pass mark fro pates

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google13
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 7:33 pm

pass mark fro pates

Post by google13 »

Hi, I'm new to this site and I was reading all the posts about the pass mark for Pates being 240! Can anyone tell me what that would be percentage wise to get into the first 120 admissions?
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Post by Tolstoy »

A pass of 240 will get your child into the top 160 not 120, I believe they standardised their marks in a way that means the child who is no. 160 gets a mark of 240.

I was told that to get into Pates your child needed to be scoring over 85% in the practice papers. I think this is probably about right as my DS was getting high 70's low 80's and got 237, he scored higher than I expected. Bare in mind though many score lower than you expect especially IMHO if they have had a lot of tuition or you have not been administering the tests scrupiously.
pixiequeen
Posts: 378
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:06 am

Post by pixiequeen »

That's interesting, Tolstoy. Presumably you mean children who have had a lot of tuition are going to come unstuck if the exam includes something they weren't expecting? Also, when you say you think a child needs to get 85% in the practice papers, do you mean the Nfer practice papers?

Sorry to try and pin you down on this - panic is setting in and we still have 18 months to go! Prospect of sending DD to local comp. doesn't get any more appealing as the months go past. It's got to be grammar school or a very long bus journey.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Post by Tolstoy »

I don't think they come unstuck as such.

There are only a limited number of official GL practice tests available and the other practice papers are based around these to a greater or less extent. With practice most bright children will achieve high scores in these tests heavily tutored children will therefore be scoring very highly before they sit the actual test as their tuition has been geared towards this. These very high scores are of course artificial scores to a certain extent.

I am not criticising this in any way and the majority in my belief will then pass the test. However there are bound to be things that crop on the day that they will not have seen before, unknown vocab, types of reading questions, etc. This I believe will equate to a drop in marks and therefore the more tutored or practiced you are the lower your score will drop.

It is only my opinion but it does explain why some children who have been scoring high marks don't do as well as expected. Some of course don't cope well under pressure but this doesn't account for all the suprises.

I am by no means an expert on this having been in pretty much the same situation as you last year, Pixie, knowing nothing and desperate to get DS1 into one of the Gloucs grams. I was told before the summer hols that he would need professional tuition to get a place at Tommies. This wasn't possible but I practiced with him using all the excellent advice I was given here. We got the result we needed but Pates is a whole different ball game as there are a smaller no of places available, competition is high.

Try not to panic, having done it last year I am pretty relaxed about doing it again this year. However visit the Gloucs grams during their open days this October. My son will have a long bus journey, when you live out in the sticks, as I myself did as a child, you accept that as part and parcel of moving on to secondary. I coped fine and I know he will. Having a back up takes the pressure off and that in itself will be better for both of you.
Milla
Posts: 2556
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:25 pm

Post by Milla »

(also they love the bus and it's a good way to ensure that boys see girls and girls see boys. Although a friend of ours, who gets one of the buses through Cheltenham, said that his Y7 boy "wasn't allowed" to talk to the Y7 girls until the last half term! Luckily for my boy 4 or 5 boys went from his primary and 7 or 8 girls so it wasn't a rule the bossy ole girls could make since they already knew them.) (in brackets as a bit off topic)
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by capers123 »

Tolstoy wrote:However visit the Gloucs grams during their open days this October.
I note in my local rag that Stroud High School has a 'Summer Showcase' on 25th June, 9am to 12pm, 'an opportunity for prospective students and parents to tour SHS & see us in action'.

Maybe the other schools will also do extra tours before October.
Capers
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Post by Tolstoy »

That is a sensible idea. Open days in October for children sitting in November are riduculous. Practice would have been so much easier if DS1 had seen the school we, and finally he, wanted a little earlier.

The October business was such a rush, cramming so many in to so few days didn't help either. We ended up missing the open evening of the local school because it clashed with something.
Milla
Posts: 2556
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:25 pm

Post by Milla »

I agree. In fact, I took DS1 to see it in Year 5, which was wise (naturally :wink: ) because come Year 6, the vital year, the forms advising that you wished to take the test had to be in BEFORE the Tommy's open days. Crazy. Doing it in the summer, after exams, in what might be called dead time for the school but with a few months in the bag during which prospective parents could panic, I mean prepare, would seem to make far more sense.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Post by Tolstoy »

Panic? What are you talking about :shock:

Aside from the fact that I didn't sleep for about a month during October particularly one night, that just may have co-insided (sp) with Tommy's open evening, I was perfectly relaxed throughout :wink: .

Seriously though it is very hard not to panic when the test is just weeks away and DS decides on the school that he is nowhere near getting high enough marks to get into. A year previously and ignorance would have been bliss.
magwich2
Posts: 866
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:33 pm

Pass mark for pates

Post by magwich2 »

DD did the pates exam in 2007 and passed despite leaving an entire section blank in the second paper ( yes,I know - it is multiple choice and we were not best pleased with her!!)
She came in the top half of the 120 who passed so the standard cannot be as impossible to attain as you might think - it was at least 7 questions she left unanswered.
Good Luck
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