CAT scores and 11+>Anxious and worried new parent in area!
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CAT scores and 11+>Anxious and worried new parent in area!
Hello Everyone
My family have just moved to Bucks in January and my daughter will be taking her 11+ in October. I had her parents evening last night, and came out of the meeting feeling upset and very anxious. Prior to moving from Scotland, my daughter was working way ahead of the rest of her class, and there was never any concern about her academic ability.
The teacher said she was given a CAT test a week after starting her new school and scored 115. I asked how this related to her ability to do the 11+ and was told ''The upper schools in this area are very good!''. I feel the meeting was rushed and very non reassuring. I also feel the teacher highlighted all her weak areas and did not once credit her ability in anything!
I have done some practice papers with her at home and at present is scoring in the region of 75% - 85% on the short IPS papers. She has been attending private tuition for the last 3 weeks. On the first week I asked the tutor to assess her ability and I was told following the lesson ''She will be just fine, she is a bright girl with plenty of enthusiasm''.
She has her heart set on a grammar school which is in catchment.
Could anyone please shed some light on this for me. I am very anxious about all of this and trying my best not to let my daughter know how worried I am!
My family have just moved to Bucks in January and my daughter will be taking her 11+ in October. I had her parents evening last night, and came out of the meeting feeling upset and very anxious. Prior to moving from Scotland, my daughter was working way ahead of the rest of her class, and there was never any concern about her academic ability.
The teacher said she was given a CAT test a week after starting her new school and scored 115. I asked how this related to her ability to do the 11+ and was told ''The upper schools in this area are very good!''. I feel the meeting was rushed and very non reassuring. I also feel the teacher highlighted all her weak areas and did not once credit her ability in anything!
I have done some practice papers with her at home and at present is scoring in the region of 75% - 85% on the short IPS papers. She has been attending private tuition for the last 3 weeks. On the first week I asked the tutor to assess her ability and I was told following the lesson ''She will be just fine, she is a bright girl with plenty of enthusiasm''.
She has her heart set on a grammar school which is in catchment.
Could anyone please shed some light on this for me. I am very anxious about all of this and trying my best not to let my daughter know how worried I am!
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Sally-Anne
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- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
Re: CAT scores and 11+>Anxious and worried new parent in are
Hi TLC11, and welcome to sunny Bucks!
It could be that the teacher, or the school, is anti-11+ selection. Even though it is the system here, that does happen. Ignore, follow your own path.
Drop me a line with the names of the current school, the preferred GS's name and the tutor. I will see if I can shed any further light on them or suggest a forum member who might be able to.
Sally-Anne
The will be the average of three different test - Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning. It would be very helpful if we could have all three scores, because there can be some considerable variations in them for some children.TLC11 wrote:The teacher said she was given a CAT test a week after starting her new school and scored 115.
115 is not out of range of the 11+! Although the two tests are not directly comparable, the mark needed to qualify is 121, a mere six points higher.I asked how this related to her ability to do the 11+ and was told ''The upper schools in this area are very good!''.
It could be that the teacher, or the school, is anti-11+ selection. Even though it is the system here, that does happen. Ignore, follow your own path.
It puts her opinion on the 11+ in doubt if she can't give a balanced view of strengths and weaknesses, as any good teacher should try to do.I feel the meeting was rushed and very non reassuring. I also feel the teacher highlighted all her weak areas and did not once credit her ability in anything!
That is fine at this stage, although IPS are at the easier end of the spectrum, as you will know from reading on here. It is an encouraging start though.I have done some practice papers with her at home and at present is scoring in the region of 75% - 85% on the short IPS papers.
I would be slightly sceptical of any tutor who blitheyly said "she will be just fine", because the 11+ is such a capricious test. I always tell people that it is a test where anything can happen, and even the very brightest child can fail to qualify for obscure reasons.She has been attending private tuition for the last 3 weeks. On the first week I asked the tutor to assess her ability and I was told following the lesson ''She will be just fine, she is a bright girl with plenty of enthusiasm''.
Drop me a line with the names of the current school, the preferred GS's name and the tutor. I will see if I can shed any further light on them or suggest a forum member who might be able to.
Sally-Anne
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crunchie
Re: CAT scores and 11+>Anxious and worried new parent in are
Hi TLC11,
My child scored 114 in the NFER tests. However, the verbal reasoning result is really the one that you need to be looking at for the 11+. Our Quantitative & Non verbal was 122+, the verbal reasoning was low. My DS 11+ results were very similar to the result of the verbal reasoning NFER test.
From previous experience I would take what the tutor says with a pinch of salt. My child is bright, top sets for Maths and English and did not qualify for grammar school. We were scoring 88% + in the practice papers. The 11+ can be very unpredictable. It comes down to whether the child knows the vocabulary on the test papers. We were very shocked and disappointed when we learned that we did not qualify however, we have just received our first preference upper school and are very happy.
I hope this helps.
My child scored 114 in the NFER tests. However, the verbal reasoning result is really the one that you need to be looking at for the 11+. Our Quantitative & Non verbal was 122+, the verbal reasoning was low. My DS 11+ results were very similar to the result of the verbal reasoning NFER test.
From previous experience I would take what the tutor says with a pinch of salt. My child is bright, top sets for Maths and English and did not qualify for grammar school. We were scoring 88% + in the practice papers. The 11+ can be very unpredictable. It comes down to whether the child knows the vocabulary on the test papers. We were very shocked and disappointed when we learned that we did not qualify however, we have just received our first preference upper school and are very happy.
I hope this helps.
Last edited by crunchie on Sat Mar 03, 2012 8:56 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: CAT scores and 11+>Anxious and worried new parent in are
A single CAT result, on its own, is unlikely to be a wholly reliable indicator. Headteachers are warned by the LA that there is no direct correlation with the 11+.The teacher said she was given a CAT test a week after starting her new school and scored 115. I asked how this related to her ability to do the 11+ and was told ''The upper schools in this area are very good!''
See also:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appeal ... ication#b4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Etienne
Re: CAT scores and 11+>Anxious and worried new parent in are
Exposure to CATs data on pupils at two Bucks secondary schools, both drawing from the same catchment area, showed that there was a huge overlap in CATS scores between the 2 schools.
