Making sense of exam papers
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Guest
Making sense of exam papers
Does anyone know which board is setting the selection test for the Salisbury area, and and also which format they are using, whether it is multiple choice or standard?
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Hertfordshire Parent
I'm not in your area, but had a similar problem finding this out for Herts Consortium. Resolved by ringing Admissions secretary for every school taking part. Be prepared for "we can't divulge this information" from some schools, but you may find one or two that are helpful. Ring back schools if necessary and ask them to clarify information that you may have been given from other schools - this is a great way to glean info.
Hope this helps if you don't get replies from your area.
Hope this helps if you don't get replies from your area.
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Hertfordshire Patent
...just looked at your post again. The Admissions Secretary for the schools that apply selection to their admissions criteria should certainly tell you whether the test is multiple choice or standard format, try asking this first, and if they're helpful then ask for the board, and the number of questions and how long. If they are reluctant to give info, leave a few days and ring again - you may get someone different who will give you the information that you need. It worked for me.
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
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Guest
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Lee X
The test will be held on the morning of Saturday 25th November 2006.
The test consists of four papers:
i) Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice(VR) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=14
ii) Mathematics Multiple Choice (Maths) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=4
iii) English Multiple Choice (English) – 45 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=1
iv) Free Writing Paper - 30 minutes
The child’s performance in the VR, Maths and English tests provides the main evidence of her or her ability. The tests are used because they provide a reliable indication of a child’s potential to benefit from a grammar school style of education. The tests are compiled by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) and are in the form of questions in a booklet and optical mark reader answer sheets.
The scores on these 3 tests are standardised, i.e. they make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another.
The Free Writing paper is prepared by the School, and girls will be required to write an essay on one topic for 30 minutes.
Hope this info helps.
The test consists of four papers:
i) Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice(VR) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=14
ii) Mathematics Multiple Choice (Maths) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=4
iii) English Multiple Choice (English) – 45 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=1
iv) Free Writing Paper - 30 minutes
The child’s performance in the VR, Maths and English tests provides the main evidence of her or her ability. The tests are used because they provide a reliable indication of a child’s potential to benefit from a grammar school style of education. The tests are compiled by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) and are in the form of questions in a booklet and optical mark reader answer sheets.
The scores on these 3 tests are standardised, i.e. they make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another.
The Free Writing paper is prepared by the School, and girls will be required to write an essay on one topic for 30 minutes.
Hope this info helps.
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Lee X
Forgot to add to the above:
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised (see above) to make allowances for the child’s age.
Lee
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised (see above) to make allowances for the child’s age.
Lee
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Lee X
The scores attained in the Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics and English tests are standardised to make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another. The standardisation is carried out by statisticians at the National Foundation for Educational Research. The three standardised scores are then put together to produce a final result.
All candidates whose final score is equal to or greater than a predetermined cut off mark will be regarded as suited to a grammar school education without further consideration. Children whose final score is below - but comes close to the standardised pass mark, will be reviewed under the border zone procedure. In addition, Primary School Headteachers can nominate children for border zone consideration.
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised to make allowances for the child’s age.
Membership of the two review panels (one for each grammar school) will include the relevant grammar school staff and a primary school headteacher from outside the Salisbury area who is involved in the moderation of the Free Writing marking.
Children whose score falls below the border zone marks and who are not referred to the review panel for further consideration, will be deemed unsuited to a grammar school course of education.
Each school has a planned admission number of children they will accept, typically 120. All children who achieve the standardised pass mark, or who have been successful at the Review Panel, are considered to be suitable for a grammar school education. If the number of children achieving the mark is less than the admission number, then all those children will be deemed eligible for a place. If the number achieving the mark is greater than the admission number (120), then the School will rank those children eligible for a place, according to the oversubscriptions criteria.
Where the number of children who achieve the standardised pass mark, exceeds the planned admission number, then eligibility for admission is determined by the following oversubscription criteria:
a) Children in public care
b) Children who live in the school’s designated area (in order of the distance from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
c) Children who live elsewhere and have a sibling at the school. (This includes a step, half or foster at the same residence.)
d) Other children in order of nearness to school as the crow flies. (This will be measured from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
Distance from the child’s home to the School, measured as a straight line, will be used to determine admissions within these categories. A map of the designated catchment area can be obtained from the School you are applying to.
Children who are eligible for admission, but whose name (under the oversubscription criteria) falls outside the planned admission number, will be put on the waiting list, which is also governed by the priorities listed above. Late applicants deemed to be of grammar school ability will be placed on the waiting list in their relevant position irrespective of the time of application. Re-testing of waiting list candidates will occur between Key Stages 3 and 4. Only one assessment per academic year is permitted.
The complete ranked list is then forwarded to the LEA.
