11+ for Salisbury grammar schools
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Guest
11+ for Salisbury grammar schools
can anyone tell me what 11+ exams are taken for the Salisbury grammar schools. Are they NV, VR with or without English and Maths? I am also led to believe that there may be additional essays to be written as well - does anybody know whether this is the case?
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Lee X
The test will be held on the morning of Saturday 25th November 2006.
The test consists of four papers:
i) Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice(VR) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... %3D3%23b14
ii) Mathematics Multiple Choice (Maths) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... p%3D3%23b4
iii) English Multiple Choice (English) – 45 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... p%3D3%23b1
iv) Free Writing Paper - 30 minutes
The child’s performance in the VR, Maths and English tests provides the main evidence of her or her ability. The tests are used because they provide a reliable indication of a child’s potential to benefit from a grammar school style of education. The tests are compiled by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) and are in the form of questions in a booklet and optical mark reader answer sheets.
The scores on these 3 tests are standardised, i.e. they make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another.
The Free Writing paper is prepared by the School, and girls will be required to write an essay on one topic for 30 minutes.
Hope this info helps.
The test consists of four papers:
i) Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice(VR) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... %3D3%23b14
ii) Mathematics Multiple Choice (Maths) – 50 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... p%3D3%23b4
iii) English Multiple Choice (English) – 45 minutes
The appropriate familiarsation pack is:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... p%3D3%23b1
iv) Free Writing Paper - 30 minutes
The child’s performance in the VR, Maths and English tests provides the main evidence of her or her ability. The tests are used because they provide a reliable indication of a child’s potential to benefit from a grammar school style of education. The tests are compiled by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) and are in the form of questions in a booklet and optical mark reader answer sheets.
The scores on these 3 tests are standardised, i.e. they make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another.
The Free Writing paper is prepared by the School, and girls will be required to write an essay on one topic for 30 minutes.
Hope this info helps.
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Lee X
Forgot to add to the above:
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised (see above) to make allowances for the child’s age.
Lee
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised (see above) to make allowances for the child’s age.
Lee
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Guest
Very many thanks for the useful information. Our son is not due to sit the 11+ until 2007. At present we haven't done any preparation with him. When do you think would be a good time to start and is it a good idea to look into a tutor for him? Or perhap do you suggest we work with him on the material you've suggested at home? Assuming he passes the 11+, is any priority given to candidates who live in close proximity to the school? We live in catchment but wonder how they allocate places.
Your advice has been invaluable as we had no idea at all about the processes and your help has already proved to be of great assistance to us.
Many thanks
Fran
Your advice has been invaluable as we had no idea at all about the processes and your help has already proved to be of great assistance to us.
Many thanks
Fran
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Lee X
Fran,
Preparation
Start preparing as early as you can. A year in advance is fine though you have four examinations to prepare for and you will have to work very conscientiously. Prepare systematically for each exam and the task will be wholly manageable.
Tutor
Professionally qualified tutors with a good track record of success at local grammar schools are in great demand so if you are lucky enough to find one then that would be ideal. Though not having one is not the end of the world.
Allocation of Places
The scores attained in the Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics and English tests are standardised to make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another. The standardisation is carried out by statisticians at the National Foundation for Educational Research. The three standardised scores are then put together to produce a final result.
All candidates whose final score is equal to or greater than a predetermined cut off mark will be regarded as suited to a grammar school education without further consideration. Children whose final score is below - but comes close to the standardised pass mark, will be reviewed under the border zone procedure. In addition, Primary School Headteachers can nominate children for border zone consideration.
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised to make allowances for the child’s age.
Membership of the two review panels (one for each grammar school) will include the relevant grammar school staff and a primary school headteacher from outside the Salisbury area who is involved in the moderation of the Free Writing marking.
Children whose score falls below the border zone marks and who are not referred to the review panel for further consideration, will be deemed unsuited to a grammar school course of education.
