Year 4 11plus test

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pressure2young
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:56 pm

Year 4 11plus test

Post by pressure2young »

My DD came home from school a few weeks ago saying they had done a test and when she described it I realised it was the 11+. She is only in year 4 and I couldn't believe they had already started working on the 11+. She came home with her results yesterday which were 54 out of 65 questions right, raw score 54 and stand. score 108. I have no idea if this is good or bad. She is now saying I didn't pass and is upset. My plan as discussed with her was to look at schools in year 5 and then decide if she needed to do the 11+. It appears the pressure has already been put on us by the school to start thinking of tutoring like a lot of the other parents. I feel at age 8 this is too much pressure at such a young age. has anyone else had any experience of this and what do they think/suggest.
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by Belinda »

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Last edited by Belinda on Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pressure2young
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:56 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by pressure2young »

No they were VR test scores so that should they perform badly they can be used by the head teacher in an appeal. I have no idea what her results mean.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by mystery »

Think the info you have is misleading. There is no way a school can give out a "real 11plus " paper and standardise it. Chances are this was one of the NFER CATs in nvr or something similar. Best to ask the school. It's bad she has been given the impression she has done badly. But it's normal (and good) that schools do them from time to time. It costs the school money to do them, so some are cutting back, so you one of the lucky ones.

I found a useful link to a paper about CATs a while ago which helped to interpret the scores, I'll try and dig it out again.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by mystery »

If you google CAT overview national archives you will find a paper which explains CATs and the scores in quite a bit of detail. I do think though you should be taken with a pinch of salt. A relative of mine had CAT scores in year 5 which the school said made him borderline 11+ they scored really highly in the 11+ and now have loads of A* at GCSE and heading towards Oxbridge at the moment. Although these tools might be good predictors for the population as a whole something can always go wrong for an individual child on a particular day.
Sally-Anne
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by Sally-Anne »

You might also like to tell her that the national average is 100, and therefore a score of 108 is above average.

This type of test does not equate directly with the 11+ anyway.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by mystery »

I was always left with a sneaking doubt that some schools standardise the results themselves and get it wrong. Is this possible?
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by Guest55 »

CATs are not predictors for individuals .. they should be used for a cohort as they are more reliable
Jules7
Posts: 248
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:55 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by Jules7 »

Hello, I wouldn't panic too much. They do sound like the school are doing VR CAT tests. It won't be the same standard as a real 11+ as they are too young to take that kind of paper in Y4. I had no idea that our school did CATS until after my oldest DD took the 11+ and I think they used them to help prove that a friend's DC was GS material even though they didn't qualify (this is in Bucks).

I did ask what my oldest DD got and although the HT couldn't locate the scores for every year (DD1 had already left school by this stage but I was curious so I could cross compare next DC), I did find out DD1 achieved standardised scores of 98 in Y3 and 128 in Y5 (this was before her tutoring started) so they do mature and develop themselves. She passed her 11+ and is v. happy at GS. The school have changed their policy about informing parents of scores so we are now aware - I am hoping that this might auger well for DD2 who is in Y3 and got 112 last term. I hope she develops in the same way. It's surprising as I have to say her older sister was a far better reader/writer at this age (although the younger one is better at maths).

The only thing I would query is why the children were given the results and not the parents.
pressure2young
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:56 pm

Re: Year 4 11plus test

Post by pressure2young »

Thank you all very much for your informative posts. Results were sent home via a letter DD opened and read it. have spoken to another Mum who got the same results and child is same age but was given a different percentage so we have decided to take it all with a pinch of salt. We are in Bucks so hence now the tutoring will start so while the country is 100 as a pass we are 121 because of this. I'm going to stick with my original plan which is to look at schools in year 5 and then if she needs the 11+ we will practice then.
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