The LEA compares the ranked list and allocates places:-
i) Where the child, after application of the admissions criteria, is eligible for only one of the nominated schools, that school will be the allocated place;
ii) If the child is eligible for two or more schools, a place will be allocated at the school for which the parent has expressed the highest preference;
iii) If the child is not eligible for any of the nominated schools then the child will be placed by the LEA at the nearest appropriate school with a place.
The LEA will post notification of allocations on 1 March 2007.
If parents do not inform the School in writing within 21 days that the offer of a place is being accepted, that place will be forfeited. When parents accept an offer, they will be required to send the School proof of address between October and November 2006. Providing false information on a child’s main residence at the time of application may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.
If a child is not offered a place, parents may request details of the appeals procedure. Parents dissatisfied either with the outcome of the selection procedure, or by the refusal to offer a grammar school place, may lodge an appeal against the decision of the School Governors to an independent appeals panel, who convene under current guidance by the Department for Education and Skills.
The familiarisation packs that are mentioned above should not be used in the preparation until the final stages. NFER only produce four papers per subject for preparation so use them sparingly. You should look at the other material available in this website’s bookshop, e-papers (pay and download section) and CDs. Also peruse the free section for practice papers, useful word lists, definitions etc. The best source of information is this forum; if necessary go to the subject specific sections and put forward your question or review questions and answers of parents past – it is a real treasure trove of information.
All candidates whose final score is equal to or greater than a predetermined cut off mark will be regarded as suited to a grammar school education without further consideration. Children whose final score is below - but comes close to the standardised pass mark, will be reviewed under the border zone procedure. In addition, Primary School Headteachers can nominate children for border zone consideration.
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised to make allowances for the child’s age.
Membership of the two review panels (one for each grammar school) will include the relevant grammar school staff and a primary school headteacher from outside the Salisbury area who is involved in the moderation of the Free Writing marking.
Children whose score falls below the border zone marks and who are not referred to the review panel for further consideration, will be deemed unsuited to a grammar school course of education.
Each school has a planned admission number of children they will accept, typically 120. All children who achieve the standardised pass mark, or who have been successful at the Review Panel, are considered to be suitable for a grammar school education. If the number of children achieving the mark is less than the admission number, then all those children will be deemed eligible for a place. If the number achieving the mark is greater than the admission number (120), then the School will rank those children eligible for a place, according to the oversubscriptions criteria.
Where the number of children who achieve the standardised pass mark, exceeds the planned admission number, then eligibility for admission is determined by the following oversubscription criteria:
a) Children in public care
b) Children who live in the school’s designated area (in order of the distance from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
c) Children who live elsewhere and have a sibling at the school. (This includes a step, half or foster at the same residence.)
d) Other children in order of nearness to school as the crow flies. (This will be measured from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
Distance from the child’s home to the School, measured as a straight line, will be used to determine admissions within these categories. A map of the designated catchment area can be obtained from the School you are applying to.
Children who are eligible for admission, but whose name (under the oversubscription criteria) falls outside the planned admission number, will be put on the waiting list, which is also governed by the priorities listed above. Late applicants deemed to be of grammar school ability will be placed on the waiting list in their relevant position irrespective of the time of application. Re-testing of waiting list candidates will occur between Key Stages 3 and 4. Only one assessment per academic year is permitted.
The complete ranked list is then forwarded to the LEA.
The LEA compares the ranked list and allocates places:-
i) Where the child, after application of the admissions criteria, is eligible for only one of the nominated schools, that school will be the allocated place;
ii) If the child is eligible for two or more schools, a place will be allocated at the school for which the parent has expressed the highest preference;
iii) If the child is not eligible for any of the nominated schools then the child will be placed by the LEA at the nearest appropriate school with a place.
The LEA will post notification of allocations on 1 March 2007.
If parents do not inform the School in writing within 21 days that the offer of a place is being accepted, that place will be forfeited. When parents accept an offer, they will be required to send the School proof of address between October and November 2006. Providing false information on a child’s main residence at the time of application may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.
If a child is not offered a place, parents may request details of the appeals procedure. Parents dissatisfied either with the outcome of the selection procedure, or by the refusal to offer a grammar school place, may lodge an appeal against the decision of the School Governors to an independent appeals panel, who convene under current guidance by the Department for Education and Skills.
The familiarisation packs that are mentioned above should not be used in the preparation until the final stages. NFER only produce four papers per subject for preparation so use them sparingly. You should look at the other material available in this website’s bookshop, e-papers (pay and download section) and CDs. Also peruse the free section for practice papers, useful word lists, definitions etc. The best source of information is this forum; if necessary go to the subject specific sections and put forward your question or review questions and answers of parents past – it is a real treasure trove of information.
