MGS / Oakwood Park
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Curious!
MGS / Oakwood Park
Does anyone know what sort of score is needed to secure a place at either of these two grammars?
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Guest
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Kent Mum
Thanks!
I've been a bit confused about the different scores needed. I really don't know much about schools such as Judd & Skinners, but from what I've read here they seem to require a much higher score than most. It doesn't affect us as we live near Maidstone and MGS & Oakwood are the grammars we've chosen. I suppose what I'm confused about is whether the Kent pass rate last year of 119 etc is accepted by these two schools- or do they vary. Is it just schools like J & S that vary- or other Grammars too?
So- if my son had sat the tests last year & got, say, 128, he'd be ok for one of the Maidstone grammars?
Ok- waffling now! Think it's time to shut up!!!!
I've been a bit confused about the different scores needed. I really don't know much about schools such as Judd & Skinners, but from what I've read here they seem to require a much higher score than most. It doesn't affect us as we live near Maidstone and MGS & Oakwood are the grammars we've chosen. I suppose what I'm confused about is whether the Kent pass rate last year of 119 etc is accepted by these two schools- or do they vary. Is it just schools like J & S that vary- or other Grammars too?
So- if my son had sat the tests last year & got, say, 128, he'd be ok for one of the Maidstone grammars?
Ok- waffling now! Think it's time to shut up!!!!
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West Kent
Dear Kent Mum
The pass mark for kent is one thing what the individual schools use as their cut of mark is another. This all depends on the overall standard of the pupils who took the exams together with the total number of places offered in a particular year. Being offered a place would depend on where an individual childs score is in rank order for that particular year.
So for schools like the Judd. Skinners Tonbridge girls,etc where demand greatly outweighs supply places are extremely fiercely competed for and as a result this would push up their cut off marks hence you consistently find that a significant number of children full marks. The majority of the children who attend such schools usually get well over 400. But if in a particular year the standard of the scores of the children who applied were lower then the cut off mark would be lower that year.
The pass mark for kent is one thing what the individual schools use as their cut of mark is another. This all depends on the overall standard of the pupils who took the exams together with the total number of places offered in a particular year. Being offered a place would depend on where an individual childs score is in rank order for that particular year.
So for schools like the Judd. Skinners Tonbridge girls,etc where demand greatly outweighs supply places are extremely fiercely competed for and as a result this would push up their cut off marks hence you consistently find that a significant number of children full marks. The majority of the children who attend such schools usually get well over 400. But if in a particular year the standard of the scores of the children who applied were lower then the cut off mark would be lower that year.
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Guest99
Hello Kent Mum. As I understand it, some Kent grammars have an admission policy whereby places are offered on the basis of "rank order" in the exam (after sibling offers etc). These include most of the grammars in Tonbridge . At these schools, therefore, children may need to obtain scores significantly above the Kent pass mark in order to get a place.
The Maidstone grammars, however, use a different system. They simply look at whether a child has passed or failed and then, if they are oversubscribed, allocate places to children who passed on the basis of distance from the school to the child's home. A child who scrapes a pass but lives a mile from the school will therefore take priority over a child with full marks in every paper who lives two miles away. If you live in an outlying village, therefore, it can be impossible to get a place at an oversubscribed grammar even if you are technically "in catchment" and you ace every test. This was a problem at Invicta grammar a few years ago, when kids from our village couldn't get in. I'm not sure what the situation is with the boys' schools.
For anyone that is interested, admission criteria for each school are set out in the county admissions booklet which comes out each September (and is sent to all year 6 pupils, at least in the state sector- I'm not sure about private). The 2007 version is available online at www.kent.gov.uk (follow the links through the schools pages).
The Maidstone grammars, however, use a different system. They simply look at whether a child has passed or failed and then, if they are oversubscribed, allocate places to children who passed on the basis of distance from the school to the child's home. A child who scrapes a pass but lives a mile from the school will therefore take priority over a child with full marks in every paper who lives two miles away. If you live in an outlying village, therefore, it can be impossible to get a place at an oversubscribed grammar even if you are technically "in catchment" and you ace every test. This was a problem at Invicta grammar a few years ago, when kids from our village couldn't get in. I'm not sure what the situation is with the boys' schools.
For anyone that is interested, admission criteria for each school are set out in the county admissions booklet which comes out each September (and is sent to all year 6 pupils, at least in the state sector- I'm not sure about private). The 2007 version is available online at www.kent.gov.uk (follow the links through the schools pages).
