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On 31^st August the DfE released the results of the KS2 national curriculum assessments and information about the 2017 performance tables.

2017 KS2 SATs results

This year there has been an increase in the proportion of pupils achieving both the expected standard and the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics, compared with 2016.

The proportion of pupil’s achieving the expected standard has increased by 8 percentage points, from 53% in 2016 to 61% in 2017, and those attaining the higher standard has also increased from 5% to 9%.

Pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their A level results today and overall, pass levels have fallen slightly but top A and A* grades are up. A-level entry numbers remained stable, whilst the number of AS-level entries dropped significantly. Find out more about trends in entry level numbers here.

Thanks to Camilla Erskine for this article. 

What is interactive assessment?

Interactive assessments are those that are completed and automatically marked on a computer or mobile device. There are various types of interactive tests, ranging from ready-made tests - either specifically for digital use or those that have been adapted from existing paper-based tests – to tailor-made tests that are created from a bank of questions. Such customised tests can be as short or long as the teacher wishes, focusing on a particular topic or style of question, or they may be designed to assess across topics that have been taught over a period of time, for example over the last half term. Some interactive tests can also be created by children themselves – it depends on the system being used. Interactive assessments are most widely used in mathematics as the subject generally lends itself well to automatic marking, but they are also available for English and other subjects as well as to assess skills (e.g. cognitive reasoning).

Scaled score conversion tables for key stage 2

The scaled score conversion tables for the 2017 key stage 2 national tests have been published by the DfE.

• In reading, children need a scaled score of 26 to reach the expected standard (5 more than 2016)
• In maths, children need a scaled score of 57 to reach the expected standard (3 less than 2016)
• In GPS, children need a scaled score of 36 to reach the expected standard (7 less than 2016)

The DfE has released scoring guidance, materials and answer sheets for the 2017 phonics screening check. These materials will help teachers and children become familiar with the phonics screening check, and enable teachers to score performance once the check has been administered.

The 2017 phonics screening check threshold mark is 32. Teachers should check each pupil's mark against the thresholds to establish whether they have achieved the expected standard.

Download guidance and materials here. 

Thanks to Charles Weedon, Educational psychologist and teacher, for this post

Charley really toils with some of the things we ask her to do in the classroom.  The policies about learning difficulties, the rhetoric, are often impressive….. But the reality sometimes seems more threadbare and stretched day-by-day, and the outside agencies that might be able to help us just don't seem to be there.  Despite our best efforts, Charley is going nowhere good  -  reading still agony, written work looks like a battlefield, and while some days she's worryingly quiet and withdrawn, others she's off the wall and causing mayhem.