Each school has a planned admission number of children they will accept, typically 120. All children who achieve the standardised pass mark, or who have been successful at the Review Panel, are considered to be suitable for a grammar school education. If the number of children achieving the mark is less than the admission number, then all those children will be deemed eligible for a place. If the number achieving the mark is greater than the admission number (120), then the School will rank those children eligible for a place, according to the oversubscriptions criteria.
Where the number of children who achieve the standardised pass mark, exceeds the planned admission number, then eligibility for admission is determined by the following oversubscription criteria:
a) Children in public care
b) Children who live in the school’s designated area (in order of the distance from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
c) Children who live elsewhere and have a sibling at the school. (This includes a step, half or foster at the same residence.)
d) Other children in order of nearness to school as the crow flies. (This will be measured from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
Distance from the child’s home to the School, measured as a straight line, will be used to determine admissions within these categories. A map of the designated catchment area can be obtained from the School you are applying to.
Children who are eligible for admission, but whose name (under the oversubscription criteria) falls outside the planned admission number, will be put on the waiting list, which is also governed by the priorities listed above. Late applicants deemed to be of grammar school ability will be placed on the waiting list in their relevant position irrespective of the time of application. Re-testing of waiting list candidates will occur between Key Stages 3 and 4. Only one assessment per academic year is permitted.
The complete ranked list is then forwarded to the LEA.
The LEA compares the ranked list and allocates places:-
i) Where the child, after application of the admissions criteria, is eligible for only one of the nominated schools, that school will be the allocated place;
ii) If the child is eligible for two or more schools, a place will be allocated at the school for which the parent has expressed the highest preference;
iii) If the child is not eligible for any of the nominated schools then the child will be placed by the LEA at the nearest appropriate school with a place.
The LEA will post notification of allocations on 1 March 2007.
If parents do not inform the School in writing within 21 days that the offer of a place is being accepted, that place will be forfeited. When parents accept an offer, they will be required to send the School proof of address between October and November 2006. Providing false information on a child’s main residence at the time of application may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.
If a child is not offered a place, parents may request details of the appeals procedure. Parents dissatisfied either with the outcome of the selection procedure, or by the refusal to offer a grammar school place, may lodge an appeal against the decision of the School Governors to an independent appeals panel, who convene under current guidance by the Department for Education and Skills.
Hope this information helps.
Preparation
Start preparing as early as you can. A year in advance is fine though you have four examinations to prepare for and you will have to work very conscientiously. Prepare systematically for each exam and the task will be wholly manageable.
Tutor
Professionally qualified tutors with a good track record of success at local grammar schools are in great demand so if you are lucky enough to find one then that would be ideal. Though not having one is not the end of the world.
Allocation of Places
The scores attained in the Verbal Reasoning, Mathematics and English tests are standardised to make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another. The standardisation is carried out by statisticians at the National Foundation for Educational Research. The three standardised scores are then put together to produce a final result.
All candidates whose final score is equal to or greater than a predetermined cut off mark will be regarded as suited to a grammar school education without further consideration. Children whose final score is below - but comes close to the standardised pass mark, will be reviewed under the border zone procedure. In addition, Primary School Headteachers can nominate children for border zone consideration.
Children in the border zone will have their Free Writing paper marked and put forward for assessment by a professional review panel, along with a report from the girl’s Headteacher. The review panel will consider the child’s abilities and decide whether or not the child has grammar school potential on the basis of the professional report and the Free Writing paper, which will also be standardised to make allowances for the child’s age.
Membership of the two review panels (one for each grammar school) will include the relevant grammar school staff and a primary school headteacher from outside the Salisbury area who is involved in the moderation of the Free Writing marking.
Children whose score falls below the border zone marks and who are not referred to the review panel for further consideration, will be deemed unsuited to a grammar school course of education.
Each school has a planned admission number of children they will accept, typically 120. All children who achieve the standardised pass mark, or who have been successful at the Review Panel, are considered to be suitable for a grammar school education. If the number of children achieving the mark is less than the admission number, then all those children will be deemed eligible for a place. If the number achieving the mark is greater than the admission number (120), then the School will rank those children eligible for a place, according to the oversubscriptions criteria.
