Newsteadwood Results ?

[Whuohwhy]

I may well have missed something here but can somebody please tell me why people think the entry mark will be higher than 118-119 this year?

[Dippybaby]

The school only give an indication based on historical years what the cut off mark will be. In previous years when the school took in 5 classes the cut off mark was 224. Last year they took 6 classes and based on this the expected cut off was around 218 - 219. However on allocation day the actual cut off mark was higher at 222 which surprised/ upset those who had 219 and had expected to get in on that day. Later on in the process some girls came off the waiting list who had 219. That is why the school have said that is the cut off mark for last year.

No one knows what the cut off mark will be on allocation day but from last year it seems sensible to assume it will be higher than 219. However if a child has 219/ 218 then it makes sense to still put down Newstead as number 1 choice as it might be different this year and there is always the waiting list to fall back on and the chance 219/ 218 will be the minimum cut off score after all.

[Billie]

I agree with Dippybaby.

Some have said the test was easier than Kent/ Bexley so the cut off must be higher than before, that doesn't make any sense. Girls have said for years Newstead was an easier test to sit. However, a high score in VR and NVR for Kent does not mean you get a high score for Newstead... the raw score/ standardisations are different. so basically if you get the same raw score for both you would get a very different standardised score. you need to be very very good at NVR and VR to score highly for Newstead.

[Golightly]

My DD won't be a Newstead girl 208, not bad for a stab at it. We only knew the school existed a few days before the SF was due in. What surprised us, she did far better in VR than NVR and it's normally the other way round for her. Well done to all the girls who passed

[lulumum2]

I agree with Billie.
Girls have said for years Newstead was an easier test to sit, not only this year.

As far as I know for the 11+ exam, the 100 mark does not mean children score 70% in the exam, it means children scored the average for the exam. If kids took a very easy exam,the average score might be 85%. If kids took a very hard exam , the average score might be 40%. The children who achieved above and below the average on each test are scored in relation to the 100 mark. So easy or difficulty of the exam does not affect cut off mark.

[goodluck2013]

Thanks all for the info. Why don't Newstead just advise on the top 160 scorers like Olaves and Bexley atleast gives a better idea for us who are at 231... Wait until Mar 2014 seems a lot...

[Whuohwhy]

Thank you Dip (& others). Your reply has been most helpful.

[Mae10]

Does anyone know if any girls got in to Newstead last year on 218?

[overprotectivemum]

The problem is not how easy the exam was but how many girls took the exam. This year there were 1000 applicants (I heard) comparing to approx. 550 last year which means the likelihood of more girls achieving better scores than my DD is higher this year than previous years. This is also why I think the cut off will be higher and why 227 score may be insufficient. Newstead should at least let parents know about the number of applicants and how many got over a certain score otherwise this is just pure torture.

[lulumum2]

I agree with you, overprotectivemum. If the girls who took the exam are more than last year, then cutoff mark of this year will be higher.

From the Newstead wood school website:

There were 913 applications in 2012 and 855 sat the test

Anybody know how many applications this year?