Newstead - possible marking error? What is the next step?

[mummymu]

Hi all, I am hoping to receive some advice on our very unfortunate situation.

My DD have received extremely low score in her NW test, the score that is way below her ability and although it sounds silly, but simply impossible to receive with the knowledge my DD has, unless some sort of error has occurred.

She was very confident on the day of test that she did well, she had finished all the questions in time with plenty of time to spare, she did look over her work and checked her answers before submitting.

She prepared for this test both with tutor and at home, did hundreds and hundreds of similar tests and at this point, after such number of tests and years of practice, you definitely know what your DD is capable off.
I would not be raising this issue if her score would have been few marks below the cut-off or at least similar, but this is over 30 points below cut off score for NW!? That is absolutely impossible!

DD is one of top performing pupils in an outstanding school, always achieved very high scores in all her practice tests, mock exams. in her recent Bexley selective test she received over 240 in both Verbal and Non-Verbal sections and now she is over 30 points below cut off score for NW!? How is that possible?

It feels that this score is someone's else's score and either was sent to us in error, or some sort of blunt error have occurred in marking system...

I would be really grateful for the following answers:

1. Has someone been in a similar situation and can advise on general procedure to get the score reviewed?

2. How NW tests are being marked? Is it computer or by hand?


I truly believe something went wrong and I need to find out what and when, to be able to escape this misery surrounding our family

All your comments would be greatly appreciated.

[saltydog]

I suppose a marking error is possible. However, it is also possible that something unthinkable happened in the test such as your DD misread an instruction or she got out of sync on the answer sheet, or entirely missed a page of the exam. I know it is hard to believe but these things do happen. My DS was well within the top 180 for the Bexley Test, in the Kent test he was in the top 1% of the cohort, but he didn't get called back for the second stage of the St Olave's test; friends who scored considerably lower than him in both Kent and Bexley did get called back. All I can assume is something went horribly wrong on the day. Either that or there is something sinister going on...! I don't know about NW but St Olave's is extremely clandestine regarding it's whole evaluation process. It is the complete antithesis of open. I assume NW will be the same, but this is just a guess. Good luck with finding out what happened, but try not to get eaten up by it. It sounds like your DD has other options so perhaps you should go with these and not beat yourself up about how this anomaly is possible.

[bluesea]

mummymu, I am a former NW parent and I have to say, here we go again.
Deal with this issue immediately tomorrow. Phone your DD's current headteacher and get their support and ask them to intervene. But also phone NW and insist on talking to the head only (he's actually very nice) and don't be put through to deputy heads or others. I believe the papers are still marked by hand so this may well be human error. I also believe the papers are still given in four parts, with the student given all of them and told when to turn each one over and begin it. After 15 mins they are told to stop writing on that paper and begin the next. Any student seen continuing to write on the former paper is penalised. I have for years been saying they need to change this system and also get them professionally printed. My DD was given poor photocopies and the invigilators rushed through the instructions but I had already primed her and we had practised. My friend's child whose first language is not English did not understand the instructions, which were only given once and was penalised. She was an extremely able student but did not get an offer. NW have it within their power to reconsider your DD's efforts, especially in light of her other achievements. They know they will be dipping into their waiting list when some places are released in the next few months as some parents choose the local indie instead so if you can get them to listen to you, you may well be able to get them to reconsider a place for your daughter. Make the biggest noise you can, albeit politely. They are now part of United Learning MAT. If you have no luck with the school go to the CEO of United Learning. MATs do not like the possibility of negative publicity. UL have only just taken over and have probably not got to grips with NW's antiquated system of entrance exam.
Good luck mummymu, keep complaining and keep notes of conversations and follow up with letters. Consider also complaining to LBB who run the CAFs. Let me know how you get on.

[Grey824]

Hi Mummymu,

I'm not sure of the protocol for having a test paper checked so unfortunately can't advise you there. However, it is possible to appeal the decision and as the above post states get your headteacher on board and document absolutely everything! If your DD mentioned anything immediately after the exam about conditions, faded papers, disturbances etc make sure you document that too.

I have seen a number of girls this year, who are all high achievers, in their top sets at primary and succeeding in both Kent and Bexley, not getting the marks in the NW entrance test. Some of them have only just fallen short, but there are a few who have a huge difference in their results and their parents are wondering what went wrong?

Keep up the investigation and prepare to appeal, but also be prepared that sometimes things don't go to plan. Girls can be 'burnt out' by the time the NW exam comes around, little mistakes can be made, answers marked incorrectly on the answer sheets which then throw off all of the other answers.

My own DD has also performed well throughout and was getting very high marks in all of her mocks, etc and she came out of the NW exams with a much lower score than I expected. After the exam there were lots of happy and smiling faces and I heard a number of girls say the exam was the easiest one yet, my own DD being one of them. I thought to myself then, either the exam was as easy as they made out and it will push the cut off up OR the girls were missing extra elements to the questions and won't score as highly as they think.

Either way, it is worth looking into a) for your own peace of mind and b) to ensure that an injustice has not occurred.

Well done to you DD for doing so well in the other tests. Good luck with your investigation.

[crashtestdummy]

Ask for a remark. I did and it was done quickly with no fuss a few years ago by the head teacher although her score remained unchanged. It was a borderline pass which I found surprising as my daughter scored very well in the Bexley and Kent 11 plus tests. But she did say she found the NW test "tricky" compared to the others so maybe it is just a harder exam. Good luck.

[PettswoodFiona]

I know many who do well in Bexley and Kent but don’t pass Newstead. It is a combination of how each test suits the sitter and the fact the numbers sitting the test and the places available mean Newstead has fewer places to offer compared to number of sitters than Bexley or Kent. Last year a friend of DD’s scored over 400 in Kent Test and did ok in NW test but was borderline. I do think it is a very tricky test and most girls come out thinking it was easy but find they haven’t done well enough.

Good luck with the remark, I don’t think there is much room for error, especially as it is multichoice, but you never know.

[turnip08]

Funnily enough, I know several girls who failed the Bexley but passed both NW and Kent.

[Moon unit]

I'm guessing now it's half term you won't get a remark before the CAF needs to go in so if you really want NW you will have to name it on your CAF and then appeal after March 1st.
It seems every year there are children who do brilliantly in one test but for some reason don't pass another.
We have a friend who's son didn't pass the Sutton part one test but got into Tiffin.
Sounds like your daughter has done really well on other tests so hopefully the final outcome will be good.

[mumsidcup]

You can always appeal if you truely believe something went wrong. But I believe there were many tricky questions in the test.
My DD went out saying everything was easy and she could do them all.
However, her results on verbal reasoning part is very low: 100/140. Luckily for us she got very good result on non-verbal part with 138 making the total of 238.
It could be well the case for many children that they thought it was easy but it does not reflect in the result.