pates grammar school cheltenham glos

[asvc1297]

hi

the section for the Gloucestershire region page (ie not the forum page) doesn't seem to be currently active? Any advice regarding which cds/papers etc to purchase from this fab site that are suitable for Pates Grammar 11+ (or other Grammars in Gloucester) will be much appreciated, many thanks

I can confirm that offers for Pate's are earned by performing well in two VR tests; there is no Non-VR. Both tests contain 85 questions; the first is 45 mins in length and the second is 50 mins in length. Test one is straight forward whilst test two is 'more searching' in nature.

Pate's is (arguably) the 'best' grammar school in Gloucestershire, if not the south west of England. Consequently, the demand for places is very high and it is extremely difficult to get in.

I'm a private tutor and several children that I worked with this year received offers from Pate's. In previous years children were offered places with scores of around 130+ in each paper. Two years ago I had a lad who scored two 129s and he went to Pate's. This year, one of my girls scored 130 and 119 and she has been told that she passed comfortably and her marks are in the top third of those who have received offers.

The headteacher of the school has since said that this year's test was 'the hardest one set in the last 25 years'. The LEA is obviously keen to sort the men out from the boys! The test clearly was tough this year as not all the grammars in Glos. are able to fill their places as they would like and scores have needed to have been adjusted in such a way as to provide children with enough marks to appear to have fulfilled the criterion of scoring highly enough to have 'passed' the test.

There is consultation this month with a view to getting preference forms submitted by Dec. 7th 2007. The idea is that children will know how they have performed in their 11+ before the forms go in. This would obviously be a popular change. It remains to be seen if the exams will be brought forward.

The LEA has also got rid of the 'first preference first' idea. This means that the order in which you put your four selections will no longer matter. The LEA will not tell the schools you have selected in which positions you have placed them. This will mean far less head scratching and anxiety for parents regarding exactly where each school should/should not go on the form.

What would be really helpful though, is for the LEA to make their minds up, once and for all, on exactly where they want to go with the 11+. Then they must stick with it for a few years at least, instead of messing around with things all the time. Nobody in Glos. has been able to relax, safe in the knowledge that no dramatic change is on the horizon, for years. It's no different now and it's time that changed.

Orson

[gloucestermum]

Hi,
The Gloucestershire section of this forum does tend to be quiet!
My son takes the test this November-we have been working on Susan Daughtrey Bright Sparks,Walsh and NFER papers-all for multiple choice and not standard.We have also downloaded some multiple choice Tutors papers.
Pates is the hardest school to get a place at out of all the grammars in Glos.They offer places to the top 150 who have passed both papers.The pass mark is 105 out of 140,you need to pass both papers.As you will need a very good score to be offered a place here(as Orson said in a previous post) I would say that preparation is the key,especially speed!

Any other advice needed,fire away!

[guest1000]

So can anyone shed light on which publisher covers all the question types in exactly the same way as they may occur in the "real" Gloucestershire selective test, thanks ? eg for Buckinghamshire testing it's IPS Educational Publishing
link to commercial site removed

[Guest]

I have downloaded several of the tutor papers from this site and found they are the same format as the Nnfer nelson multiple choice packs,with the same style of questions.
I would think that these are the closest to the Pates test.
There are 12 to download and i am using them as small chunks of revision - 5- 10 questions each day with no time pressure and a whole test once a week on a Sunday which I time.
My daughter seems a lot happier with this as she was starting to feel the pressure,so we eased up a bit and now she is back up to 90-96% on the tests and nearly 100% on her untimed revision.

We had an information letter from Pates at the primary school meeting last night,and once you register with Pates they will also send you a pack with 4 test papers in for you to practise.
If you go along to the open evenings they will also have advice about the tests.
Let,s hope that they are not the same four papers that you buy in the shops!!

[cheltmum3]

If I remember rightly, I think they are the same four as in the shops!

[metalikaf]

Pates sent a letter out to all year 6 students and they said they would send out the familiarization papers before the test.
On the letter it asks you to return the papers on the day of the test minus the answer sheets.
I expect they recycle the same old papers year in and year out.

[Orson]

I can confirm that the 4 tests Pates send out ARE the same 4 as you would buy in the shops.

[metalikaf]

Thanks Orson.

[metalikaf]

Just come back from the open evening.
Two weeks after the test they will write to you and give you your child's ranking if they have passed the test and then you can make a decision based on the ranking on what to put on the LEA application form.
Basically there are 120 places so if your ranking is between 1/120 and 120/120 you have got a place.
They will consider the first 160 children who pass in rank order.
So if you come between 121/160 and 160/160 you still stand a reasonable chance of getting in as many children take up offers from other grammars,decide not to go etc etc.
My dd was well impressed with the school especially the arts block.
Hope this gives her the motivation to carry on plodding away with the revision.