Beliavsky wrote:
On Dec 6, 9:24 am, Banty wrote:

snip

This is slow-drip torture for a bright kid, and the road to cynicism.
She's
already gotten cynical. Are there other educational opportunities around
for
her?
No! Unless someone wishes to send us about £10K a year for school fees! (or
we win the lottery) and someone can persuade dh that the road to hell isn't
lines with private schools.
Debbie
Ps before anyone suggests, homeschooling would not be a good option for her
Hopefully things may change in the junior high school next year.

?? At what age/grade *do* they start giving letter grades in UK
schools?

Well, never. It is probably more like the Indian system you mentioned.

We have "SATS" exams at 6/7yo, 10/11yo and 13/14yo: the results are
given as a numerical level on the same scale, although these are
sub-divided into a, b or c.

So most children would be expected to be working at level 2 when they
are 7yo, and will be tested in English and maths.

When they are 10/11yo, in May they are tested in English, maths and
science and the average child is expected to be at level 4, although
some children will be working at level 5, and others at level 3.

They are tested in English, maths and science again when they are
13/14yo. At this age, children will be expected to be working at
level 5 or 6.

Then they go onto working towards exams. The exams taken at 15/16yo are
called GCSE's and have a combination of exam and set pieces of work.
The results are given as letters, and most employers consider results of
A-C as a pass, and D or below as a fail.

The next main set of exams are A levels, taken at 17/18yo. If you are
planning to go to University, you would take 3 or possibly 4: the
passing grades are A-E.

Basically, the results of SATS are fairly irrelevant once you get to
GCSE level. What employers and colleges are interested in are the GCSE
and A level results. It doesn't really matter to them whether you got a
level 8 in maths when you were 14 if you get a D at GCSE.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three