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Tiffin Boys - again sorry!!

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:37 pm
by smiffy
Hello

Am new here so apologies for repeated posts.

Our son has just gone into year 5 and like some of you are now in the midst of the "What next?" panic.

He has always done very well at school with pleasing results and to be honest unlike our eldest never really has to try hard.

Yesterday we went to visit his teacher and discuss future schooling. At the end of last year (Yr 4) his test results were as follows

VR 134 NVR 114 and Maths 130.

We are considering a few options we have the choice of Slough,Langley and Herschel grammar schools or trying for Tiffins - which obviously has a higher pass mark.

Teacher advised us yesterday that Tiffin only tests NVR and VR, and that he needs to be scoring over 130 to consider this.

Looking through posts here and on other sites it seems that some children have in fact been offered places with scores lower than this :?

Does anybody know realistical scores for offers of a place - obvioiusly we have another year to try and boost his NVR skills.

Or do you think that we are being silly considering this option and should look at the alternatives.

Thanks in advance - sorry the post is so long!!

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:17 pm
by geling
Hi, Smiffy, welcome to join us! No need to feel sorry about "long" post. Sharing and exchange useful imformation are the right thing to do in this web.

Look at this may help you:

05 06 07 08
originally cutting off mark 228 226 225 229

final cutting off mark 222 223 221 224

( Note: 08 224 final marks needs to be comfirmed, 80% so, not 100%)


You see, every year there would be a few marks drop off from the initial offering. However, 09 's parents need to be careful: don't reley on the waiting list too much this year. Imagine how many parents would decline the Tiffin's offer to go for the private schools under the econimic crisis nowadays?

Smiffy: I can see that your boy will be a strong candidate in Tiffin's test, go for it! Put it first and you will lose nothing. Pirvate tutoring is essential, starting from now if possible.

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:38 pm
by SunlampVexesEel
VR 134 NVR 114

134+114=248

The cohort for the Tiffins test is self selecting at the top end (i.e. it is a tougher group to score 100 in than the overall population test which is the source of your test results).

But looks definitely worth a go.

You are going to have to really try to work on the NVR. The Tiffins NVR has been, in recent times, very tough.

Good Luck!

Regards
SVE

PS

Don't forget the travel implications etc. Passing the test should not be your only criteria.

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:53 pm
by geling
Hi, SunlampvexesEel: so nice to meet you again here! I feel very glad that you have added some useful information on my thread " Tiffin boy waiting list 2008" several months ago, thank you very much. I need to "finish" my thread by giving the accurate final cutting marks for Tiffin boy this year 08. I tried myself several times to get access to Kingston Web Site, however, I failed to find any thing useful. So, would you mind giving us some Tiffin boys' information 08 as you did before? :lol: :lol: Thanks very much!!


Best Regards,
Geling

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:29 pm
by Drastic Dad
So over all 80-85% should suffice. I aim at 90% with mine but he averages 85% constantly in VR and NVR. We have used Susan Daugherty's Bright Sparks set 1 and 2 along with IPS 10 minute tests. The postie delivered NFER papers today. Will focus on NVR from now on as he seems to be fed up of VR and has started making silly mistakes although gets the paper out of the way in 35 minutes and refuses to go over his answers again (pain!) I think he has a chance but he seems to be really fed up of all the repetitiveness of the preparatory process. He has scored even up to 93% after finishing 80 questions in 40 minutes. I am upset because he has got a place in one of the more decent schools in the palm of his hand and he is working very hard to throw it away by being so fed up and nonchalant. Waiting for the Sutton mock-exam result now.

Back to my question: Is overall 85% good enough for Tiffin? I am really confused by this scoring system. 229 or 228 out of what? 300? (too low at 76%) 250? (too high at 91%) :?: :?: :?:

Edit: Just looked at the post above (thanks SunlampVexesEel and pitty the poor blind for missing your excellent explanation!). So 229 out of 248. Now that is high at slightly above 92%! Still possible, very much possible because I have seen him score above 93%, so everything is possible.

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:35 pm
by Giulio
I would guess 280.
were the school has 300 as average, the min score is 150 and max 420 (423 with adjustement)
i.e. each test has 100 as average and 140 as max.
but just an uninformed guess

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:22 pm
by Giulio
by the way, the percentage of right answers (raw score) is not proportional to the standardised score

you can't take 229/280 = 82% and compare that to 90% or right answers on a given paper