KE Test - how did ur children find it

[James_Dixon]

Thank yor Dr Jalal for your well thought and worded post, nice to see some like minded people coming back to the forum. My son also said that there were only synonyms on the test, but he didn't think that the passage was about Sweden, not unless they had different passages at the different centres. We took our test at the KEFW. I didn't realise that you had to sit a test for a foundation school, is it in Birmingham? We are from Solihull and depending on postcode, it is a bit hit and miss.

On the whole, I am in the same predicament as fard as, my son has worked really hard and we hope it is rewarded.

Thank you.

James

[jah]

Not all foundation schools have tests. The Secondary School Admissions book, or the school's prospectus should tell you whether there is a test or not.

[KE Mum]

It is interesting that different people are reporting different subjects for the proof reading passage. Some friends of mine reported that the passage was about the Mayans - whoever they might be - I think they must have been a tribe who lived in the central/southern Americas. It would be very odd, in my opinion, if the Foundation used different papers for different centres.

I know that last year there were 2 passages - one fiction and one non fiction, but only one passage had to be proof read - ie, the non fiction one.

Just my thoughts. I am sure everyone is glad that the test is over.

[Dibble]

My daughter now Yr 10 was in the first year that the KE Foundation applications were included on the LEA form.

That's interesting. So it's it's only quite recently that they had to be on the Birmingham LEA forms? - I thought that having to put them on out-of-area applications was the new thing.

Before that the KE Foundation always managed to let people know about places between Christmas and New Year. The children were promised offers the week before February, but although the Foundation were ready to send out their offers, the LEA wasn't - hence the current date of the beginning of March.

I'm told that at some stage they used to send out "your child would have gained a place at KEVI school xxxxx in previous years (nudge, nudge - wink, wink) letters. I don't know if they were told to stop doing this or just got a bit embarrassed.

Oh, and by the way - Year 6 daughter said that she did as well as she could on Saturday, and that's all we wanted her to do! She liked the bugs (but didn't finish them) and found the Maths easier then she expected. Trying to forget it now!!

My lad has hardly talked about the content of the test at all. He just came out really happy and excited - could hardly get him to sleep in the evening! I can't forget it just yet - still at least one more to go.

[David_C]

I am told by parents who contacted the foundation that the first and second tests are the same? Can this be true? My son sat the first test and I have posted some comments which could have helped someone else and put us at a disadvantage. Please tell me the tests are not the same.

KenR any views or comments?

[KenR]

Hi David,

I'm afraid I don't know whether the test for the 1st and 2nd tests exams were the same or not.

If it is the same exam then one way the KE Foundation could make sure it was fairer is by treating each exam as a separate exam for statistical and standardisation purposes. ie the exam results are not consolidated and a single standardised set is not produced. In this way when they set the standardised pass scores the number achieving a pass would be in direct proportion to the number of candidates entered for each exam.

I have to say that this is only a guess as to what they might do if the exam was the same. I really don't know, although I would be surprised if the exam was the same.

Someone with some inside information of what Durham University may know. Most schools use Durham for Yellis assesments, so someone who is a schools exam officer in a secondary school might be able to find out.

To be honest though I doubt if any of the information gained from this web site is likely to make a signfican difference. Most children wouldn't have the time during the exam to think whether a tip their parent told them was relevant or not. In fact they may waste time trying to recall this.

Not sure if this helps or not.