Around this time of year, we always see a rise in questions such as:

• “What score should my child be achieving at this stage of the year?”
• “Their scores have dipped, and I’m panicking — what should I do?”

So, last year, we randomly selected a number of orders and asked those families if they would record all of their children’s test paper scores.

All of these scores came from our own SEAG test papers, starting with our SEAG Summer Pack and continuing right through to our SEAG Halloween Pack.

This particular child went on to achieve a TSAS score of 231, placing them in Band 1.

The graph above shows the highest score achieved by one pupil each week from Easter through to the SEAG exam in November.

In some weeks, the pupil completed two test papers, while in other weeks they completed three. For the purposes of this graph, we have used the highest score achieved from the papers completed that week.

Key points: 

• Prior to Easter, this child had been working through our Level 1 and Level 2 papers before progressing to Level 3 after the Easter break. As the graph shows, the increase in difficulty had an initial impact on performance, and it took a few papers for the child to adjust to the higher standard. Once they became familiar with the new level of challenge, their scores began to recover and improve steadily.
• This child remained within the 70–80% bracket for a number of weeks. What is not shown on the graph, however, is that some of their lower scores during this period dipped as far as 59%.
• The paper completed in Week 12 was reported by a number of parents to be slightly easier than the other papers in the pack, which is reflected in this pupil’s score of 95%. This provided a much-needed confidence boost at that stage.
• In Weeks 20 and 21, this child’s scores dipped considerably compared with their previous performance. During this period, the child was on holiday, and this appeared to have a clear impact on their scores, including the week after they returned. As I have advised before, if you are going away on holiday, it is often best to take a complete break from all work.
• During Weeks 26 and 27, this child completed our two most challenging papers from the Halloween Pack, which is reflected in their scores. Their final paper in Week 28 was a remaining paper from the SEAG Autumn Pack and was used to provide a last-minute confidence boost before the exam.

While this is only one pupil’s journey, it helps show that progress is rarely a straight line. However, it does help show how practice paper scores can dip considerably at certain points in the year, and how levelled papers can be used carefully to rebuild confidence when needed.

We will be working hard to provide a broader analysis from this year’s cohort, helping to inform parents and ease some of the stress around the highs and lows of SEAG scoring.

Please note: This is based on one pupil’s scores and should not be treated as a target, guarantee or formal benchmark. Every child progresses differently, and practice paper scores can rise and fall for many reasons, including paper difficulty, tiredness, confidence, holidays and the time of year. This example is shared simply to reassure parents that dips can happen and that progress is rarely a straight line.