Test results

[mymelody]

My twins were tested at Bushey Meads and received 204 & 199 respectively. Absolutely gutted at their results. Of course I will never show that in front of them, but I was so surprised as their end of year test results at Primary School came out as 100/105 out of 110 for maths & 44/47 out of 50 for VR. Even att their Open Evening tonight, the teachers were glowing in the praise for them.
After looking at the cut-off's for WGGS, where we hope they could attend, it looks ominous that they will actually be offered a place. We are in the inner catchment, but according to WGGS historical data, it looks like local distances are near enough to be in the school grounds.

Hi I am new here, how do you do. Matth48, I have the same situation as you. My child whose mock exam scored 253 and prediction was around 240. DC took the exam at Bushey mead and DC got result of 166! I couldn't believe my eyes. I have sent an email to Bushey if I can see the exam scripts so that I can see what went wrong. They replied saying SW consotium are not allowed to show the exam papers to the parents but we can remark the test after 1st of March. I am not interested in remarks. I want to see the exam script!

@Daogroupie could you kindly tell me more about CEM for raw score? Are they sending me my DC's exam paper??

[Rfn]

There seems to be a common theme of parents unhappy with the results coming from Bushey Meads! Although still early days, the lack of communication and explanation from the SWHConsortium around what happened and what is going to happen to rectify it is unacceptable! It's left a lot of parents doubting their results! As said already it's made an extremely stressful situation even more so...

For reference our child scored 223. I've read that the scores may be higher this year but I believe thats probably more of a reflection of parents willing to share higher scores but not lower scores.

On a more positive note well done to all those children and parents that are happy with the results, now to enjoy the long wait until allocation day! To all those that aren't, it's not much of a consolation but children can excel at any school especially with caring and involved parents which you all obviously are!

[Daogroupie]

Deal with CEM not SW Herts. CEM will send you your raw score if you send them ten pounds. This will only be your VR not your Maths.

SW Herts will not let you see your exam papers.

If you look on the HBS first round results you will see the details of how to apply to CEM for the raw score.

CEM will send you your score but not the exam paper. No adult is going to get to see the CEM papers.

How did your dc feel the exam had gone? DG

[Violetsareblue]

RFN - that's a nice sentiment in your post - and thank you for sharing test result. For reference our result is 227. I suspect the wrong side of borderline for our first choice school but not definitive so it's going to be a long & anxious wait.

Concerning that many results seem to be so out of line with expectations. Doesn't give a sense of confidence in the process. Hopefully those with questions will have them answered one way or another (and do please share any progress made).

[svg123]

My daughter sat at Bushey Meades as well and we felt her marks were not up to the mark, hence we enquired if a rechecking can be requested, and we were told the same:

Thank you for your email. All candidates exam papers are carefully marked and moderated and we are confident that the scores issued are correct. Therefore the SWHS Consortium do not permit any re-marking of papers before 1st March. If you require a re-mark of your daughter's paper at that time you should apply in writing directly to the test centre where your daughter sat her test.

[svg123]

My daughter sat at Bushey Meades as well and we felt her marks were not up to the mark, hence we enquired if a rechecking can be requested, we was told:

Thank you for your email. All candidates exam papers are carefully marked and moderated and we are confident that the scores issued are correct. Therefore the SWHS Consortium do not permit any re-marking of papers before 1st March. If you require a re-mark of your daughter's paper at that time you should apply in writing directly to the test centre where your daughter sat her test.

As RFN and many other parents have already reiterated, they all have a bright future despite of these shambles. Good luck everyone!!

[poppy2000]

Our DC did not sit the test at Bushey Meads but we were expecting better result then what our DC got. There are many parents from our DC’s school that feel the same way (none of their DCs sat the test at Bushey Meads) It seems to be the trend this year. May be the paper was harder/trickier then they thought.

[jodeep]

TBH I would want the entire test to be remarked.

I agree with this. Since all scores are standardized comparing to peers who has sat in the same set, if 200+ scores are changed, I assumed it would affect all scores - right ?

The only excuse I can think of is - "it is entered into website wrong". Who knows ???

[loopylala]

All candidates exam papers are carefully marked and moderated and we are confident that the scores issued are correct.

Are they sure about that:

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/1 ... ng_error_/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think formal complaints should be made along with a call for more transparency. SW Herts certainly needs to introduce a more robust system that allows parents to request a remark in a way that doesn't disadvantage them further should problems like this occur. Given the problems last year and this year, someone should certainly be conducting a full review of the way SW Herts handles the marking, collation and dissemination of scores.

[Matth48]

I was told in no uncertain terms that our RAW scores would not be released. Below is the response which I received on email by Chantal Smith of Bushey Meads:

"Raw score information is not given to parents, nor are exam papers available for parents to view.  You will appreciate that these papers will be used again in years to come and it would be highly inappropriate for the SWHS Consortium to distribute them.  The age standardisation tables are also not published.  The test scores are used by the individual schools to assess whether their applicants meet the entry criteria for admission.  They are not designed to be used for any other purpose which is why raw scores are not divulged to parents as this is not relevant to the chances of their children gaining admission to their chosen school"

What I find hard to comprehend is there is no way of attaining the Maths RAW score. Who will hold the RAW data on Maths? It seems rather contradictory that CEM can give RAW scores but SWHC cannot. I would like to know whether this data should be available under the Freedom of Information act? I would like to see for myself their Exam papers and have them marked by a friend who is a teacher. If there is the slightest discrepancy then I would kick up the biggest stink imaginable.

And on a final note, if the tests can be remarked at 1st March, what is the point??? Places are allocated by then. Do they realise that when a Secondary School see's applications it is a pretty cut-throat decision. Are they going to hang about until sometime in March for a remarked exam? They will take one look sometime in November and put them in the Yes pile or in the bin. This makes my blood boil.