Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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MimiTa
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:52 pm

Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by MimiTa »

Is it true that 11+ test in Bucks is scored like this?
Children born in September get 7 or so points taken away from their final earned scored, October ones have 6 taken away,Nov ones 5.....then March ones 1 point added,April 2 points added,May 3 added...August 7 added?

If true,that means a difference of 10 points between Sep and Aug child that leads to an Autumn child who passed the test to now fail and a Summer child who failed well behind that Autumn child to pass.

One month birth difference at 11 to score one point more? Those are not babies!

Some parents say this is the scoring method, but is it true?

Not even the parents of the previous years have heard about this and the ones whose Autumn children failed by a point or two are shocked.

Does anyone know if this is true?
scary mum
Posts: 8841
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by scary mum »

No it's not. Search on standardisation and you will find many posts about this.
Here, this might help
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/advice ... xplanation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(Also, not sure why this is in Maths?)
scary mum
kittymum
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:42 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by kittymum »

No as Scary has said results are age standardised - no one has marks given to them or taken away.

There's tons of info on the site about this.
MimiTa
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:52 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by MimiTa »

It says the method varies,so it is not the same scoring method everywhere. One mum says she's called to ask about the Bucks method and was told of this one. A couple of other parents confirmed..
Also, the method described on your link is what is used in primary schools,but grammar school test is far harder so there may be a different method.

I don't know...
scary mum
Posts: 8841
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by scary mum »

But we do! It really is true. I imagine it discusses it in the 11 plus information on the BCC website. No points are added or taken away. Each child is compared with children born in the same month as them & plotted on a curve to get 30% (approx) pass rate.
scary mum
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by kenyancowgirl »

MimiTa...I promise you...there are more urban myths around age standardisation than probably anything else around the 11+.

Please listen carefully, forget what you have been told in the playground by people who frankly don't have a clue.

Children are standardised against children born in the SAME month as they are. So all Sept born are compared with other Sept born children and all June born are compared with June born.

This ensures that the standard score per month is calculated. So if all June babies don't do quite as well when compared with the Sept babies, their standardised score is adjusted so that it equates to relative difference in score of the Sept babies. This makes it FAIR across the months.

You could get a situation where the June babies are all so VERY bright that actually their standardised score is higher than the Sept babies, in which case the June score would be adjusted down by the relative difference to make it FAIR.

This is a simplistic explanation but I promise you, whatever the mum who called Bucks tells you, she has got it completely wrong.

(crossed with scary)
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by loobylou »

It varies from area to area and year to year but the principle is the same. Age standardisation means that each child is compared against a cohort of children born in the same month. Marks are neither removed nor added.
For example a February born child could obtain 90% in a test and, if this is the highest mark achieved by children born in February, s/he will score effectively 100/100 on the results (in our area 141/141).
If the highest mark of an August born child was 70% that child would also be scored as 100/100. However if an August born child scored 97% as the highest mark then they would get 100/100.
It's designed to remove any benefit from being born almost a year earlier than other children in the year. In some cases those children have had a whole year's extra teaching/schooling as well (though that is becoming less common). However it doesn't automatically mean that there is a scoring benefit from being younger or a disadvantage to being older. The whole point is that it doesn't penalise any of those groups but just compares your child with the closest age group possible.
It is designed to level the playing field not weight it in an opposite direction.
kittymum
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:42 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by kittymum »

As far as I remember it also has a very brief explanation on the results letter saying the scores have been compared with others of their age and age standardised.

Trust me - and everyone else - no one is given marks or has tgem taken away!

Remember also that the score you get is a standardised score- so a score of 121 for instance does not relate to the number of questions they answered correctly.
parentoftwo
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:26 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by parentoftwo »

Agree with the explanations ..although its very difficult to understand in the first go :) But yes,
Age standardization and the Equal preference allocation system is the home work that everyparent must do if their DC are planning to sit the 11plus exams.
:roll: I myself had lost sleep over these 2 issues but I was satisfied when I understood the process by reading again n again n only believing what's in black n white.
Having a summer born, often get to hear remarks that the system favours us. But there is no shortcut to success and no alternative to hard work.:)
MimiTa
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:52 pm

Re: Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

Post by MimiTa »

But then I know Summer children who have had intense private tuition with the parents investing thousands of £££ and Autumn children who have never been tutoured and tried to work at home by themselves as even the parents cannot work with them, yet Summer children had points added. Being privately tutoured carries far more weight than a year of vocabulary before starting school (they all start at the same time),yet no one acknowledges that.
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