public static SubjectLevel MakeFakeSubjectLevelFor(TutoringEntities ctx, Subject_With_Level subjectAndLevel)
{
     var subjectLevel = new SubjectLevel()
                       {
                         SubjectLevelId = subjectAndLevel.SubjectLevelId,
                         Description = subjectAndLevel.SubjectLevel,
                         EffectiveDate = DateTime.Now,
                         EnteredBy = "",
                         EnteredDate = DateTime.Now,
                         Type = subjectAndLevel.SubjectLevel
                       };
    try { ctx.AttachTo("SubjectLevelSet", subjectLevel); }
    catch { //this tries to catch situations where the level (eg. Elementary) has already been created }
    return subjectLevel;
}

var lev = ctx.SubjectLevelSet.Where(l => l.SubjectLevelId == subjectAndLevel.SubjectLevelId).FirstOrDefault();
if(lev == null )
  lev = Helpers.MakeFakeSubjectLevelFor(ctx, subjectAndLevel);