11 Plus Exams Forum

Hello,
I am wondering if any of you know how many pupils sat for the Reading boys exam in 2008? Just thought this would give me an idea of the level of competetion.
Thanks in advance

The total number was 490. Although rumour had it on the day that there were as many as 700!

Wow, that's a lot!! Thanks Martimer. Does the school provide this official information or how do you find out?

If you call the admissions office they will tell you the number that sat it. As MortimerM says this year it was 490, when the figures are printed in the Reading Applications to Secondary school booklet, the number will be invariably higher. This is because this is the number that applied but many change their mind for whatever reason, and don't sit it.

Maagi,
I found out the total through the parent grape-vine! My friend's DS did not get a place, but was sent statistics - total number who sat test, the lowest mark to gain a place (this year 339.69) and their child's ranking.

Those who gain a place to not find out this information, they are just sent an offer letter! (Which is why I had to use the parent grape-vine!)

Thanks guys, thats very helpful. MortimerM, well done to you and your DS

Hi,
I feel I ought to understand the scoring better since I have one boy already at Reading but I don't.

found out the total through the parent grape-vine! ... the lowest mark to gain a place (this year 339.69)

So I know they site a Maths exam, and English exam and a Reasoning exam.

What is the total score possible ? Do all three areas account for equal percentages of the marks ? I'm trying to understand what sort of percentages my DS2 needs to be achieving. And yes I realise it changes year to year based on who sits exam etc but I'm looking to get an idea of ball park.

Hi Elizabethb,

Welcome to the forum

Reading sit three exams. They are then averaged via standardised scores.
I think we worked out a while back that boys need to be averaging around 86%+ across the papers. (A better paper can make up for a weaker one as averages are being used.)

When is yous DS sitting the exam, this Nov?

HTH

BW

Thanks !

Yes he will be sitting this Nov. I'd hoped it would be less stressful coming at it a second time but if anything it's worse

Bewildered and many others have previously mentioned the "age-standardisation" of exam scores, but it probably is worth reiterating the point particularly for those new to this forum or to the Reading grammar schools admission process.

In short, the younger your DC is relative to the cohort of other children sitting the same exam(s), the greater the upward adjustment of raw scores in arriving at the your DC's standardised score. Both Reading Boys and Kendrick Girls operate a similar standardisation (or normalisation) process.

Thus the youngest child at a certain sitting might have a 31 August birthdate compared to the oldest of, say, 1 September the previous year and is effectively a full year younger in actual age. The age-standardisation of scores addresses that imbalance of exam performance due to that age difference.

I used to explain the idea to my DD using the "normal bell curve" where, on the one side of a certain score (say ~85%/86%), pupils get in to the school and, on the other, they don't. I used to encourage my DD to improve her raw score during practices to "beyond the safety buffer on the correct side of the bell curve." That way, we wouldn't have to chew off all our nails on results day and wouldn't have to leave too much to chance on the actual age-standardisation process.

If your DC is relatively an "old" child, then you'd need to allow for a wider band of tolerance on that "safety buffer" (of say an extra 4%-5%); conversely, a much narrower band (of say 1%) would suffice for a "younger" child. Hope this is clear ... normally I'd draw a few diagrams to explain the above but I haven't quite worked out the technology for dumping a graphic/diagram on this forum yet!