pass marks

[confused]

Hi all

does anyone know what your child needs to be achieving to get the 111 pass mark for grammer schools in the whsmith nfer tests

[Guest]

90%?

[Catherine]

Hi confused,

I thought that you had posted before but couldn't find your posts.
Which schools are interested in?
There are many factors involved, but the area is the most important.
The word of mouth for Slough is 80%, but it varies according of the current cohort, and the age of the child. A child born in September needs more points than a child born in august. How many? it's everyone's guess, between 5 and 10.

[chad]

I also have heard of 80% being the pass mark.
Just a word of caution... don't count on extra marks if your child is a later birthday. Apparently they are compared as a group average... i.e.
The august born children (as a cohort) are compared to ( for arguments sake) the September born cohort.
If in the Year group there were many high scoring August born then the age standardisation would not make such a difference to overall scores for the August cohort.
It is however normal for the later born cohort (as a whole) to have lesser average score than an earlier born cohort..... this is where the age standardisation comes into play.

[confused]

Dear Catherine and Chad

thank you for your replies they were both helpful, the schools i am intersted in are Herscel and slough grammer.
i hope this 80% applies to them.

[Catherine]

Definitely.
Considering my son's test paper scores and his exam results last year , I would guess that 80% was a pass, even for older children. BUT, this is one child, one year, and the pass mark varies according to the cohort.
So keep the practice going and aim higher if possible to give as much chance to your child as possible, and allow for nerves on the day.

Please ask if you have any other question.

[confused]

Hi Catherine

thankyou for your reply it was both helpful and reasuring .It gives something to aim for. Which is more than i got from both the deputy heads at Herschel and Slough grammer ,who didnt seem to know much about the nfer test marks a child should be aiming for apart from that you can be sure that your child will pass if they are getting 95% in all tests. Which was not much help.
thankyou for taking the time to reply. i will take you up on your offer and post you if i have any more queries.

confused. x

[MelX]

Hi confused

Just make sure your child is up on the maths that by all accounts is the area that lets most children down. I remember calling Herscel last year and a very helpful lady told me 75% would do it.

Good luck to your child and you

MelxX

[confused]

Hi Mel X

thanks for your reply you mentioned that 75% would be ok sorry if i sound thick but did you mean 75% in each area i.e maths verbal and non verbal or overall marks for 3 of them .

thanks confused.x

[Catherine]

The average is the important thing. You don't have to pass each subject individually as long as the average is a pass.
For each subject, the NFER calculates the standardised score, and the final result is the average of the three standadised scores.