Scores in Essex

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 5:56 pm

Thanks, Guest. Good luck to all others who are awaiting their children's results. Let's keep each other posted about how things turn out in March - whether the result is what we hoped for or not!

Bill

rr504 · Post by **rr504** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:25 pm

I think Guest is right. 131 means only 2% ie 140 children out of 7000 can get into the grammar schools. This is just too little. 120 means around 15% children can get into, which is about right. Please see the link below for your information:

http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research-areas/as ... -ranks.cfm

BINGO · Post by **BINGO** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 1:21 pm

Does anyone know how many children sat the 11+ in Essex this year? I have seen 2 figures on this site - one said 4,000 and one 6,800! The latter figure sounds incredibly high.

Also, I know the CSSE say you need 85% in the three papers to get into CCHSG, but I have know children who have performed OK on the English and Maths (in the 70% range) but they have done exceptionally well on the VR which seems to make the difference. Does anyone know what kind of scores the children should be getting?

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:49 pm

Cheers, rr504. I now understand things better than I did before.

However, speaking to a mum whose son got into an Essex grammar school last year, I learnt that he achieved a score of 140. That's right off the scale according to the link you gave (or 2 2/3 SD going by what Guest said earlier), so I'm now beginning to wonder whether standardisation in Essex is done a bit differently from the norm?

I know they don't standardise according to age, for instance.

Bill

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 4:20 pm

It might be that the mean is higher than normal. In a normal distribution the mean is 100, but if the cohort of children sitting the test are very bright, then the mean could be above this figure. I presume that the tests are NFER? I think that children can be coached into passing these tests and I believe that private schools do this from around year 2/3. (I don't know if there are any private schools round by you). I really am beginning to wonder at the validity of the NFER tests, although they are based on comprehensive testing. I know children who passed NFER tests and have really struggled at grammar school - I just wonder how that can be if they truly test ability.

ZIGGY · Post by **ZIGGY** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 2:03 pm

In response to some of the above messages, I worked out that a score of about 118 on a normal distribution curve should be enough to get into any of the Essex Grammers (top 11% of kids sitting the exam). As someone mentioned earlier, I think it depends on whether the average they are working from is the average score of the kids sitting the exam, in which case about 118-120 would be enough. However, if the average they use is some sort of national average, then the mean would be set at a lower level and the standardised score needed for grammer entry would then presumably be higher (maybe up to 130). It all depends how they are working it out.
However, claims about kids needing 85-90% in all 3 papers are untrue. In 2004 someone got into KEGS (just about) with 74% in English, 76% in Maths and 77% in VR. It is possible to get in the 70's in English and Maths and compensate with a better VR result in the 80's or more. Of course, it all depends on the scores that everybody else gets in that particular year. I suspect that a lot of kids will have very similar scores, so a few % could make the difference between getting or nor getting a place.

Bingo · Post by **Bingo** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:37 pm

ZIGGY wrote:In response to some of the above messages, I worked out that a score of about 118 on a normal distribution curve should be enough to get into any of the Essex Grammers (top 11% of kids sitting the exam). As someone mentioned earlier, I think it depends on whether the average they are working from is the average score of the kids sitting the exam, in which case about 118-120 would be enough. However, if the average they use is some sort of national average, then the mean would be set at a lower level and the standardised score needed for grammer entry would then presumably be higher (maybe up to 130). It all depends how they are working it out.
However, claims about kids needing 85-90% in all 3 papers are untrue. In 2004 someone got into KEGS (just about) with 74% in English, 76% in Maths and 77% in VR. It is possible to get in the 70's in English and Maths and compensate with a better VR result in the 80's or more. Of course, it all depends on the scores that everybody else gets in that particular year. I suspect that a lot of kids will have very similar scores, so a few % could make the difference between getting or nor getting a place.

I am glad you agree that it is not necessary to get 85-90% + in all 3 papers. I have known children get in the 70s for the maths and english (and in some case late 60s for the English) and still get offered CCHSG because they have performed very well in the VR. I am hoping that this year is no different as my daughter wants to go to CCHSG and although we think she has done really well in the VR, I am not confident on the English.