NonVerbal & Verbal Reasoning Lincolnshire
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Guest
I am really surprised at this. Until now all Lincolnshire Grammar schools have agreed to administer the same tests, the passmark of which sets the "county standard", and English and Maths tests have never been set before as far as I am aware. I only have to hand the paperwork sent out by King's School, Grantham and by Carre's in Sleaford but neither of these is proposing to set anything other than one VR and one NVR paper. They also say that you could register to sit the tests in any Lincolnshire Grammar school, which is odd if there are extra tests at some. Did your son do practice tests in Maths and English as well?
Would be interested to know more.
Sara
Would be interested to know more.
Sara
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Sarah D
No he only set practice tests in NVR & VR but the paperwork from Spalding Grammar actually tells you the dates that they sit the Maths & English, hence my question as to whether they are Nfer Nelson English & Maths papers or whether like last year they just have to write an essay. I am not aware as to whether they had to sit a Maths exam at Spalding Grammar last year but I can try and find out. We have been told they have to be there at 8.45 to start at 9.15am and they should finish at 11.15am so, if the VR for example is 50 minutes, it would appear that the other English/Maths papers are going to be somewhere in the region of 30/45 minutes each.
Bit worried actually because I don't know what to tell my son to expect. I also thought that all the Lincolnshire Grammar schools followed the same criteria for entrance exams, but maybe these two schools only look at the English/Maths if they are borderline cases and use these to help them to allocate places because of oversubscription.?!? Really not sure, maybe I will try asking the LEA. What do you think?
Bit worried actually because I don't know what to tell my son to expect. I also thought that all the Lincolnshire Grammar schools followed the same criteria for entrance exams, but maybe these two schools only look at the English/Maths if they are borderline cases and use these to help them to allocate places because of oversubscription.?!? Really not sure, maybe I will try asking the LEA. What do you think?
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Guest
Hi Sarah,
Have just consulted the admissions policy for Spalding GS - it can be found on the Lincolnshire County Council Website. It appears that the Maths and English test results only come into play if you are on the reserve list In last year's "Going to School in Lincolnshire" book (this year's is not yet published I think) Spalding GS was only oversubscribed by 1 place.
I have not usually found the council much help when asking questions about grammar school but the schools themselves that I approached were very helpful so perhaps that is the best way to find out about the maths and english tests and what they consist of. The school will also tell you things like how many out of area children got in last year, what the lowest score was for entry and even how many children have so far registered for testing this year and how many of those are in and out of area.
Bourne GS is a controlled school so should theoretically simply follow the standard Lincs council admissions policy - again it is probably best to ask the school direct. I know that Bourne is often quite heavily oversubscribed.
Best wishes
Sara
Have just consulted the admissions policy for Spalding GS - it can be found on the Lincolnshire County Council Website. It appears that the Maths and English test results only come into play if you are on the reserve list In last year's "Going to School in Lincolnshire" book (this year's is not yet published I think) Spalding GS was only oversubscribed by 1 place.
I have not usually found the council much help when asking questions about grammar school but the schools themselves that I approached were very helpful so perhaps that is the best way to find out about the maths and english tests and what they consist of. The school will also tell you things like how many out of area children got in last year, what the lowest score was for entry and even how many children have so far registered for testing this year and how many of those are in and out of area.
Bourne GS is a controlled school so should theoretically simply follow the standard Lincs council admissions policy - again it is probably best to ask the school direct. I know that Bourne is often quite heavily oversubscribed.
Best wishes
Sara
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kate1
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Guest
Hi Kate,
9th Sep - VR
16th Sep NVR
Both Carre's, Sleaford and King's Grantham have given these dates. I think the maths and English only apply to Spalding and ?Bourne. Best to consult the individual school's admission policy to make sure - I was unaware how much the criteria differed between schools.
Sara
9th Sep - VR
16th Sep NVR
Both Carre's, Sleaford and King's Grantham have given these dates. I think the maths and English only apply to Spalding and ?Bourne. Best to consult the individual school's admission policy to make sure - I was unaware how much the criteria differed between schools.
Sara
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Guest
Have just consulted the admissions policy for Spalding GS - it can be found on the Lincolnshire County Council Website. It appears that the Maths and English test results only come into play if you are on the reserve list In last year's "Going to School in Lincolnshire" book (this year's is not yet published I think) Spalding GS was only oversubscribed by 1 place.
Thanks for this Sara. This year Spalding GS have over 500 boys applying for 120 places. Don't know whether this is on par with last year and have always know that Bourne was heavily oversubscribed, but this is my son's preferred option of the two and it is slightly closer geographically but still out of catchment.
I will contact the schools direct and just find out a little more about the actual maths and english. I have to say we moved recently, not a deliberate move to get better chances/choices of secondary education, it just happened within 2 weeks and when I contacted Spalding GS to advise them they were not very forthcoming. Immediately said we were out of catchment and they did not take from this area and that my son would have to sit the exam at Bourne not there.
I then contacted Bourne who were very helpful and advised that as long as my son was sitting the Lincolnshire 11+ he could sit it at any grammar school of our choice in Lincolnshire and then it was up to us which Grammr school we chose as our first option etc etc.
When I advised Spalding GS of this fact and that where we originally lived we were out of catchment and in fact geographically further away and that they had sent all of the information to our local primary school they agreed these fact and said that he could still sit the exam there.
Fortunately this will be the only time that I have to go through this process as I only have the one child and I can understand why all parents get so stressed with the secondary education procedure. All they want is the best individual education for their childs needs and then some have the added problem that they don't live in the right area, but their child may have a better result than someone who lives next to the school, but they don't get in because of where they live!