Where the number of children who achieve the standardised pass mark, exceeds the planned admission number, then eligibility for admission is determined by the following oversubscription criteria:
a) Children in public care
b) Children who live in the school’s designated area (in order of the distance from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
c) Children who live elsewhere and have a sibling at the school. (This includes a step, half or foster at the same residence.)
d) Other children in order of nearness to school as the crow flies. (This will be measured from the centre of the school to the front door of the applicant’s ordinary residence.)
Distance from the child’s home to the School, measured as a straight line, will be used to determine admissions within these categories. A map of the designated catchment area can be obtained from the School you are applying to.
Children who are eligible for admission, but whose name (under the oversubscription criteria) falls outside the planned admission number, will be put on the waiting list, which is also governed by the priorities listed above. Late applicants deemed to be of grammar school ability will be placed on the waiting list in their relevant position irrespective of the time of application. Re-testing of waiting list candidates will occur between Key Stages 3 and 4. Only one assessment per academic year is permitted.
The complete ranked list is then forwarded to the LEA.
The LEA compares the ranked list and allocates places:-
i) Where the child, after application of the admissions criteria, is eligible for only one of the nominated schools, that school will be the allocated place;
ii) If the child is eligible for two or more schools, a place will be allocated at the school for which the parent has expressed the highest preference;
iii) If the child is not eligible for any of the nominated schools then the child will be placed by the LEA at the nearest appropriate school with a place.
The LEA will post notification of allocations on 1 March 2007.
If parents do not inform the School in writing within 21 days that the offer of a place is being accepted, that place will be forfeited. When parents accept an offer, they will be required to send the School proof of address between October and November 2006. Providing false information on a child’s main residence at the time of application may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.
If a child is not offered a place, parents may request details of the appeals procedure. Parents dissatisfied either with the outcome of the selection procedure, or by the refusal to offer a grammar school place, may lodge an appeal against the decision of the School Governors to an independent appeals panel, who convene under current guidance by the Department for Education and Skills.
Hope this information helps.
-
Lee X
Fran,
Forgot to add:
The familiarisation packs that are mentioned in a previous posting should not be used in the preparation until the final stages. NFER only produce four papers per subject for preparation so use them sparingly. You should look at the other material available in this website’s bookshop, e-papers (pay and download section) and CDs. Also peruse the free section for useful word lists, practice papers, definitions etc.
The best resource is this forum. There are many professional tutors, authors etc who frequent it and you cannot go far wrong using their advice should you fail to enlist a professional tutor.
Forgot to add:
The familiarisation packs that are mentioned in a previous posting should not be used in the preparation until the final stages. NFER only produce four papers per subject for preparation so use them sparingly. You should look at the other material available in this website’s bookshop, e-papers (pay and download section) and CDs. Also peruse the free section for useful word lists, practice papers, definitions etc.
The best resource is this forum. There are many professional tutors, authors etc who frequent it and you cannot go far wrong using their advice should you fail to enlist a professional tutor.
-
Guest
Lee,
Thank you once again for the new information which will, I am sure, prove invaluable. It will probably take me some time to absorb all this. I am sure I will have some further questions and will post them on the forum at a later date.
In the meantime, there is just another small question you may be able to help me with. A friend of mine from Bucks is also at the same stage as we are but has been told that there are many different question types on the VR paper. She says there are 21 different types in Bucks (15 in the NFER plus 6 others). In Salsibury is the VR test just restricted to the 15 question types in NFER paper or are there additonal ones?
Thanks again for your help
Fran
Thank you once again for the new information which will, I am sure, prove invaluable. It will probably take me some time to absorb all this. I am sure I will have some further questions and will post them on the forum at a later date.
In the meantime, there is just another small question you may be able to help me with. A friend of mine from Bucks is also at the same stage as we are but has been told that there are many different question types on the VR paper. She says there are 21 different types in Bucks (15 in the NFER plus 6 others). In Salsibury is the VR test just restricted to the 15 question types in NFER paper or are there additonal ones?
Thanks again for your help
Fran
