October 2012 Results

[moseleymum]

It wasn't a six month wait, we waited from November until March i.e four months....certainly long enough, and the preferences were filled in without knowing...

[Paramjeet]

The world doesn't just revolve around Brum grammars, there are some just outside brummie. But let's not split hairs. The wait then compared to now is incomparible.

[reeyah]

Ohhh feel so sorry for you guys! It's the 'not knowing when' which is very difficult!

I think I saw Um's comment somewhere that next year it will be by email.. so then we will be discussing 'what time it'll be sent out'

[DIY Mum]

Ohhh feel so sorry for you guys! It's the 'not knowing when' which is very difficult!

I think I saw Um's comment somewhere that next year it will be by email.. so then we will be discussing 'what time it'll be sent out'

Still, he is no wise man who will quit a certainty for an uncertainty, and this neo approach does seems fast and dubious!

Yes, waiting until March 1st was always long (been through it twice) but at least what you received was a firm offer.

This year, there’s more of a statistical swing. And what a wait it’ll be until ‘offer day’ - where finally, we'll know whether the score really did or didn’t disappoint.

[nicolajane1971]

Is anybody else a little concerned about how confident we can be about the scores?

I can't help but think that the scores will go up this year for the lower scoring grammars as people change their preferences upon receipt of the results, it's a real worry, I kind of feel that unless DS aces it with a score of maybe 240 plus, we won't be confident at all.

Thoughts appreciated, with this being our 1st 11 plus journey it could simply be me not understanding the system.

[lottie78]

Hi,
First 11 plus for us too and yes I am more than a little anxious.
Unless Ds massively underscores or massively scores (unlikely) then we are still in limbo until march. To be honest after we fill the form in it's done and whatever happens, happens. Not relishing the thought of the wait but will try not to let it ruin Ds s last year at primary school!!

[MSD]

I personally think that the cut-off score will be slightly lower this year. The timing of the exam didn't really help the children to concentrate and prepare well. The exam was taken straight after the school holiday and I guess quite a few children would still have been in the holiday mode

MSD

[equation]

I personally think that the cut-off score will be slightly lower this year. The timing of the exam didn't really help the children to concentrate and prepare well. The exam was taken straight after the school holiday and I guess quite a few children would still have been in the holiday mode

MSD

I second that.
I think many will agree that with the new arrangements of taking the test 2 months earlier this year, cut-off scores will be a few points lower this year.

[Okanagan]

I personally think that the cut-off score will be slightly lower this year. The timing of the exam didn't really help the children to concentrate and prepare well. The exam was taken straight after the school holiday and I guess quite a few children would still have been in the holiday mode

Also they won't have covered any of the year 6 syllabus at school, whereas in other years they'd have done at least part of it. And none of them will have had the chance to use the Warwickshire exam as a free CEM mock this year. Although all those factors should just mean lower raw scores translating to the same standardised scores.

Given that you have six choices and placing a school lower doesn't affect your chances of getting it if you don't get your top preference, I'd expect the effect of knowing the scores first to have a bigger effect on what people put down as first preferences - maybe not wasting a choice on one they are unlikely to get - than on the eventual destinations and scores required for each school. There might be a small number who would adjust their preferences to make sure that one of the grammars with historically lower marks which they might not otherwise have listed appeared on their list as a fallback position.

However there is also a compensatory factor in that there are more places available this year at the Warwickshire grammars - so with the likely lower scores needed there that may pull a few candidates on the Southern edge away from the Birmingham places altogether.

Overall I'd not expect to see a significant change in cut-off scores.

[DIY Mum]

I think many will agree that with the new arrangements of taking the test 2 months earlier this year, cut-off scores will be a few points lower this year.

Hmm, not so sure. When we first moved to B'ham (4 years ago), dd2 was in year 3 and some of her class mates started the 11+ prep then.

I am inclined to agree with NJ:

I can't help but think that the scores will go up this year for the lower scoring grammars as people change their preferences upon receipt of the results, it's a real worry.

Mind you, it may be higher for other reasons (excluding the one NJ has mentioned). It was pointed out to me that if you consider all the scores for Sutton (old and new format), their score for last year seems to be an anomaly.

It could transpire to be the norm but isn’t there also an increase of 400 applicants up from last year? Now, where did they come from??