Latymer scoring question

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maus
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:37 am

Latymer scoring question

Post by maus »

I know that kids need to rank at 650 or higher to qualify for a place at Latymer, but I'm trying to figure out how that translates into percentages on a test and haven't been able to find much info. It would be good to know if 650 = 90% or higher or lower. Is there a maximum rank as well?

I'd be grateful if someone could point me to the information or explain how it works. Thank you.
ToadMum
Posts: 11908
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Latymer scoring question

Post by ToadMum »

maus wrote:I know that kids need to rank at 650 or higher to qualify for a place at Latymer, but I'm trying to figure out how that translates into percentages on a test and haven't been able to find much info. It would be good to know if 650 = 90% or higher or lower. Is there a maximum rank as well?

I'd be grateful if someone could point me to the information or explain how it works. Thank you.
You really can't work it out, other than on what the school does tell you, you can assume that the child at rank 1 did better than the child at rank 300, etc. Whereas some are very transparent - e.g.the CSSE, which runs the entrance exam for ten schools in Essex and Southend, not only gives the result as the raw scores in the two papers and the resultant standardised score, but also publishes the mean, standard deviation and age adjustment calculation on its website each year - some schools are really quite opaque. (I'm not including e.g.Bucks here, which could possibly be a little more forthcoming re how the standardised score is arrived at in the first place, but where only actually 'passing' is relevant and the allocation of places is decided on other criteria).

But at the end of the day, the top ranked candidate could have got full marks in everything, or no higher than 50%, and you won't know, because they don't have to tell you. You could try an FOI request...
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Latymer scoring question

Post by Daogroupie »

That is not how it works.

This is an exam with two rounds.

The first round is the GL Multiple Choice VR and Maths paper.

Last year there were in excess of 2700 candidates sitting the test.

This paper is marked by computer and the top 650 are ranked, the rest do not go through to the second round.

Then the English paper of the top 650 is marked by the teachers at the school and the 650 are ranked according to the combined scores of the two papers.

The students ranked 1 to 192 are sent a letter informing them they have a guaranteed place at the school if they rank it highest on their CAF form and are in the catchment area.

The others are given ranked places on the waiting list. Place 29 was just allocated last week.

So it is really all about what the other candidates score.

You certainly would not need to score 90% to be in the top 650 as many candidates will not move into the catchment area which is quite small so many of the high scorers will be removed.

I would think that it would be more likely to be around 70%. DG
ToadMum
Posts: 11908
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Latymer scoring question

Post by ToadMum »

Daogroupie wrote:That is not how it works.

This is an exam with two rounds.

The first round is the GL Multiple Choice VR and Maths paper.

Last year there were in excess of 2700 candidates sitting the test.

This paper is marked by computer and the top 650 are ranked, the rest do not go through to the second round.

Then the English paper of the top 650 is marked by the teachers at the school and the 650 are ranked according to the combined scores of the two papers.

The students ranked 1 to 192 are sent a letter informing them they have a guaranteed place at the school if they rank it highest on their CAF form and are in the catchment area.

The others are given ranked places on the waiting list. Place 29 was just allocated last week.

So it is really all about what the other candidates score.

You certainly would not need to score 90% to be in the top 650 as many candidates will not move into the catchment area which is quite small so many of the high scorers will be removed.

I would think that it would be more likely to be around 70%. DG

Bolded highlight - borderline contravention of Admissions Code. Yes, information should be given prior to the parent having to.make the decision whether or not to apply. But according to the school's oversubscription criteria, there are circumstances in which it is not necessary to be within the top 192 scorer to have a higher ranking for a place, if an actual application is made, than someone in the top 192.

Italicised highlight, if occurring at any point before actual applications have been made, via th the applicants' home LA'S, via said LAs' Common Application Form - definitely in contravention of the Admissions Code. Sitting an entrance exam is not making an application for a place and ranking by the school's published admissions criteria (remember, it's not just 'in rank order of exam score, full stop', as there are criteria involving PP status etc), plus where any individual applicant has placed the sxhool on their CAF, is what determines whether a place will be offered. And this can only happen once the school has received the list of its actual applicants. A waiting list is a ranked list of applicants.

But the experience of recent years' admissions rounds has shown that the Admissions Code (the legal document governing admissions) is not necessarily something for which this school has a great regard.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Stowic
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2020 10:28 am

Re: Latymer scoring question

Post by Stowic »

The catchment area is not that small. It covers most of North London - nearly all N postcodes, EN postcodes and a handful of E postcodes.

I would say that although the numbers look intimidating, and it is very competitive, nearly 50% of applicants in the top 650 last year were out of catchment. This meant for example my daughter's place moved from mid 500s in the original rankings to mid 300s after the OOC. So there's a lot of movement.
exam2019
Posts: 227
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 3:14 pm

Re: Latymer scoring question

Post by exam2019 »

I've been looking at this. I got some insight into the scoring when DS sat a couple of years ago. I'd agree with the comment above that a score of around 70-75% would get into the top 650. However to have a good chance of a place without waiting list angst, I think the scores need to be well over 80% - assuming that you're not getting an assisted place via EHCP/Music/Pupil Premium/Looked After Children etc.
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