Sorry I know this is for teachers but thought you may help the most! Thank you :) Go4Schools grades

[kittykatmeme1]

Hi all, I am wondering if anyone could help me understand the grades on go4schools. I moved back from having lived in France for 10 years with my husband and two sons. My eldest son was raised in France and was 11 when we moved back to the UK to Suffolk. He has always been an A grade student when sitting tests but is getting really upset that when we go on go4schools it says he has 5 C's some of them C- and 1 A+, the rest are B's. He does not understand when he says there are many in his class who never get A's when sitting tests and formative assessments but yet they have A's and B's in their go4schools. The teachers did say that he did not have a history with them so they cannot put the target grade high yet but surely his actual grades should be higher and his OCF grades? I am completely confused and have told my son oh well just prove to them that you can get the grades by working hard and completing your GCSE's but he is gettting worried that he really is going to get C's in GCSE. I would not mind at all whatever he gets as long as he pursues a career of some sort and is happy! but for him it is extremely important as his dream is to become a lawyer and go to a good university. I have to say he has always got the A grades when sitting tests so can anyone let me know if the Go4school grades are realistic?! Thank you so much

lots of different factors to take into account and different schools use it in different ways. when he says the other students have A/B grades but never get that in tests, is that their target rather than current working grade? targets are calculated based on KS2 level (primary school) so if your son wasnt assessed at primary school then this will have an effect on data. plus, which year group is he in? if he is in y10 and not yet getting the grades he wants, plenty of time to improve them. my advice would be to speak to form tutor to ask for a quick summary of current levels and how it all works.

I should add- if he wasn't assessed at KS2 then it may affect his target grade, not his current working grade. I don't think I was clear

I have no experience of the Go4school system, but if you want to find out quickly what grade your son is currently working at for GCSE subjects I would suggest you go to the examboard website and download some past exam papers. You can also download markschemes and then google for GCSE grade boundaries for that year. As long as he completes the questions within the timescale and you stick rigidly to the markscheme this should give you a realistic idea.
i woud also talk to the school about how target grades are set and what they are predicting he will achieve by the end of his GCSE's.
I would also add that in some schools even in top set it is not unusual to not have A grade pupils.
Good Luck