nov 2009 bws/swgs test

Eleven Plus (11+) in Wiltshire (Wilts)

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wizard
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:06 am

nov 2009 bws/swgs test

Post by wizard »

Could someone whose child sat the Wiltshire test in Nov let me know what the title of the essay /writing paper was then please.

Also did the passmark stay around 75% or was it higher this year?

many thanks
mattsurf
Posts: 230
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:44 am

Post by mattsurf »

According to DS, the title of the essay was to describe a journey, either real or imagined.

I am not sure about raw score, however the passmark was 316, and I understand that the cohort was very strong this year

HT recommendation and essay are really important - I am aware of one child who was offered a place with less than 305, however, I am certain that they did deserve the place based on performance at school
wiltsman
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:34 pm

Post by wiltsman »

mattsurf wrote: I am not sure about raw score, however the passmark was 316, and I understand that the cohort was very strong this year
On what basis can you say that the the cohort was strong ? 316/420 = 0.75 which is the usual pass mark at the grammar schools. That seems to imply that the raw scores were distributed pretty much as usual.
HT recommendation and essay are really important
What's HT recommendation ? The essay is only important in the case that the child doesn't achieve the pass mark; it's not even considered otherwise.
mattsurf
Posts: 230
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:44 am

Post by mattsurf »

wiltsman wrote: On what basis can you say that the the cohort was strong ? 316/420 = 0.75 which is the usual pass mark at the grammar schools. That seems to imply that the raw scores were distributed pretty much as usual.
You cannot equate 316 out of 420 to 75% - 316 is a normalised score, with the average score at 300. My comment about the cohort was based on feedback from a parent who requested the raw score for a child who scored 299 - their Raw score was just under 70%, which suggests an average score of 70% for the cohort, which would either indicate an easy set of papers or a strong cohort
wiltsman wrote: What's HT recommendation ? The essay is only important in the case that the child doesn't achieve the pass mark; it's not even considered otherwise.
At the BW open day, we were told that for borderline cases the essay would be taken into account as well as the HT recommendation. In DS class a child who scored under 305 was offered a place, whilst 2 children who scored 312 and 315 were not offered places - you have to believe that the child who was offered a place with a very low score wrote an exceptional essay and had a very good HT recommendation

I agree that for chidren who get over the pass mark, then the essay and HT recomendation are not relevant, however, in DS class, 3 children passed out of 6 Children who would have done really well at GS - at least 2 of the children who were not offered a place might have done so if they had written better essays, which is why I say that it is really important
wizard
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:06 am

Post by wizard »

Thanks for the info on the essay title.

I hope I havent started WW3!! There are too few of us on the wiltshire thread as it is, so we cant afford to start fighting amongst ourselves... :)
mattsurf
Posts: 230
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:44 am

Post by mattsurf »

wizard wrote:Thanks for the info on the essay title.

I hope I havent started WW3!! There are too few of us on the wiltshire thread as it is, so we cant afford to start fighting amongst ourselves... :)
Nothing wrong with a bit of discussion, I certainly intend no offence, sometimes something written down may come accross more stongly than intended, especially when it comes to 11+ scoring systems.
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