 6c
Science 7c
history, rs, geography level 6
german and spanish level 4
art and drama level 6
ict/design tech/pe/music level 5

She is in the top set for everything except maths where she's in set 2. Probably in the bottom 1/2 of most of her top sets though.

Design tech and MFL are not setted. ICT,drama and music are set based on results in humanities!?

Don't know if that helps at all. To be honest the only thing she seems to be improving much in since last year is science but the teachers don't seem concerned.

janeite · 06/03/2009 17:59

Language levels are generally lower because most of them are only just starting to study a language once they begin secondary school. Having said that, bright pupils will often close the gap very quickly, so by Year 8 or certainly Yr 9 the language level may well be on a par with other subjects.

The 'average' level at the end of Yr 9 is L5 but obviously Yr 8 levels will also depend on what your child got in KS2 SATs. If a pupil got L5 in KS2 and is L5 in Yr 8 there could be a reason to worry that insuffient progress has been made OR that a teacher is marking incorrectly/inconsistently. Eg: when a teacher told my daughter at the end of Yr 8 that she was L5 in English it turned out that the teacher hadn't actually marked her book all term and was therefore inventing levels! grrrr!

mathsmummy27 · 07/03/2009 01:12

Level 5/6 is average. Depends on subject though.

bagsforlife · 07/03/2009 11:26

Asked my DS(Year 8) He is getting mainly 7s, but lower in foreign languages as he has never done these before. He is at a grammar school though. We have a parents eve soon as well, and I don't expect he will be hailed as a genius. I should think his scores are 'average' for his school and probably below average in some subjects.

twinsetandpearls · 07/03/2009 11:30

Level 5/6 is average and as Janeite said they will be lower in languages.

Original poster

seeker · 08/03/2009 22:17

Thank you all.Dd's scores range from 7c to 5a - so she seems to be doing OK.

Glad she's not at bagsforlife's ds's school - a 7 being thought below average is SERIOUSLY scary!

OP posts:

bagsforlife · 08/03/2009 23:00

Well, there are some seriously scary pushy parents and some very hardworking, bright pupils. My DCs not v interested in working hard sadly.

Teachers are very ambivilant. Remember queuing up behind DS1 friends parents (he is now at Cambridge) and the teacher saying to them 'well, he's certainly a plodder, will get there in the end'....

I hate Parents Evening personally.

Original poster

seeker · 09/03/2009 10:42

Even more scared to hear that your ds achieves scores like that without working hard!

OP posts:

bagsforlife · 09/03/2009 11:29

Well he certainly hasn't been flagged up as a genius or anything!!! There really are much more hardworking pupils than him at his school and some seriously boffin types. It is a 'top' grammar school, so they do cream off the absolute top percentage in the county.

I feel a bit sorry for them sometimes there because they are made to feel very 'average' so they don't get cocky etc but they aren't at all, as this thread shows. Some of the pupils do need to be taken down a peg or two I am sure, but the vast majority are just normal, nice children, not cocky not 'boffiny' either. They just go there because they passed the test and got a place.

Sorry, gone off topic a bit.

bagsforlife · 09/03/2009 11:29

Well he certainly hasn't been flagged up as a genius or anything!!! There really are much more hardworking pupils than him at his school and some seriously boffin types. It is a 'top' grammar school, so they do cream off the absolute top percentage in the county.

I feel a bit sorry for them sometimes there because they are made to feel very 'average' so they don't get cocky etc but they aren't at all, as this thread shows. Some of the pupils do need to be taken down a peg or two I am sure, but the vast majority are just normal, nice children, not cocky not 'boffiny' either. They just go there because they passed the test and got a place.

Sorry, gone off topic a bit.