Key...Lime Pie?

For the past few days I have been trying really hard to wrap my head around England's education system, but it is a very challenging task.  The problem is with assessment -- it is TOTALLY different here than it is in Canada.  Here's a basic outline:

Years 7, 8, and 9 are grouped into what is called Key Stage 3.  They are assessed using a number system (kind of like our Levels 1-4 at home), but a little more complicated than that.  Level 3c is the lowest level, and level 7a is the highest -- "a" is bacially "+", and "c" is like "-".  So if a student got a 5a that's about a C+ at home.  Likewise, if a student got a 7c that would be like an A-.  So basically there are just a few more levels than what we have...for THIS stage. 

Years 10 and 11 are Key Stage 4, and these students are preparing for their GCSE exams.  They are assessed using a letter-grading system: A, B, C, D, E, F (oh - it doesn't stop here), G, and U (meaning Ungradeable).  So, a grade of F is NOT a failing grade like I'm used to, which is a little strange. 

So that's the grading system, but that isn't even half of it.  First of all, students never fail here -- they cannot be held back EVER - so even if they produce absolutely nothing all year, they will still progress to the next grade.  Seems a little strange, no?  Also, students are only marked on two things: their "Coursework" (which is a [one] Speaking and Listening activity and an [one] essay, a Reading and Writing activity, AND their final test of the term).  Each of these things (the Coursework and the Test - or "Assessment") take place in the final two weeks of each term.  So NOTHING that the students do during the class over the first four weeks of the term count towards their grade (which might explain why they are so unmotivated to do their work and why homework never gets done and why they don't pay attention in class, etc).  I look at the work that they produce in class and formatively assess it for their benefit only - basically to say, "This is where you are now, and if you do this, you will be here." 

Another thing: students do not get to choose what strand they take in each class.  In other words -- in Canada, if I am amazing at science, I can choose to take Academic or University science classes.  Similarly, if I am horrible at English I can take Applied or College English classes so they aren't as difficult.  Here, however, students are placed in a strand based on the combined results of their grades per year.  SO - if a student does really well in English but not so well in Maths and Science (the only three subjects that determine the strand), the school averages out their marks and places them in the same strand for all three.  So essentially a student could be in a strand way below their ability level in one subject and way above their ability level in another.  Kind of silly if you ask me.  The strands are as follows: Upper Strands are E, J, and K; Middle Strands are L, M, and N; and the Lower Strand is P.  This kind of levelling also kind of promotes segregation as well as low self-esteem, as the students in the middle and lower strands consider themselves to be "stupid."  It's quite sad, actually, and a difficult job for the teachers to prove the students otherwise.

Also, when students are 8 years old, they take this massive exam (kind of like an IQ test) called The Fisher Family Trust, and it takes all the figures and comes up with what grades these students should get on their GCSE exam (which doesn't happen until Year 11)!  So, when a child is 8, their GCSE exam results, eight years in the future, are already decided for them.  And basically all these grades are put into a big "grade bank" - and if a secondary school's GCSE results don't match up to what The Fisher Family Trust predicted eight years in the past, they are in BIG TROUBLE.
So this is it - at least what I can understand (and semi-decently explain) up to this point.  Confused yet?  So am I.