The Transition Conversation

Why teachers think this year will be challenging and how they are planning to support students

Transition from primary to secondary school is always an important time for students, as well as their new teachers and schools. After two years of disruption to schooling and national testing, it’s arguably never been more important.

On this website you will find the results from our specially commissioned YouGov survey of 1,000 teachers on their feelings about – and the preparations they’re making for – this exceptional transition. You can also read the thoughts of ASCL General Secretary Geoff Barton, case studies about how schools use CAT4 to support the transition process, and pen-portraits of incoming Year 7 students likely to be in your classroom, based on real students, along with advice on how to best meet their needs.

Schoolboys in uniform, one biting a pen while studying.

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10 Top Tips for getting the best out of CAT4

1
Look beyond the mean score.

Use conditional formatting within your Excel report to easily identify strengths and challenges across the four CAT4 batteries.
2
Gain quick, in-depth insights into new cohorts at key transition points.

Share this information with key department leads to explore your students’ curriculum strengths.
3
Don’t assume that students with average mean scores also have average scores in all batteries.

This can often be overlooked; missing opportunities to develop areas of weakness and continue to challenge in areas of strength.
4
Use the verbal/spatial profile to identify students’ reasoning strengths and weaknesses.

Use the Strategies for Learning document to help support students with mild, moderate or extreme verbal/spatial profiles.
5
Ensure that you are using the correct level for each year group.

Also ensure that student information on the paper data file/Testwise student upload form contains key group information (EAL, FSM, etc.)
6
Use combination reports to compare potential from CAT4 and attainment from the PT Series and NGRT.

These will help to identify students who may not be achieving their full academic potential relative to their reasoning ability.
7
Make CAT4 results accessible to all staff.

Use our training videos to support subject leads in understanding the relevance of each reasoning battery on how these can influence a student’s performance across the curriculum.
8
Use CAT4 with FFT’s Transition Service.

Access the full range of pupil, subject and school-based estimates for your Year 7 and Year 8 cohorts.
9
Use the indicators to inform target-setting.

CAT4 provides a range of regularly updated indicators and national assessment points for KS2, GCSEs, A-levels and IB.
10
Book a free Assessment Insights CAT4 data consultation.

This guided analysis of your cohort data will help you to identify key groups of students to focus on, areas of the curriculum to reinforce and offer useful suggestions for next steps.