Parent learning support

School Reports Explained for Parents

Understand what the grades and comments show, separate learning from effort, and decide what to ask next.

Editorial

Lead authorRobin GibbonsFounder & CEO·Latimer Tuition
Reviewed byHeather LatimerTutor Matching & Customer Service·Latimer Tuition

Start with the report key

What you need to know about school reports

A school report brings together judgements about your child’s learning, often alongside effort, behaviour, attendance and next steps. Read each column against that school’s explanation of its scale. Attainment describes the standard reached; progress describes change over time; effort describes learning habits or engagement. A target describes an aim, while a prediction is an estimate of a future result. These are different kinds of information.

Start by asking: What can my child do now, what evidence supports this judgement, and what should they work on next? A low attainment mark alongside strong effort calls for a different conversation from a high mark alongside incomplete work. Neither combination explains the cause on its own.

This guide is for primary and secondary parents across the UK. School-specific codes are not a UK grading system; national assessment terms and reporting arrangements are labelled below.

What the main report fields tell you

These are common ways to discuss reports, not a universal codebook. For a named example in England, Clifton Community School’s assessment guide separates current attainment, targets, predictions and effort. Its definitions illustrate the distinctions below; your child’s school may use a different approach.

Field	How to read it	What to ask
Attainment or current grade	A judgement of the standard reached in the work assessed.	Is this based on a recent test, several pieces of classwork or a broader teacher judgement? What period does it cover?
Progress	Change from an earlier starting point, sometimes compared with a school’s expected trajectory.	Progress since when, and measured against what? Ask to see earlier and recent work.
Effort, attitude or learning habits	A separate judgement that may cover participation, preparation, homework or independence. The school defines it.	Which behaviour led to this rating? Do low numbers mean stronger or weaker effort on this scale?
Target	An intended standard or result. It may be a grade, but a written learning target should identify something to improve.	Is this a term-end or course-end target? How was it set, and what is the next achievable step?
Predicted or forecast grade	An estimate of a future outcome using the school’s stated approach.	What evidence and assumptions underpin it? Is it distinct from the current grade and target?
Attendance and comments	Context to read alongside the learning judgements. Comments may identify strengths or a specific difficulty.	Which dates does attendance cover? Which comment names an action, and which needs an example?

An annotated example report

Fictional secondary-school example. For this example only, the school defines effort 1 as consistently engaged, 2 as usually engaged and 3 as needing support to engage. “Current” describes work assessed this term; “target” is the school’s aim for the end of the course. These invented entries illustrate how to read separate columns; they are not real pupil records or a national scale.

Report entry	What it tells you	Useful follow-up
Maths: current 4; target 5; effort 1. Comment: “Can solve one-step equations; struggles with equations containing brackets.”	The pupil is below this school’s course-end target in current assessed work, while effort is strong on its key. The comment identifies a specific learning difficulty; “try harder” would not explain how to address it.	Ask the teacher to compare a successful one-step equation with a bracketed example. Is expanding brackets, handling signs or the later equation-solving step causing the difficulty?
English: current 6; target 6; effort 3. Comment: “Thoughtful class contributions; written homework often incomplete.”	Current assessed attainment meets the stated target, but the report raises a separate concern about completing work. The grade does not show why homework is unfinished.	Ask the child and teacher what happens when written work starts. Is the barrier understanding the task, planning an answer, time or something else? Agree a concrete next step after establishing that.

Read the report in five steps

Find the key and the time period
Identify what each letter, number or colour means and whether it describes work now or a future outcome. If no key is included, ask for it before comparing marks.
Start with strengths and your child’s view
Pick out something specific they can do well. Ask which comments feel accurate and which surprise them. Their account gives you questions to explore, rather than a reason to dismiss the teacher’s evidence.
Look for patterns, then differences
Compare the kinds of difficulty described across subjects. Several comments about starting work may deserve a broader conversation; one named skill may need subject-specific help. Do not assume that matching numbers in different subjects represent identical judgements.
Choose one question that needs evidence
Instead of “Why is the grade low?”, ask “Which part of the recent work is below the expected standard, and could you show us an example?” Separate what is known from an explanation you are guessing.
Turn the answer into a next step
Agree a manageable learning action, who will support it, what work will show change and when to review it. Use our parents’ evening checklist when you are ready to prepare the wider meeting.