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Kent Mum
Thanks, Guest99!
That's exactly what I was after! A bit scary for us, mind you- we're near one of the villages near west Malling- so if it comes to it, we'd probably lose out on distance.
Does anyone know what would happen if both MGS and Oakwood are oversubscribed this year? Would we get allocated a place at our 3rd choice (a Secondary- presuming it isn't also oversubscribed!)??? It seems tough if a child has worked hard, passed and then doesn't get a grammar place anywhere. The Maidstone schools are the nearest grammars to us.
That's exactly what I was after! A bit scary for us, mind you- we're near one of the villages near west Malling- so if it comes to it, we'd probably lose out on distance.
Does anyone know what would happen if both MGS and Oakwood are oversubscribed this year? Would we get allocated a place at our 3rd choice (a Secondary- presuming it isn't also oversubscribed!)??? It seems tough if a child has worked hard, passed and then doesn't get a grammar place anywhere. The Maidstone schools are the nearest grammars to us.
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Guest99
Hi Kent Mum
Provided your son passes I don't think that he will have any problem getting a place at one of the grammars and, unless one is considerably more popular than the other in your year, probably at his first choice.
According to our primary headteacher the pass mark is set so that about 20% of all kids get a selective assessment, whilst the grammars can actually take about 25%. This presumably leaves 20% of grammar places unfilled at the end of the first round of allocations. They are then available on appeal. This "slack" allows most candidates who pass to get into their first choice school and makes it very unlikely that you wouldn't get a place at one of the Maidstone grammar schools. I have girls myself so haven't enquired about the boys' schools but I am not aware of any boys at my child's school ever having a problem and we are further out than you!
Is your son in year 6 ? If not, there is time to attend the open days and ask the schools how wide there catchment area has been in recent years. If they are anything like the girls' grammars they will have this information to hand, possibly even with detailed maps. After all, its a common question.
For the benefit of any year 4 parent who might stumble on this thread, our headteacher advised us to attend the Autumn open days in year 5, not just year 6. It's less pressurised and you are not forced to make a decision days later. You can always revisit a couple the following year. I did this with my daughter (now year 6) incidentally, and none of the secondary schools had any problems with it. Best of luck.
Provided your son passes I don't think that he will have any problem getting a place at one of the grammars and, unless one is considerably more popular than the other in your year, probably at his first choice.
According to our primary headteacher the pass mark is set so that about 20% of all kids get a selective assessment, whilst the grammars can actually take about 25%. This presumably leaves 20% of grammar places unfilled at the end of the first round of allocations. They are then available on appeal. This "slack" allows most candidates who pass to get into their first choice school and makes it very unlikely that you wouldn't get a place at one of the Maidstone grammar schools. I have girls myself so haven't enquired about the boys' schools but I am not aware of any boys at my child's school ever having a problem and we are further out than you!
Is your son in year 6 ? If not, there is time to attend the open days and ask the schools how wide there catchment area has been in recent years. If they are anything like the girls' grammars they will have this information to hand, possibly even with detailed maps. After all, its a common question.
For the benefit of any year 4 parent who might stumble on this thread, our headteacher advised us to attend the Autumn open days in year 5, not just year 6. It's less pressurised and you are not forced to make a decision days later. You can always revisit a couple the following year. I did this with my daughter (now year 6) incidentally, and none of the secondary schools had any problems with it. Best of luck.
All Kent grammars treat all passes the same, except the following who select on highest scores: Judd, Skinners, Tonbridge Girls. The Gravesend Grammars and the Dartford Grammars choose some children living further away on highest scores in VR tests. Folkestone School for Girls would select on rank order but tends to be undersubscribed.
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Guest
Kent Mum wrote:Thanks!
I've been a bit confused about the different scores needed. I really don't know much about schools such as Judd & Skinners, but from what I've read here they seem to require a much higher score than most. It doesn't affect us as we live near Maidstone and MGS & Oakwood are the grammars we've chosen. I suppose what I'm confused about is whether the Kent pass rate last year of 119 etc is accepted by these two schools- or do they vary. Is it just schools like J & S that vary- or other Grammars too?
So- if my son had sat the tests last year & got, say, 128, he'd be ok for one of the Maidstone grammars?
Ok- waffling now! Think it's time to shut up!!!!
