I am writing school report comments. My comment could read “John is achieving at a level above that expected of a student in the year group and is making good progress.” I have been told that in this sentence I must use a capital L for level and a capital Y for year.

Could you please give me your opinion.

Dear Mr. H:

There does not appear to be any reason to capitalize either. Neither appears to be a proper name. You would only capitalize if you were naming a specific year group or if the level had a proper name.

Examples: He is the valedictorian of his class.
She is the valedictorian of the Class of 2005. (Here the class is named).

I hope this helps.