2014 Standardised Data

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aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

2014 Standardised Data

Post by aang »

CSSE have kindly responded to my query on the official statistics for 2014 11+ exam for 2015 entry

*******************************************************

11+ Standardisation Report – October 2014

Each pupil's raw scores were standardised (mean=100, standard deviation=15). The values used, in 2014, are presented in the table below.

2014 (2015 entry) Mean Standard Deviation
English __________33.174 __________8.665
Maths __________38.349 __________ 10.709

In each case the calculation proceeds as follows:
Standardised score = (((raw score - mean) /standard deviation) x 15) + 100
Total score = 1.5 x standardised Mathematics + 1.5 x standardised English.

Thus a candidate with average marks on each paper will obtain a total of 300, comprising the results in the two papers weighted 1:1.


*******************************************************

I have verified that this set of values generates a 100% match for the vast majority of the 67 scores posted in this forum (there are about five submissions where there looks like a typo by the original poster and three submissions where the scores do not generate the correct overall standardised score).

*******************************************************
1. a maximum English score of 60/60 translates into a "normal" standardised score of 146.44

3. a maximum Maths score of 60/60 translates into a "normal" standardised score of 130.33

A perfect score with both maximums would result in an overall standardised score of 415.147
Incidentally scoring 0 and 0 in both papers would result in an overall standardised score of 133.286

*******************************************************
Last edited by aang on Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by aang »

Comparing subject scores in 2012-2915 entry

English (% since from 2012 to 2014, the paper was marked out of 50, but in 2015 out of 60)
____________________ 2012 ____ 2013 ___ 2014 ____ 2015
mean ________________46.0____ 37.4____ 49.3_____ 55.3
standard deviation ____ 13.8____ 14.2____ 13.8______ 14.4

The 2015 entry mean continues the previous year trend of increasing suggesting that the English paper is getting easier. This could also have been affected by the change in format of the paper with the creative writing piece.

Mathematics (% since from 2012 to 2014, the paper was marked out of 40, but in 2015 out of 60)
____________________ 2012 ____ 2013 ___ 2014 ____ 2015
mean ________________ 54.1____ 54.6____ 52.1_____ 63.9
standard deviation _____ 20.4____ 17.7 ____ 20.5 ____ 17.8

The 2015 mean is substantially higher than previous years suggesting that the Mathematics paper was much easier. This places a premium on candidates to reduce the number of careless mistakes as scores are now bunched up towards the top.

********************************************************************

Incidentally, based on the 67 scores posted in the results thread in this forum , the mean score is 342.8 so clearly the scores here are not representative of all scores. The comments in various threads referring to high scores this year is more a reflection of the skewed sample. On one hand you could infer that parents who use this 11+ forum have DD and DS who are on average above average ;-)
MmeOgg
Posts: 153
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 4:44 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by MmeOgg »

Thank you aang, that's really interesting to know.
annam2013
Posts: 98
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:37 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by annam2013 »

Excellent Aang. Many thanks for this :)
ToadMum
Posts: 11945
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by ToadMum »

Some posts regarding this year's scores have assumed that the main and reserve date papers were standardised separately.

Given that every year, the CSSE just provides you with the one set of figures, one assumes that the two sets of results are actually amalgamated and treated as one? And that the CSSE has not decided for some reason to introduce separate standardisation for boys and girls, as has also been postulated...
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MacPac
Posts: 95
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by MacPac »

aang wrote:CSSE have kindly responded to my query on the official statistics for 2014 11+ exam for 2015 entry

*******************************************************

11+ Standardisation Report – October 2014

Each pupil's raw scores were standardised (mean=100, standard deviation=15). The values used, in 2014, are presented in the table below.

2014 (2015 entry) Mean Standard Deviation
English __________33.174 __________8.665
Maths __________38.349 __________ 10.709

In each case the calculation proceeds as follows:
Standardised score = (((raw score - mean) /standard deviation) x 15) + 100
Total score = 1.5 x standardised Mathematics + 1.5 x standardised English.

Thus a candidate with average marks on each paper will obtain a total of 300, comprising the results in the two papers weighted 1:1.


*******************************************************

I have verified that this set of values generates a 100% match for the vast majority of the 67 scores posted in this forum (there are about five submissions where there looks like a typo by the original poster and three submissions where the scores do not generate the correct overall standardised score).

*******************************************************
1. a maximum English score of 60/60 translates into a "normal" standardised score of 146.44

3. a maximum Maths score of 60/60 translates into a "normal" standardised score of 130.33

A perfect score with both maximums would result in an overall standardised score of 415.147
Incidentally scoring 0 and 0 in both papers would result in an overall standardised score of 133.286

*******************************************************
I'm either calculating my DS's score incorrectly or the CSSE have made a mistake or rounded his score down. I'm confused!

38/60 English
48/60 Maths

SD 332.807 but I make it 332.808551 so shouldn't his score be .808 or even .809??

HELP!
aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by aang »

There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the 11+. Bottom line, Essex do not standardise for age or gender and I am not aware of any plans to change this.

I do not know how the reserve date figures are amalgamated. As long as there is sufficient number of pupils taking the exam on the reserve date, then statistical sampling may be adequate even if the papers are of different difficulty. The standardised report from CSSE provides one set of figures for each year. I assume that they will have checked that the candidates taking the exam on the reserve date show a similar normal distribution as the overall sample and that there is no bias either way.

I have not seen the argument for separate standardisation for boys and girls. Boys and girls sit identical GCSE and A Levels and are not graded based on gender- why should 11+ be different? At the end of the day, the objective of the CSSE exams is to provide an "objective" method for ranking pupils - girls will be ranked with girls, and boys with boys anyway. Whether or not CSSE or CEM achieves that is open to debate.
aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by aang »

Macpac - the difference in scores is due to rounding. CSSE have rounded the figures to three decimal figures whereas their database may use more precise figures for the mean and standard variation. As a rule of thumb, when the figures provided are given to 3 decimal figures, the calculated figure can only be accurate to two decimal figures.
annam2013
Posts: 98
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:37 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by annam2013 »

Does this mean about 35 percent got above 340 and rest below 340?
aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: 2014 Standardised Data

Post by aang »

annam - I don't know how you arrived at those figures.

The CSSE report shows that half the pupils scored 300 and above, and half the pupils below that. Assuming a perfect normal distribution, the figures results in a mean for the overall standardised score of 300 and standard deviation of 38.8. Based on this, then the proportion of pupils scoring say 340 and above would be 14.7%. If there were 5000 pupils sitting the CSSE, this would translate into 737 or so pupils scoring 340 and above.

However, I suspect the overall distribution is a combination of two normal distributions as the candidates applying for the Southend area schools seem to score lower than those applying for Chelmsford and Colchester. I've experimented with various numbers over the years, and my theory is that the mean for the Southend area candidates is closer to 290 and Chelmsford/Colchester above 320. These numbers are purely speculative based on the limited data that I have so I could be very wrong..
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