11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi

We are debating whether to try for the 11+ next Sept with my DD but her recent CAT score was lower than expected at 118.

She has an older brother at GS so we are familiar with the 11+ process but he achieved a CAT score of 134 so this is some way short. I am trying not to compare the two as they are completely different children but I need to balance out her enthusiasm to try for Shottery with a realistic view of her chances.

I'm interested to know if there are many out there who got a place at Shottery with a CAT score of less than 120 and, if so, are they happy (i.e. not finding it a struggle)?

Thanks - much appreciated.

We have never been given CAT scores, sorry.

her recent CAT score was lower than expected at 118

118 may or may not have been a reliable indicator.

• • "a pupil’s score is only an estimate of true ability ….." (GL Assessment / NFER)
    
    "It is important to appreciate that, however carefully educational tests are constructed, an element of error is likely to appear in the results they produce. For individual children, marks and scores should not be taken completely at their face value; they provide only an estimate of a pupil’s ability. This is …. not so clear when a numerical value is given; its accuracy and precision can easily be overestimated." (GL Assessment / NFER)

This thread from Glos might be of interest:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... Ts#p207889" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No CAT test here either ...

JD

When you say her CAT score was lower than expected, whose were the expectations, yours or her teacher's?

Thanks for the responses so far - I guess most schools don't generally give out the CAT scores?

Etienne - that makes for interesting reading - thank you.

guest201 - both us and the teacher were a little surprised. Her teacher wants to see us this week as she thinks the problem may be speed and that she didn't finish the questions. That could be improved with tutoring but I'm against tutoring her to the max to get her in in case she struggles when she's there.

I think I'm swaying towards our local comp (which we love) at the moment but don't want to look back and regret not giving her the same chance that her brother had.

This parenting lark is hard sometimes

Hi Smokey,

Is the cat test result broken down into its components to indicate any weak areas. The paperwork we get shows how many of each type they completed out of the total. Our teachers can only indicate their thoughts about suitability for grammar, they cannot and do not give any advice on how to potentially improve test scores for either test. They use the cats to indicate areas of whole class weakness, problems a child may have they did not spot n class work, or as with my youngest, when a child is not performing as well in class as his cats suggest he could. my little day dreamer!

Our school recently reduced its cat..11+ positive result expectation to 125 from 130 as the cem test is further removed from the cat test than the old style was so they use reading and comprehension ability in combination with it now.
On that basis your dc is not too far away. Our grammars take about 20% of a normal cohort and about 30% of a cohort that includes ooc children with high expectations of passing because their parents have requested they sit the test. I have no idea what your desired school has as a % pass rate, but that may help give you an idea.

Yet again though, one test tells us very little really, over three years maybe a bit more?