What are the tests for at the start of Yr7?

[Bomper]

Ds has just started Year 7 and spent one morning this week doing tests - he said they were a bit like the 11+ (VR, NVR, Maths). Is it to give them a baseline level for them to work from? If so, why bother with Year 6 SATs? Do we get to know how they did?

yes is for baselining purposes, showing progression, value added etc etc

year 6 sats are set by the gov't, schools set their own baselining standards

Sats don't cover VR/NVR, so they have to do baseline testing.

This information is then used throughout their secondary school years to make sure they are meeting their potential, and also to check for added value.

Thanks, do you know if we get to know how they did, or are the results purely for the schools use?

Our line at my school is that quite often the data we receive from primary schools is incomplete (for this read, "we don't trust it because we know that our feeder primaries cheat") We test their reading, writing and spelling in the English dept and I assume maths do their own version.

We also do cognitive ability tests primarily to determine our GaTs but also so we can spot any kids that have very low scores and give them support.

I always tell parents exactly how their kids did; if your school don't tell you then I'd ask at parent's evening.