Raw score CEM vs. Bond

[UmSusu]

Mystery, I think I saw them in information booklet that comes with the Practice Papers.

[mystery]

Ah thanks. Which practice papers are those? They sound useful, but maybe as c e m themselves do not publish practice papers this mark guideline should be taken with a pinch of salt?

[UmSusu]

It is the CGP CEM style practice papers (I think they can get away with using CEM on the cover as they are only saying that their papers are practice for sitting the exams). It is the red pack with 2 sets of papers.

I would agree that their marks are probably just a guideline they have set themselves. They probably thought 80% would be a safe bet. They have no way of knowing though.

[mystery]

Ah thanks. Yes I think placing any guideline on a practice paper which is not produced and standardised by the test publisher could be unnecessarily scary.

[Tinkus-Pinkus]

My daughter has only done one of the CEM CGP papers but, she too scored low in comparison to her normal Bond scores she got 71% as opposed to noraml 85-100% scores in Bonds. She was very discouraged. It is good to hear that she is not the only one. It doesn't make sense, she is predicted levels 5A's/6's for her SATs got 5C/B for her Optional SATS, she is near the top of her class in a very high achieving school and I would have thought she was a prime candidate for the Grammar schools. It was the speed that was the killer in the CGP test, not the questions. I just keep telling myself that if she doesn't pass then who the **** will? And also that if the Grammar misses out on having her as a student it is their loss. I think we are all feeling nervous of the unknown. The old VR test would have been a walk in the park Keep smiling.

[Lea's mum]

My daughter has only done one of the CEM CGP papers but, she too scored low in comparison to her normal Bond scores she got 71% as opposed to noraml 85-100% scores in Bonds. She was very discouraged. It is good to hear that she is not the only one. It doesn't make sense, she is predicted levels 5A's/6's for her SATs got 5C/B for her Optional SATS, she is near the top of her class in a very high achieving school and I would have thought she was a prime candidate for the Grammar schools. It was the speed that was the killer in the CGP test, not the questions. I just keep telling myself that if she doesn't pass then who the **** will? And also that if the Grammar misses out on having her as a student it is their loss. I think we are all feeling nervous of the unknown. The old VR test would have been a walk in the park Keep smiling.

Please tell your daughter that she is not the only one, her grades at school and her results, both in the Bonds and the CEM tests are very similar with our daughter. I think everyone is in the same boat, looking at what some of her classmates achieve in school and with the CEM papers, it is again the same discrepancy. So we just have to wait and see. Best of luck to your daughter, I am sure she is doing great

[scary mum]

The old VR test would have been a walk in the park

Easy to say when you don't have to sit it (a bit like saying today's GCSEs & A levels are easy). There are plenty of people on this forum with children who missed out on a grammar school place under the old system, when it was felt that they were suited to GS. At least this year has the benefit of a level playing field, even if it is unknown.

Good luck to all this year's candidates.

[mystery]

Oh I hope you are right. Bucks was very weird before in having just vr, but having read the bexley familiarisation papers which are the same as bucks apparently, I feel that the nvr is just as open to practice as gl assessment nvr, the maths is not very creative and dependent on good teaching and practice, and the vocabulary in the comprehension etc favours children from particular types of families who have had certain types of experience. I am not convinced yet that this is going in kent to change the profile of who is selected for grammar in a way which favours native wit rather than privilege if we go with cem.

[Tinkus-Pinkus]

Is the Bexley prep paper really the same as the Bucks one? We got DD to sit it as a practice paper the other day. That may have been a mistake if it is the same.

[patricia]

The familiarisation sheets from Bexley and Bucks are the same.

No one knows if the Bexley practice test is the same as one of the Bucks preparation tests. I must assume and hope they are different.

Patricia