11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi, can anyone tell me what superselectives are, and weather the grammar schools in Gravesend and Dartford are classed as superselectives. i'm also being told by others that my son needs to be scoring 85% to be in with a chance of passing as he has an october birthday. we are currently achiving 75% and 80% on all practise papers but very rarely 85% or above. Could someone please tell me if this is true, as we only have a week left and im not sure if what we are achiving is going to be enough.

thank you

Hi Emma, the term superselectives comes from how places are allocated.

Some GS accept all children in an area who "pass" the test and if there are too many, then distance comes into the equation.
Other GS (super selective) allocate places dependent on the score achieved in the test, so a child with a high score will be offered a place regardless of where he lives (provided he has put it on the CAF ).

As far as outcomes of schools ie GCSE A levels etc it probably makes less difference than you might think.. the main problem is at the applications stage as you may just get a score and not be sure if it is "enough" to get in - whereas in the non super selectives, the passing, living within a reasonable distance and the historical allocations of the school are more informative.

heres a link to a thread discussing the two schools.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... nd+grammar

At this stage i would try not to worry about what he is scoring but just try and be calm and "go for it".

If you look at the admissions policies for both schools it will tell you if the school gives places according to score or distance or both.

If you use the search above you can look for other threads about the schools.

I think the differance accross the 3 papers for a sept birhtday compared with an august birthday (for eg.) is only about 9 points. So try not to worry about that.

Thankyou!! that makes more sense to me now and looked at both schools admissions produres, appears that they do take a certain amount of pupils with the highest scores then it is according to distance, siblings etc. could you tell me if these scores are on track for a possible pass! as school says that my son is boarderline. Not much i can do about it now, but would like to have some idea about what i can expect.

thankyou, this is so stressful, i dont remember being this stressed about my own 11 plus!!

If he scores like that in the real test then he would be looking at a very good pass, nearing the top standardised scores. However, I think the school are probably playing it on the safe side, as I think kids tend to score less well in the real tests. My boys were scoring around that mark on their tests at home and passed with very good scores.

Good luck for next week.

I'm pleased to her that! I suppose when it comes down to it, it all depends on the day. I was starting to think that I made the wrong choice in going DIY with the study, I was starting to think I should have got him a tutor.
Well done to your boys, so you have done this twice, you must b an expert at it now. This is my first experince at this and I have found it a real rollercoaster ride, but have found me and my son have become very close since we started this adventure together. Now just got to do it 2 more times.