Normalisation of marks

Eleven Plus (11+) in Bexley and Bromley

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martinbexley
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Normalisation of marks

Post by martinbexley »

Does anyone know how many marks are added to normalise the Bexley scores? My daughter was told by a friend she only passed because she would have been given 70 marks for being born in June (approx 10 marks per month from November onwards).

Is this right? She scored 499, I'd be interested to know what the non adjusted score would have been.
Bexley Mum 2
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Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

70 marks!! Sounds like a serious case of sour grapes to me! I've no idea how Bexley standardises its scores but I have heard rumours that it's an extra mark or half mark added for every month between September and the month in which a child is 11. But that really is just hearsay.

You should be extremely proud of your daughter. 499 is a fantastic score and it undoubtedly places her in the top 180 of those sitting the tests (which, depending on who you talk to, is around 3-4,000 or more). And I'd put money on her still being in the top 180 even before she was given a few extra marks for her young age. The top 180 usually score a little over 480.

Which school is she going to?
Bexley Mum 2
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Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

And, I meant to say, if you look at the section called "11+ Exams" in the General bit, there's an interesting thread, about standardisation. It relates to a different part of the country, but will give you an idea of how scores are standardised.
martinbexley
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Post by martinbexley »

We were very pleased with the score, she is going to Chis and Sid. We hadn't considered anywhere else due to other factors such as distance and where we felt she would do best. (we live about 1/2 mile from C&S). It took a lot of tears and hard work, but we were helped a lot by this site for papers and tips. I can highly recommend the maths PC software.
Bexley
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Post by Bexley »

Hi Martin

as far as I can gather, standardisation is like a 'best kept secret'!! In principle it seems that the younger you are, the more likely you are to get 'extra' marks, but I think I read that if a particular month's cohort, say those born in July, scored well, no extra marks would be awarded for children born in that month. All a bit of a mystery!!

By the way,my dd started in Chis & Sid In September (top 180 in the 2006 11+)and is loving it there. She is achieving well in lessons, but also taking a part in a variety of 'non-acedemic' clubs which she really enjoys.Hope your daughter is really happy there

all the best

Bexley
Bexley
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Post by Bexley »

martinbexley
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Post by martinbexley »

Thanks Bexley, she is REALLY looking forward to it. I just know I'm going to get 6 months of wanting to buy a blazer etc! She was was very pleased with the clubs etc when she went for a look, I'm sure it will be great for her (and it must be good, I went there a million years ago!!!)
martinbexley
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Post by martinbexley »

Just read the article - I think it made me more confused!!!!
Tracy
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Post by Tracy »

From what I understand, a measly half to 1 extra mark is added for each month. So if you have a Sept birthday you get no extra marks, if you have an Aug birthday you might get anywhere between 6 and 11 extra marks. I think this is per paper.

Just to add more fuel to the fire: a child born on the 1st day of the month and the last day of the same month are treated exactly the same even though there's a month between them!
Charlotte67
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Post by Charlotte67 »

Just to add more fuel to the fire: a child born on the 1st day of the month and the last day of the same month are treated exactly the same even though there's a month between them!
I'm not sure that this is true... I remember reading (somewhere??) that the age is calculated to the nearest month at the DATE of the exam. Does this mean that if the exam is on 6th those children born on or before 6th of any month are treated as a month older? And, if so, is it fair that a child born on 6th is considered a month older than a child born on 7th? Surely is a minefield, and maybe one that we all get a bit hung-up on (including me!).
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