Alternative KS4 Prior Attainment

Alternative KS4 Prior Attainment

With no SATs taking place in 2020 or 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those year groups will have no KS2 SAT scores. 

This article introduces the different options available, enabling providers who currently use KS2 SAT scores to make informed decisions when choosing an alternative Prior Attainment baseline.

Our options include: 

1. CAT4 - Scores from these assessments are used currently as Prior Attainment baselines by many providers using Alps at KS4 both in the UK and internationally. Please click here to find out more. 

2. MidYis - Scores from these assessments can be used to generate an equivalent KS2 scores.  A MidYis conversion table can be obtained by contacting our Alps Customer Success Team at the following email address support@alps.education.

3. KS2 Scores Collated from Mock SAT Papers - Although certain cohorts did not sit KS2 SATs due the pandemic, some providers may already have KS2 scores for students in these year groups collated from mock SAT papers.  If this is the case, these providers may choose to input these scores directly into Connect to provide a prior attainment baseline.

4. Cohort Distribution Analysis – In the absence of KS2 scores, some providers may choose to allocate students a proxy score and Alps band using cohort distribution analysis.  This involves first ranking all the students within a cohort based on the assessment data available.  After deciding on the student ranking, an analysis of the distribution of students within bands for previous year groups is carried out.  By using this analysis alongside the student ranking, students can be allocated a proxy score and band. To support providers with cohort distribution analysis, we have produced an excel spreadsheet and guide you can access by clicking here.

Please see our video guide below for further details on alternative KS4 Prior Attainment: 





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