How much difference does age weighting make?

Eleven Plus (11+) in Kent

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lapindebois
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2018 1:18 pm

How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by lapindebois »

I know there is an age weighting in the Kent Test, but does anyone know how much difference it actually makes? For argument's sake, if you got all the questions right and you were born on the 1st of September, how far below the standardised 423 would you get?
Sorrel
Posts: 616
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:56 am

Re: How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by Sorrel »

lapindebois wrote:I know there is an age weighting in the Kent Test, but does anyone know how much difference it actually makes? For argument's sake, if you got all the questions right and you were born on the 1st of September, how far below the standardised 423 would you get?
It's different every year and for each element (ie maths, English) I think, depending on how the actual cohorts perform. I remember reading that the maximum difference was about six marks, but it's usually less than that.
ronkevso
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:23 pm

Re: How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by ronkevso »

T
Sorrel wrote:
lapindebois wrote:I know there is an age weighting in the Kent Test, but does anyone know how much difference it actually makes? For argument's sake, if you got all the questions right and you were born on the 1st of September, how far below the standardised 423 would you get?
It's different every year and for each element (ie maths, English) I think, depending on how the actual cohorts perform. I remember reading that the maximum difference was about six marks, but it's usually less than that.
That's a very interesting question. Is that up to 6 marks for each element Sorrel?
Sorrel
Posts: 616
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:56 am

Re: How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by Sorrel »

I've found where I read it - it was on the Kent Test raw scores/ standardised scores thread, a few below this one. Have you read that?

turnip08 posted that:

"I had the following answer from Kent about it:
There is a limit to the detail I can give, because we have an agreement with our test provider (a company which also carries out the national standardisation which is applied to Kent pupils’ results) that we will not share information which is regarded as commercially sensitive, and this extends to the standardisation process. If “ball park” information will help, though, the standardised score for each birth month puts the raw score in context with the performance of children the same age. If – as is often the case – older children slightly outperform younger ones when the test is trialled, the standardisation will reflect that, in that a slightly lower number of correct answers will yield a slightly higher standardised score for a younger child. The less the effect in trialling, the less the adjustment. The effect of standardisation is generally that a child at the August end of the range will get a slightly higher standardised score than a child at the September end, even if they got the same number of right answers. Usually the greatest range across the yeargroup in an 11+ paper is 6 points, but with the tests we are using at present it is typically less than that."
Sparklecat
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Re: How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by Sparklecat »

Very very roughly, maybe one extra correct question.
lapindebois
Posts: 69
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2018 1:18 pm

Re: How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by lapindebois »

Interesting, thanks. I'm actually surprised it doesn't make more difference than that, particularly given the amount of debate over the disadvantages of being a summer-born child. But then I guess there are other factors at play. I wonder whether fewer summer-borns are actually entered for the 11+ in the first place? Or whether the ones that are entered are tutored more to make up for it, which reduces the difference??
FortyNinePence
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 10:06 pm

Re: How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by FortyNinePence »

lapindebois wrote:Interesting, thanks. I'm actually surprised it doesn't make more difference than that, particularly given the amount of debate over the disadvantages of being a summer-born child. But then I guess there are other factors at play. I wonder whether fewer summer-borns are actually entered for the 11+ in the first place? Or whether the ones that are entered are tutored more to make up for it, which reduces the difference??
Significantly less summer borns are entered for it. I raised it a few years ago with KCC to no avail.

The difference in score is usually negligible, and only at the lower end at all.
September2017
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:18 pm

Re: How much difference does age weighting make?

Post by September2017 »

Hi,
My dc are mid August born and they sat the Kent test in 2017. Comparing their raw/standardised scores to September/October born children they were given an extra mark or so on the lower scoring papers. Please bare in mind that your dc will also need to score a minimum total of 106 in each section.

Have a look at the post further down 2017 raw scores/standardised scores. This was really useful as it gave an indication as to what we needed to be aiming to score.

I wish your dc the very best of luck.

Nearly there now!
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