I wonder how useful the 'results' on the 15th Oct will be?

[Manana]

With all the catchment changes this year, nobody actually knows what the pass mark will be-whether it will be the good old 303 or higher (we are in the 'old' catchemnt). I am just starting to wonder how helpful that piece of paper will be-it could mean five months of being in limbo! If you were to get 302, would the letter say it's a fail and no point putting a grammar down? If it says 303-is it the case that you have passed, but there might be tonnes of people with a higher score, so you put grammars down and just have to wait agonisingly not knowing if your score was enough.

I presume the only people it will help is those who get a standardised score of 200 something who know they haven't passed and not to bother wasting one of their five places on a grammar, and those who have 360 who have probably got their first choice.

Or am I looking at this all wrong!?

[kegsteacher]

I'm afraid I don't have a complete understanding of how the 11+ is worked out but with that caveat...

The exam is standardised so that the average mark is 300 (of those who took the exam that year) and is roughly a bell curve - that is a few students get close to 400 and gradually more until most score around 300 then it tapers off towards 200. You use the word 'pass' which is misleading - each school ranks students and offers places until they are full. Of course the catchment areas will distort that a little but the same principle applies.

I think the idea is to publish some previous data to help parents, such as the lowest score that got you into each school for the past few (five?) years. While it's expected that more will take the exam, it will give parents a better idea of whether it's worth applying.

[event1]

With my experience of Kent and Bexley schools test, the result will clearly tell you if your child has been assessed( via the test) to be fit for grammar school and in Kent test result it will suggest to you if to apply for a selective school or not. I hope it makes things clearer, although unsure how CSSE will format their test result letter.

[laluna]

My understanding from the CSSE is that on results day, we will receive the personal standardised score with details of the lowest cut off scores from previous years which gained entry to the school of our choice. It seems to me, though, that this will not give any assurance of an offer as there will be no indication of ranking.

[Manana]

My understanding from the CSSE is that on results day, we will receive the personal standardised score with details of the lowest cut off scores from previous years which gained entry to the school of our choice. It seems to me, though, that this will not give any assurance of an offer as there will be no indication of ranking.

Cut off scores from previous years may well be misleading as well as the catchment changes may increase the mark requirements!

[bravado]

When I called CSSE some months ago, I was told it's definitely standardised scores and raw scores - plus you'll be provided with a graph of last years results so that you can make an assessment of the realistic prospect of attaining a place.
Manana, I also wonder what real use the previous years' figures will be when we have two issues this year with catchment changes and the fact that the test has been brought forward. I know that everyone's in the same position re less preparation time but....

[Minesatea]

The fact that the cohort are all two months younger could potentially cause the raw scores to be lower but should have no effect on the standardised score. Since the standardised score is the one used for ranking this should not cause an issue. The raw scores, although interesting, are really not of any use unless you are needing to appeal.

However I agree that the standardised scores required for admission to the various schools in previous years may not be a good indication for this year both because of the catchment changes and because there could well be an increase in children sitting the exam this year.

[Manana]

The fact that the cohort are all two months younger could potentially cause the raw scores to be lower but should have no effect on the standardised score. Since the standardised score is the one used for ranking this should not cause an issue. The raw scores, although interesting, are really not of any use unless you are needing to appeal.

However I agree that the standardised scores required for admission to the various schools in previous years may not be a good indication for this year both because of the catchment changes and because there could well be an increase in children sitting the exam this year.

Ooooh, I wish I knew
a) What the impact of the catchment change will be
b) What format the email on the 15th October will be in-ie how useful
c) What the English text will be
d Whether my DS will pass


I'm getting a bit jittery about the whole thing now!! I can just imagine getting the CSSE email saying, Manana's son has a standardised score of 303. Last year, the pass mark for SHSB catchment was 303....and that's it!

Then we will spend the next five months with everyone in Southend saying 'What was your score? Oh, ours was 304/320/330/302/305 etc' and nobody will know anything except whether they're higher or lower on the list than James, Tarquin or Hugo...!

Oh well, only 30 days to go as my DS has just informed me!

[Araucana]

The fact that the cohort are all two months younger could potentially cause the raw scores to be lower but should have no effect on the standardised score. Since the standardised score is the one used for ranking this should not cause an issue. The raw scores, although interesting, are really not of any use unless you are needing to appeal.

However I agree that the standardised scores required for admission to the various schools in previous years may not be a good indication for this year both because of the catchment changes and because there could well be an increase in children sitting the exam this year.

Ooooh, I wish I knew
a) What the impact of the catchment change will be
b) What format the email on the 15th October will be in-ie how useful
c) What the English text will be
d Whether my DS will pass


I'm getting a bit jittery about the whole thing now!! I can just imagine getting the CSSE email saying, Manana's son has a standardised score of 303. Last year, the pass mark for SHSB catchment was 303....and that's it!

Then we will spend the next five months with everyone in Southend saying 'What was your score? Oh, ours was 304/320/330/302/305 etc' and nobody will know anything except whether they're higher or lower on the list than James, Tarquin or Hugo...!

Oh well, only 30 days to go as my DS has just informed me!

You have made me smile - my dd will be doing next year's sitting but I am so interested to see what cut -offs impact will be for CCHS this year (our preferred choice but not hopeful). I think you are spot on with how you think it will be above.

[First-timer]

While it's expected that more will take the exam, it will give parents a better idea of whether it's worth applying.

I think this is interesting. In our school there seems to be an increase in 11+ candidates but their intentions were declared before the admissions changes were announced. For my own part, the change has not affected my decision to enter DD.

I know a number of people who expect the number of candidates to rise sharply because of the results-before-application change. I just wonder why this is. Is it because there used to be a fear of wasting a CAF slot? Or is it because the new system avoids the double whammy of no GS place and a disappointing score within a 24 hour period? There is more scope for simply having a punt on the 11+ now but how many parents see it that way? If any of you know of parents who decided to enter their DC because of the changes, what were their reasons?

What happened in other counties following similar changes?