Changes to timings 2012

[devondarling]

In a recent talk by the Colyton head he said that the format is changing for 2012 in that the 11+ will be taken earlier in the year (probably September) so that by the time the deadline comes to apply for a school we will know if the DC is in one of three bands:
Band A: has made the 120 cut off in Maths and VR and passed English so defn got in
Band B: had made the 120 cut off in EITHER maths or VR and passed English so might be in
Band C: has not made the cut off in maths or VR or has not passed English and is not in

I suppose this reduces the time you spend worrying after the exam if you are in band A or C but obviously less time to prepare and less of the year 6 syllabus covered in Maths

[mitasol]

It is anticipated that the new admissions code will require all the selective exam results to be available before parents fill in the common application form. Many regions had already moved to earlier dates but those that remain will presumably be preparing and deciding on the move.

I think that when they moved the exams in Kent, the maths paper was generally considered to have been adapted to reflect the earlier exam date.

[nearly there]

According to the Colyton head at the open day, last year 83 children passed English and were in the top 120 for VR/Maths i.e. were in band A so 37 must have been admitted from Band B.

This will be a much better system- I am quite envious as we have to wait a ridiculously long time this year- from November until March.

The Plymouth and Torbay tests will almost certainly be moved forward- I have heard that the Devon/ Torbay/ Plymouth heads are working together to co-ordinate earlier test dates, depending upon the new admissions code being finalised.

[Storm]

Oooh interesting! I wonder if this will be in place for Torbay next year? I think it's probably a good thing, as it will stop people getting their hopes up for a school and then being disappointed on allocation day, and can mean that we can enjoy the last year of primary a bit more instead of spending most of the year worrying! On the down side I suppose it means that we can't put 11+ on a back burner over the summer holiday as we will no longer have the two months after the summer to do a final push. I wonder if my DS will be a bit more motivated if he thinks the exam is a bit closer than he's expecting!

[nearly there]

This is on the Devon council website regarding discussions (July 2011) about the new timing of tests in Devon/ Torbay/ Plymouth:

http://www.devon.gov.uk/laf-140711-el1112.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Storm]

Thanks for the link Nearly There! (couldn't find anything on the Torbay website!) It says that this will effect admissions from 2013 -14 - does that mean pupils like my DS who will take the test in 2012 for starting in 2013 or does it mean that the new test date will start in 2013, so my DS could end up being the last of the November tests? I think he would prefer that as it means more preparation time for him - he was a bit freaked out when Itold him yesterday that it may be less than a year to go now! But I think I'd like the September date as it makes preferences easier!

[mitasol]

Does that mean pupils like my DS who will take the test in 2012 for starting in 2013

Yes, I believe that is what it means.

[nearly there]

Yes- certainly at the Colyton open day last month the head said that the 11+ test arrangements he was describing only applied to current Yr 6's and that for any Yr 5's present things were likely to change, but that he couldn't confirm anything until after the publication of the new governement schools admissions code (due soon).

I think the change will affect Plymouth the most as they currently have their tests in January, so it will probably be 4 months earlier than usual for current Yr 5's.