Viewing test papers

Eleven Plus (11+) in Kent

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tigger2
Posts: 755
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:35 am

Viewing test papers

Post by tigger2 »

I have just received an email advising that Kcc will only let you see the answer sheets this year and not the question papers for all three tests. Has anyone else had this email and does anyone know if it could be challenged? Kcc say they are respecting copyright amid concerns that it was open to abuse last year. This seems strange as I thought that parents had someone from kcc with them whilst viewing? Any thoughts appreciated :?
tiredmum
Posts: 1161
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:51 am

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by tiredmum »

i viewed last year and there was a lady from kcc in the room all the time. There were alot of people making extensive notes from their childs papers,

It does seem odd. You certainly should be able to get a copy of your childs english essay and hopefully they will have handmarked the papers before you view - but without the question papers i am not sure how you could check yourself for discrepancies or if indeed they had been handmarked correctly :?

Kcc seem to have conflicting info about many admissions questions - perhaps you can question it?
sherry_d
Posts: 2083
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by sherry_d »

I have just received the email too. I dont think there is anything we can do. It seems KCC changed its mind :(

In addtition they have added this
If you decide that you still wish to view the answersheets then we will remark the papers prior to your appointment.
Impossible is Nothing.
Kent99

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by Kent99 »

I doubt that parents have any "right" to see answer papers at all. I imagine that KCC allow it so that parents can see whether a child made mistakes throughout a paper, struggled with a particular section or just ran out of time. These things may, conceivably, be relevant to an appeal; for example if there was an incident during the NVR examination and the child did not make a proper stab at one section as a result, that might be relevant.

But you can see all that from the answer sheets. Someone (who may have younger children or even be a professional tutor) being able to note down actual questions is of concern, particularly as individual questions are apparently recycled in subsequent years.

Frankly, if they have both computer marked and then re-marked a script by hand it is pretty confrontational to suggest that you, the parent, don't trust them and want to check that you agree with that marking.

Also, given the huge numbers of children sitting the Kent test, I shouldn't think that KCC want to encourage people to review papers unless the parent honestly believes that it may be relevant to an appeal. If they had 4,000 sets of parents wanting appointments to view out of sheer nosiness (I'm not suggesting that is motivating the parents on this thread by the way) it would be simply unworkable. Perhaps this is a way to dissuade the merely curious?
madasahatter
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 6:05 pm
Location: West Kent

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by madasahatter »

Got the same e-mail.
To be honest for us - all we want to see if it is true that DS did not fill in half of the NVR.... which is the one he didn't pass.... he had an anxiety attack etc
So want to see if it is true! And would use that info on appeal.

So for me it's only the answer sheet I wanted to see.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by Etienne »

I doubt that parents have any "right" to see answer papers at all.
Correct - there is no legal entitlement as test papers are exempt from the Data Protection Act. Whatever KCC do is entirely at their discretion.
Etienne
tigger2
Posts: 755
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:35 am

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by tigger2 »

It will still give us a clue as to what went so wrong in one paper and it might help us in appeal. I didn't think that you could make notes so if this has been the case I do understand the wish to protect copyright. Also they will re-mark the papers...does anyone know (and I know it is unlikely but still worth knowing :wink: ) what happens if a marking error has occured? Our ds has missed a pass because he failed by one mark on one paper.
sherry_d
Posts: 2083
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by sherry_d »

Tigger my understanding is marks could could go up as well as down :shock:

I think you need to be prepared for the worst that they could go down if you go for viewing. If I were in your shoes I would think twice about the remark. In our case there really isnt anything to lose unless the computer made a huger error in NVR. :?

I have a date already to view the papers and they agreed to do a photocopy of her English paper. I wonder if they will mark it too and it would be intesting to see if there is a shift in marks. You could hold on Tigger and I can give feedback back if there is a shift in marks and you can decide if its worth the risk. Its around 20 Nov when I have the appointment.
Impossible is Nothing.
tiredmum
Posts: 1161
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:51 am

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by tiredmum »

sherry_d wrote: I have a date already to view the papers and they agreed to do a photocopy of her English paper. I wonder if they will mark it too and it would be intesting to see if there is a shift in marks. You could hold on Tigger and I can give feedback back if there is a shift in marks and you can decide if its worth the risk. Its around 20 Nov when I have the appointment.
The english is not marked - it is only marked if there was a HT appeal. You will get ia copy of it back just as your dd wrote it.

Rarley is there a shift in marks and personally i beleive they would not mark a student down if they found that the computer had incorrectly given an extra mark - i think this situation is unlikly as the computer/optical reader is checking the little boxes for marks in the correct places - it may not notice a very faint mark but would not accidently add a mark that is not there at all.

Also if a mistake is uncovered - to your favour- it is rare that they actually make this a part of your dc's formal record. BUT you could tell the appeal panel about the mistake the optical reader made.
MasterChief
Posts: 235
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:01 pm
Location: Maidstone

Re: Viewing test papers

Post by MasterChief »

Being able to see the question papers would be of great help if a child had missed a question but then answered the subsequent questions correctly but filled the sheet in out of phase, for example mising question 2 and then putting the answer for q3 in its place and then continuing on until the end. I imagine computer marking would not pick this up, while human markers might distinguish the pattern. In the case of an appeal, if it could be demonstrated that this had happened,would it make a difference?
"We've got a date with Destiny and it looks like she's ordered the lobster."
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