Parents
How is my child’s progress measured (Years 7-9)?
IBASEOM and Key Stage 3 Progress Reports Explained
Kingsmead School is now using the JT MAT ‘IBASEOM’ system to track student progress in key stage 3 (KS3). As part of this system, students are assigned to one of five starting attainment bands in each subject. The starting bands are subject specific and are determined using Fischer Family Trust (or FFT) GCSE grade estimates (please see the equivalence between the IBASEOM bands and GCSE grade estimates in the table below). Once assigned, this is a student’s minimum ‘expected attainment band’ and attainment in all subsequent KS3 assessments will be compared to this.
| Attainment Band Symbol | Attainment Band | FFT Estimate |
| O | Outstanding | Grades 7 & 8 |
| E | Exceeding | Grade 6 |
| S | Secure | Grade 5 |
| A | Approaching | Grade 4 |
| B | Beginning | Grades 2 & 3 |
N.B. there is also an ‘Initial’ (Grade 1 – below Beginning) and ‘Mastered’ (Grade 9 – above Outstanding) but these are not used as an ‘expected band’.
Each subject is working collaboratively to create descriptors and marking criteria which are associated with the seven IBASEOM attainment bands. These identify what students are expected to know and should be able to do, at each point in KS3. Class teachers will use their subject’s descriptors and marking criteria to decide which attainment band the students’ assessed pieces of work fit best. This is the student’s ‘current attainment band’.
The minimum expectation is that a student’s current attainment band (or the standard of their assessed pieces of work) should meet (or exceed) their expected attainment band at all points during KS3. If at any point the standard of their work falls below their expected attainment band, then they will receive some form of intervention from their class teacher to raise their attainment back to the level of their expected attainment band.
At the end of the academic year, Kingsmead School will review the attainment bands of all students. If the standard of a student’s work has been consistently one or more bands above their original expected band, in all (or the majority of assessments) within a subject, then the school may lift the expected attainment band for the student ahead of the next academic year. A student’s expected attainment band will not ordinarily be lowered.