(Age) Standardised scoring

[7Wonders]

Hi, I'm sure this is explained somewhere in the forum so happy to be pointed in the right direction. I'm trying to understand how the age standardised scoring works. My daughter is sitting the SW Herts tests, which I believe are age standardised. She has just done some online mocks, and we got the actual %, the standardised score and the age standardised score. Her birthday is October. My - perhaps mistaken - interpretation was that this would mean she would need to do better in absolute terms than someone born in, say May, to 'compensate' for the fact that she is born earlier in the year. But with the scores she got for the mock, her age standardised score was higher than just the standardised score. Which has made me think that I just don't understand it at all. Perhaps it doesn't matter, but I'm keen to try to understand, and to explain to her, how much she has to improve by. Thanks

[scary mum]

There is an explanation of standardised scores here

[7Wonders]

There is an explanation of standardised scores here

Thanks. I have read that, and thought I understood it. My interpretation was that my October born daughter needs to do better than a child born later in the year to get the same score. Is that basically correct?
And, given that, I would have expected her age standardised score in the mock to be lower than her standardised score, and yet it's higher. Why is that? Perhaps it's not important, but just trying to understand what's going on.

[scary mum]

I suppose it depends on the cohort sitting the exam, it will be standardised according to how they perform. In theory (particularly with small numbers) it would be possible for July born children to perform better than (for example) November born children, but it would be unusual. The standardisation would adjust for this.

[mitasol]

My interpretation was that my October born daughter needs to do better than a child born later in the year to get the same score. Is that basically correct?

Age standardisation is to remove the difference, if any, between the age groups. The effect is that your child is not really in competition with older or younger pupils. They are competing for a place within their age group.

Think of it as ranking in two different cohorts. When ranked within the whole cohort (standardised score) she ranked lower than when ranked against her age group (age standardised score).

Take mock results with a large pinch of salt and remember that it is based on the cohort sitting the test, which will be different from the cohort your child will eventually face. I would also say that it depends on how reliable your mock provider is.

[2Socks]

Age standardisation can be done in different ways. It may be that the mock organiser uses a different method. I know it can be done by comparing candidates born in each month. It may be that the other kids with the same birth month performed lower on average than the rest of the cohort, so scores may have been raised up to compensate.

[7Wonders]

Thanks so much to you all for your helpful explanations. Really appreciate it.