Frustrating, yes, but sometimes it also begs the question of why we put our children through this if the end results come down to where your families home is.
Thanks for this Sara. This year Spalding GS have over 500 boys applying for 120 places. Don't know whether this is on par with last year and have always know that Bourne was heavily oversubscribed, but this is my son's preferred option of the two and it is slightly closer geographically but still out of catchment.
I will contact the schools direct and just find out a little more about the actual maths and english. I have to say we moved recently, not a deliberate move to get better chances/choices of secondary education, it just happened within 2 weeks and when I contacted Spalding GS to advise them they were not very forthcoming. Immediately said we were out of catchment and they did not take from this area and that my son would have to sit the exam at Bourne not there.
I then contacted Bourne who were very helpful and advised that as long as my son was sitting the Lincolnshire 11+ he could sit it at any grammar school of our choice in Lincolnshire and then it was up to us which Grammr school we chose as our first option etc etc.
When I advised Spalding GS of this fact and that where we originally lived we were out of catchment and in fact geographically further away and that they had sent all of the information to our local primary school they agreed these fact and said that he could still sit the exam there.
Fortunately this will be the only time that I have to go through this process as I only have the one child and I can understand why all parents get so stressed with the secondary education procedure. All they want is the best individual education for their childs needs and then some have the added problem that they don't live in the right area, but their child may have a better result than someone who lives next to the school, but they don't get in because of where they live!
Frustrating, yes, but sometimes it also begs the question of why we put our children through this if the end results come down to where your families home is.
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Guest
Hi Sarah,
We live out of area for any of the Grammar schools as well and probably have no chance at all of getting in. We have applied because it is possible that we may have to move house. I think it will be harder this year to get in to schools from out of area as, unlike previous years, peope will know their 11 plus results before they choose their schools. At present many people put down a comprehensive as first choice because if they had put Grammar first and their child did not then pass they would not have got a place in the good comprehensive. A lot of Grammar school places were filled by second round applicants who changed their choices after the first allocation of schools once they knew their child had passed. Under this system if you lived out of area and were brave enough to put the Grammar as first choice and passed you would have got a place ahead of the in-area children who had not put the Grammar as first choice (assuming that putting the school 1st was one of the oversubscription criteria which it was for most).
If you are actually out of area for both schools it would be worth asking them how many out of area children got a place last year. Are you within 25 miles of Grantham? If so it might be worth considering King's. They do not have a 1st choice criterion. They have a defined area which is quite large and allocate places in rank order of scores within this, then give any remaining places to children within 25 miles of the school, again in rank order of scores. There were 12 boys who got in from out of defined area last year.
For Bourne, because it should follow the council's own oversubscription rules (see website), places may end up being allocated on distance from school, so it would be useful to ask them how far away the child who lived furthest from the school, and still got in last year, lived.
I wish you and your son all the best, and do hope you manage to get what you want. I would not be put off too much by the numbers applying. It may include all the eligible children in the primary schools in area. It would be useful to know how many applied last year and how many got in so as to make sense of the number. Incidentally, at Carre,s in Sleaford we were told that they were heavily oversubscribed last year (lots of new building in the area) and held 40 appeals from which they gave 13 places.
Sara
We live out of area for any of the Grammar schools as well and probably have no chance at all of getting in. We have applied because it is possible that we may have to move house. I think it will be harder this year to get in to schools from out of area as, unlike previous years, peope will know their 11 plus results before they choose their schools. At present many people put down a comprehensive as first choice because if they had put Grammar first and their child did not then pass they would not have got a place in the good comprehensive. A lot of Grammar school places were filled by second round applicants who changed their choices after the first allocation of schools once they knew their child had passed. Under this system if you lived out of area and were brave enough to put the Grammar as first choice and passed you would have got a place ahead of the in-area children who had not put the Grammar as first choice (assuming that putting the school 1st was one of the oversubscription criteria which it was for most).
If you are actually out of area for both schools it would be worth asking them how many out of area children got a place last year. Are you within 25 miles of Grantham? If so it might be worth considering King's. They do not have a 1st choice criterion. They have a defined area which is quite large and allocate places in rank order of scores within this, then give any remaining places to children within 25 miles of the school, again in rank order of scores. There were 12 boys who got in from out of defined area last year.
For Bourne, because it should follow the council's own oversubscription rules (see website), places may end up being allocated on distance from school, so it would be useful to ask them how far away the child who lived furthest from the school, and still got in last year, lived.
I wish you and your son all the best, and do hope you manage to get what you want. I would not be put off too much by the numbers applying. It may include all the eligible children in the primary schools in area. It would be useful to know how many applied last year and how many got in so as to make sense of the number. Incidentally, at Carre,s in Sleaford we were told that they were heavily oversubscribed last year (lots of new building in the area) and held 40 appeals from which they gave 13 places.
Sara
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Guest
SPALDING MATHS AND ENGLISH TESTS
My son is due to sit the non-verbal/verbal tests for Spalding Grammar next month. Regarding the maths and English papers, my firm understanding is that these do not comprise of an actual 11+ paper, but of a open-ended writing piece for the English and a general maths paper. As such, these are used only for borderline cases. If anything, Spalding GS was undersubscribed last year as so many parents placed their children in alternative schools for fear of losing out althogether on their possible top two choices. The selection procedure differs this year in that parents will be armed with their 11+ results prior to opting for a specific school. This should, in theory, place more pressure on places at Spalding GS. Good luck to you all.
