Bournemouth and Poole results 2014

[str3ssed]

Does anyone know how many are eligible for Poole Grammar. I know 221 are for Bournemouth with 150 places. There are 168 places at Poole - interested in how many eligible.

[The Noad]

Congrats to all that have passed, commiserations to those that haven't. BournemouthDad may I ask how you drew the conclusion that this years figures suggest that more have attained the pass mark this year? I ask because my son is eligible for both schools, Bournemouth & Poole, but his results were marginal in both cases, 202 & 115.25 respectively. I thought the pass mark was adjusted in line with the number of available places?

Ironically, I remember the head of Poole saying the same as what Bomoboy said about Bournemouth, i.e. concerning the previous years intake, those that were eligible for Poole & who had placed it as their 1st choice, all got in, albeit some via the waiting list. Also from his talk I think he said that there were 116 places taken by locals (those deemed to be in the catchment area) leaving 48 places open for the remainder (164 total places).

[tica]

My son passed with 118 points for Poole but we are out of catchment -does anyone know his chances of being offered a place??

[BournemouthDad]

Congrats to all that have passed, commiserations to those that haven't. BournemouthDad may I ask how you drew the conclusion that this years figures suggest that more have attained the pass mark this year? I ask because my son is eligible for both schools, Bournemouth & Poole, but his results were marginal in both cases, 202 & 115.25 respectively. I thought the pass mark was adjusted in line with the number of available places?

Ironically, I remember the head of Poole saying the same as what Bomoboy said about Bournemouth, i.e. concerning the previous years intake, those that were eligible for Poole & who had placed it as their 1st choice, all got in, albeit some via the waiting list. Also from his talk I think he said that there were 116 places taken by locals (those deemed to be in the catchment area) leaving 48 places open for the remainder (164 total places).

Looking at the stats from last years admissions across Bournemouth. It would seem that last year roughly 40 more children passed than there places but eventually, everyone who chose Bournemouth got in as 40 didn't choose it as their first choice.

It would appear that there are just over 60 this this year.

Congrats on being eligible for both. Fingers cross you get which ever school you want the most.

[hopeful321]

Hi
My son got 203 in the Bournemouth school test and we are out of catchment.Is it worth applying to the school?Any advice would be appreciated.Thanks in advance.

[BournemouthDad]

Hi
My son got 203 in the Bournemouth school test and we are out of catchment.Is it worth applying to the school?Any advice would be appreciated.Thanks in advance.

Not sure anyone on here could answer that. Surely if you put it down as your first choice you either get it or you dont?

I would think that 203 is one of the lower scores but everyone who put it as their first choice got in last year so even if not everyone does this year, you will be unlucky not to make it.

[Bomoboy]

Just want to check something. If we applied to a another school as first choice and we don't get it would we go on the Bournemouth list as if it was our first choice? We have a slight preference for another school (one which we have very little chance of getting due to catchment area).

Regarding the score of 203, I think there is a very high chance of getting in as there will be a significant amount of children getting between the pass mark of 196 and 202 as it is so near the average mark (look up the bell curve stuff!!!) so you may be higher up the list than you think, plus many will put other schools as first choice so you won't necessarily be competing against everyone that passed that has a higher mark than your son.

[BournemouthDad]

Just want to check something. If we applied to a another school as first choice and we don't get it would we go on the Bournemouth list as if it was our first choice? We have a slight preference for another school (one which we have very little chance of getting due to catchment area).

Regarding the score of 203, I think there is a very high chance of getting in as there will be a significant amount of children getting between the pass mark of 196 and 202 as it is so near the average mark (look up the bell curve stuff!!!) so you may be higher up the list than you think, plus many will put other schools as first choice so you won't necessarily be competing against everyone that passed that has a higher mark than your son.

Bomoboy,

The order you submit your schools will make no difference to your position in the queue to get into that school. E.g. if you put BS down as your 3rd choice and didnt get in your first 2 choices, you would still be in the same position in the queue for Bournemouth. If you were first in line due to your test results you will still be first in line and BS will never know that you were their 3rd choice.

I keep refering to the bell curve myself but I am unsure as to whether they pass mark is even the central point of that curve. Or even if there is a bell curve on the results at all due to the nature of the test and the children that take it.

[str3ssed]

The 'average' is 194. If 'average' is the mean and presuming it's a normal distribution then mean=median. That being the case then half the candidates got more than 194 and as 221 are 'eligible' with a score of 196 or more then I estimate about 500 took the test. Applying some very loose stats using that estimate would suggest that of those 221 eligible, about 80 boys scored 208 or more. That leaves the rest packed between 196 and 208. I estimate about 15 boys scored 194 gradually dropping to about 8 boys scoring 208. I would guess therefore that the 120 ranked boy will have scored around 204.

This is all conjecture making some significant assumptions but theoretically poses the worst scenario as it does not take into account the dropout of boys choosing other schools as their first choice. Past posts on this forum suggest 40 plus drop out in such a way. This all suggests that applying with a score of 202 is worthwhile.

What does everyone else think of these figures? Have I got this wrong? Please feel free to comment.

[BournemouthDad]

Thats interesting, although its very difficult to apply a simple equation without making certain assumptions as you say. Would certainly make good reading for my son with his score of 226.