Demystifying Standardised Scores

Parents are often told that their child will have to attain above a certain Standardised Score in order to attain a place in the school of their choice. The most common exam secondary entrance exam in use today is the one set by publishers Nfer Nelson, and we explain below in broad terms the reason for having it and in general terms how it operates.

A Standardise Score creates a ‘level playing field’ for all candidates attempting the same paper. Consider a child who is say 10 years and 11 months on the day of the exam, and a child who is say exactly 10 years old. Plainly the child who is 11 months older has a significant advantage over the younger child.

A Standardised Score was therefore devised to ensure that there is no advantage or indeed disadvantage irrespective of the child’s age.

Officials create reference tables and these are all different for each and every exam sat, since another major input in the table is the difficulty of the exam.

Look up tables are then created, and for illustration purposes only one is shown below. It is from tables like this that ‘Minimum Standardised Scores’ are quoted by officials. For instance in North-West London area last year (2003) the minimum standardised score was said to be 124. This score is will vary from year to year depending on number of applicants as well as the quality of applications for a particular school.

Illustration:

In the example illustration below the vertical axis is the ‘Raw Score’, i.e. the score your child got on the paper. The horizontal axis represents the age of the child at the time of taking the exam, shown as Years + Months.

	10y0m	10y1m	10y2m	10y3m	10y4m	10y5m	10y6m
…
72	109
73	110
74	111	110	110	109	109	108	107
75	112	111	110	110	109	108	108
76	113	113	112	112	111	109	109
77	114	114	113	112	111	110
78	115	115	113	113	112	111	110
79	116	116	114	113	112	111	111
80	117	117	116	115	113	112	111
81	118	117	116	115	114	113	112
82	119	119	118	117	117	115	114
83	120	120	120	118	118	118	117
84	121	121	120	119	118	118	117
85	122	122	121	121	120	119
86	123	122	121	121	120	119
87	124	123	122	121	120	120
88	125	124	123	123	122	121
89	126	126	125	124	124	123
90	127	127	126	125	125	124

So in the illustration above if your child had to attain 124 then if he/she was exactly 10 years old then they will get in with a raw score of at least 87%. However a child of 10 years and 1 month may have to attain at least 88% and for 10 years and 3 months will need at least 89%.

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS JUST AN ILLUSTRATION, AND THE TABLE WILL VARY BY EXAM

For a detailed scientific explanation please visit standardised scores by NFER

	10y0m	10y1m	10y2m	10y3m	10y4m	10y5m	10y6m
…
72	109
73	110
74	111	110	110	109	109	108	107
75	112	111	110	110	109	108	108
76	113	113	112	112	111	109	109
77	114	114	113	112	111	110
78	115	115	113	113	112	111	110
79	116	116	114	113	112	111	111
80	117	117	116	115	113	112	111
81	118	117	116	115	114	113	112
82	119	119	118	117	117	115	114
83	120	120	120	118	118	118	117
84	121	121	120	119	118	118	117
85	122	122	121	121	120	119
86	123	122	121	121	120	119
87	124	123	122	121	120	120
88	125	124	123	123	122	121
89	126	126	125	124	124	123
90	127	127	126	125	125	124

	10y0m	10y1m	10y2m	10y3m	10y4m	10y5m	10y6m
…
72	109
73	110
74	111	110	110	109	109	108	107
75	112	111	110	110	109	108	108
76	113	113	112	112	111	109	109
77	114	114	113	112	111	110
78	115	115	113	113	112	111	110
79	116	116	114	113	112	111	111
80	117	117	116	115	113	112	111
81	118	117	116	115	114	113	112
82	119	119	118	117	117	115	114
83	120	120	120	118	118	118	117
84	121	121	120	119	118	118	117
85	122	122	121	121	120	119
86	123	122	121	121	120	119
87	124	123	122	121	120	120
88	125	124	123	123	122	121
89	126	126	125	124	124	123
90	127	127	126	125	125	124

	10y0m	10y1m	10y2m	10y3m	10y4m	10y5m	10y6m
…
72	109
73	110
74	111	110	110	109	109	108	107
75	112	111	110	110	109	108	108
76	113	113	112	112	111	109	109
77	114	114	113	112	111	110
78	115	115	113	113	112	111	110
79	116	116	114	113	112	111	111
80	117	117	116	115	113	112	111
81	118	117	116	115	114	113	112
82	119	119	118	117	117	115	114
83	120	120	120	118	118	118	117
84	121	121	120	119	118	118	117
85	122	122	121	121	120	119
86	123	122	121	121	120	119
87	124	123	122	121	120	120
88	125	124	123	123	122	121
89	126	126	125	124	124	123
90	127	127	126	125	125	124