A question to adapt

When a target is too vague

When this applies

The report says “improve accuracy” or “be more independent”, without showing what that means in the subject.

Suggested wording

“Could you show us one recent example and explain what a stronger response would do differently? Which part should they practise first, and what help should we give? What would you like to see them do independently when we review this?”

Why this helps

This turns a broad target into an observable task. In the fictional maths example, the first task depends on whether the pupil’s difficulty is expanding brackets or solving the equation afterwards.

School scales and national assessments are different

A school’s report legend is the starting point for its own bands and effort ratings. National assessment results need their own explanation. Even familiar abbreviations can appear in different contexts.

Primary-school words and codes

Heap Bridge Village Primary School’s report guide in England uses WTS for working towards, EXS for expected and GDS for greater depth, linked to year-group learning. This is an example of that school’s reporting usage. Do not assume every school uses those codes in the same way. Separately, in England’s national KS2 tests, a scaled score of 100 or above meets the expected standard in that test. It is a converted score, not a percentage or a writing teacher-assessment grade.

England

The 2026 KS2 assessment and reporting arrangements describe annual reports for maintained schools covering achievements, general progress and attendance, with an opportunity to discuss the report. Academy reporting requirements sit in their agreements. These requirements do not define a single effort or attainment scale for every report.

Scotland

Education Scotland describes reporting as an ongoing process. The yearly report details progress, strengths and next steps, alongside other communication with families.

Wales

Welsh Government guidance describes termly and annual learner progress information for parents of pupils in maintained schools and pupil referral units. Read those updates together when considering what has changed.

Northern Ireland

nidirect’s guidance says schools provide a written pupil report at least annually, including subject and general progress, attendance, and test and assessment results.

Decision caveat

When the report leaves an important concern unresolved

When this advice is not enough

A sudden change, repeated difficulties or a gap between the report and what you see at home needs more than decoding a number. A report alone cannot establish the cause of a learning difficulty.

What to do instead

Contact the class or subject teacher with one or two examples and ask what support is already being tried. If the concern crosses subjects, ask who can bring the information together. In England, GOV.UK advises contacting the SENCO (special educational needs co-ordinator) if you think your child may have special educational needs. Elsewhere in the UK, ask for the school’s relevant learning-support contact. Raise a pressing concern when it arises rather than waiting for the next report.

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the questions people ask most often.

Does the same grade as last term mean no progress?

Not necessarily. A broad reporting band can stay the same while particular skills improve, and later work may be more demanding. Ask what has changed in the work itself and whether the two grades use the same criteria. The unchanged label alone does not settle the question.

What if the test mark and teacher comment seem to disagree?

Ask what evidence and dates each refers to. A test samples particular tasks, while a comment may refer to other classwork or learning habits. Bring the exact entry that seems inconsistent and request an explanation before assuming either is wrong.

Can I compare my child’s report with a sibling’s or friend’s?

Only cautiously. Establish whether the school, year group, subject, assessment period and scale are comparable. It is usually more useful to understand your child’s work against the relevant criteria and their earlier starting point than to compare unexplained numbers.

Official guidance

1.
Understanding scaled scores at key stage 2
Standards and Testing Agency
England
2.
2026 key stage 2 assessment and reporting arrangements
Standards and Testing Agency
England
3.
Reporting on progress
Education Scotland
Scotland
4.
Regulations about reporting school and pupil information
Welsh Government
Wales
5.
Parental rights in education
nidirect
Northern Ireland
6.
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND): Overview
UK Government
England

Other sources

1.
Assessment Information
Clifton Community School
England; school-specific example
2.
Report to Parents
Heap Bridge Village Primary School
England; school-specific example