11 Plus Exams Forum

Having just joined this site and read some of the Bucks comments on scoring etc, i cannot see the need for any score over 121, as there is no criteria for allocation based on your score, apart from getting over that 121 score. Or am i being mean to parents who want to know how their kids have done. My son has just left yr 3 so i am beginning to get the chat from some other KS2 parents panicking already about the 11+.

I had a similar discussion with my other half not so long ago. If your child scores over 121 brilliant - what more do you need to know? If the score is below say 115 - it wasn't meant to be. Between say 115 and 121 are the ones that need to know their precise score in order to make an informed judgement on whether an appeal should be lodged. (In my opinion )

I imagine it is quicker and cheaper to generate generic letters with a numerical score on than splitting the letters so some have grammar, others have upper and the middle ground have appeal or actual numbers.

In the olden days of the 12+ we (our parents) weren't told our scores - we (they) just got a slip of paper with the name of a school on it - either a grammar or seconary modern and that was that.

I agree that we need to see lower marks to make informed choices as to appeals etc. My niece and nephew are in Herts and they use the method where your score shows your place on the admisions list. (This has the problem of seeing your child miss out by one mark etc) but the only benefit i can see about knowing your mark over 121 is that some kids ( and parents !) crow about just how clever they are. This should be known already at this stage and should be shown in year 6 by getting SATS of 5 ! I have a few years to go before this test so won't get wound up too soon (hopefully)

I so agree - once over the 121 the score is meaningless and it would stop 'unhelpful' boasting - ihn my experience the score does not tell you anything about likely success once at a GS