high school results, WTF?

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Just looking at some results for a first year at balfour, and don't understand! What is a 4M, and is it better or worse than a 3U?
 

Mr X

Well-Known Forumite
As I understand it, the numbers correspond to the national scoring system (can't remember its proper name). This is the system that was used in SATs.

At Year 9, the SATs papers used to have the two tiers: 3-6 and 5-7 (and maths also had a 6-8) levels. This meant that the student was entered for the tier for the level which they were most likely to achieve. Therefore a student predicted a level 4 would be entered for a 3-6 paper and could receive any level between a 3 and a 6 based on the mark achieved. If they were predicted a 6, for example then they could be entered for the higher tier paper and would be able to receive a level 5, 6 or 7. Of course this is irrelevent now because Y9 SATs no longer exist. Just thought it might be helpful as background info.

Anyway, the number gives you the level achieved. A L, M or U is added on the end which means, in the case of 4M, that the student has achieved a middle level 4. This is better than an upper level 3.

Just to clarify, the grades are as follows (from lowest to highest):
3L, 3M, 3U, 4L, 4M, 4U, 5L, 5M, 5U, 6L, 6M, 6U, 7L, 7M, 7U.
I'm not sure what the lowest and highest you can achieve are, but I'm sure you can see the pattern. The L, M and U are there just so you know how close the child is to the next level up.

I'm fairly sure that the numbers will match up to the levels used in SATs, although I'm not 100% on that. Even if they don't match, the levels should still follow the same order I listed above.

Hope that makes sense! Ask again if you're not sure still!
 

Pie & Ale

Well-Known Forumite
Mr X said:
As I understand it, the numbers correspond to the national scoring system (can't remember its proper name). This is the system that was used in SATs.

At Year 9, the SATs papers used to have the two tiers: 3-6 and 5-7 (and maths also had a 6-8) levels. This meant that the student was entered for the tier for the level which they were most likely to achieve. Therefore a student predicted a level 4 would be entered for a 3-6 paper and could receive any level between a 3 and a 6 based on the mark achieved. If they were predicted a 6, for example then they could be entered for the higher tier paper and would be able to receive a level 5, 6 or 7. Of course this is irrelevent now because Y9 SATs no longer exist. Just thought it might be helpful as background info.

Anyway, the number gives you the level achieved. A L, M or U is added on the end which means, in the case of 4M, that the student has achieved a middle level 4. This is better than an upper level 3.

Just to clarify, the grades are as follows (from lowest to highest):
3L, 3M, 3U, 4L, 4M, 4U, 5L, 5M, 5U, 6L, 6M, 6U, 7L, 7M, 7U.
I'm not sure what the lowest and highest you can achieve are, but I'm sure you can see the pattern. The L, M and U are there just so you know how close the child is to the next level up.

I'm fairly sure that the numbers will match up to the levels used in SATs, although I'm not 100% on that. Even if they don't match, the levels should still follow the same order I listed above.

Hope that makes sense! Ask again if you're not sure still!
Very detailed explanation indeed :clap:
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Mr X said:
As I understand it, the numbers correspond to the national scoring system (can't remember its proper name). This is the system that was used in SATs.

At Year 9, the SATs papers used to have ... Of course this is irrelevent now because Y9 SATs no longer exist.
Does this mean that the original scoring system remains in place but is now dependant on the teacher's assessment rather than test results?
 

Mr X

Well-Known Forumite
Withnail said:
Mr X said:
As I understand it, the numbers correspond to the national scoring system (can't remember its proper name). This is the system that was used in SATs.

At Year 9, the SATs papers used to have ... Of course this is irrelevent now because Y9 SATs no longer exist.
Does this mean that the original scoring system remains in place but is now dependant on the teacher's assessment rather than test results?
Erm... think so!

The system, I think, runs right through from reception year to year 9 when gcse style grades are used. Therefore I would assume that teachers continue to use the level system to assess work individually as they would have done in the lead up to SATs.

---

Would somebody look to agree or disagree with me on all this information, please?

As I said above, I'm not 100% on all of this! I'm no expert!
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Whatever happened to A,B,C,D,E? Is this just to stop us understanding how the kids are actually doing? If it goes to 7 does that make a 4M the middle grade then? Or like GCSEs do most get 'above average'?

Cheers for all the replies :)
 

Mr X

Well-Known Forumite
The scale runs right through from whenver they start it (maybe primary school year 1 or 2) and runs right through to year 9 (year before GCSE years). Therefore you can't look at a 4M and say that it's an average grade. Clearly if a child achieved a level 4 in year 1 then they would be very bright, if they achieved a level 4 in year 9 then they would be less bright than the first child.

However, now I've thought of it that way I'm wondering if maybe the scale isn't quite as simple as I first thought. It is possible (although rare) to achieve a level 4 in KS1 SATs; there are plenty of year 9 students who achieved a level 4 in their KS3 SATs. It doesn't quite seem right that a 6 year old could get the same level as 13 year old!

You might want to contact Balfour and just enquire as to what the minimum and maximum levels are that are possible to achieve. I'm slightly concerned that I might have just given you some wrong info. What I've written about Y9 SATs is correct and I'm fairly confident that the higher the number the better, and that LMU is for lower, middle or upper levels, but its how the levels all fit together between years that doesn't seem quite right to me.

Balfour should be able to tell you what the 'average' level for a year 7 student is, and what the min/max they can achieve is.

Also be aware that as the child is in the first year at the school, their levels will be partially dependent on their Y6 SATs levels, and they will have been placed into classes as a result of these levels also - therefore the teachers will have been teaching to a certain range of levels. Their grade may change if they are moved between classes at any point.

Hopefully I haven't been talking complete rubbish about this, but please don't take my word for it. Unless anybody else on here can confirm or correct what I've said, I'd phone or email the school just to check.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
An average y6 pupil should get a level 4 (a,b or c). The maximum a bright student can get is a level 5a. Not sure why the high school uses M and U?
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
When I was a lad I did year 6 SATs and scored 5-6-6 and in year 9 achieved 7-8-8, capped at 6 and 8 respectively.

does this now mean that a level 5 when i was there is now the same as a current level 4 and so on at year 6? seems confusing to shift it all back a grade, have they had to make more room at the top end of year 9 because the tests are getting easier....sorry the kids are getting smarter?
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
No Shoes, I think it just means that very bright kids are no longer able to show they are! Why can't we just have a percentage result. i.e how much percent each child gained in a certain test. It would make sense to everyone then!
 
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