Standardised Scores required in pretest ISEB mocks to get in

[turnip08]

Atom has published the standardised scores they think students need to get into various schools e.g. Westminster, St Paul's etc.

However, if anyone here has a child who has Atom AND got a place, what sort of standardised scores were they achieving on Atom (in English, Maths, VR and NVR) just before the ISEB pre-test?

Thanks

[Celeste999]

Where did you see these required scores? On the Atom website I can only see a generic 115-120+ required to get to London’s most selective schools, but Atom told me it was a minimum so I believe one should really be looking at 120-125+ on Atom for very selective schools.
I don’t have the answer as DD is sitting the test soon but very curious to know. Her scores tend to be in the 125-130 mark or low 130s across the board, but certainly not approaching the high 130s and low 140s.

[turnip08]

Thanks.

I originally found out through a webinar they did months back but then I came across the data on their website but it's not obvious where to find it. Tbh I only stumbled upon it but if you google 'Atom Learning Advice' it should appear there if you select 'Which Schools are Realistic'.

It says that Atom Learning's standardised scores are about 6-8 points lower than kids' CAT scores. E.g. for Westminster you would need CAT scores of 132 (or Atom standardised scores 6-8 points lower), St Paul's 128 (Atom around 120-122), Eton 127 (Atom ~119-121) etc.

However, I'm not sure how accurate these standardised scores are now that many more children will sign up and access the mocks, many of whom may have prepared for general 11+ (and maybe not even that) and not specifically for these schools. But at least it should give us a reasonable idea.

[turnip08]

Celeste999
It sounds as if your DD is doing really well - there are lots of schools listed.

[Celeste999]

Thanks for directing me to this page, I found it! Very interesting, it includes a couple of schools my DD is applying to but unfortunately one of them seems to be the most demanding
We’ve done quite a lot of practice (not just on Atom but on traditional papers too), which explains why DD has been able to increase her scores nicely, but from what she tells me, many kids at her prep applying to some of the most selective schools on this list are still scoring in the high 110/low 120 in the latest mocks.
What’s interesting is that her latest average CAT score is indeed about 5-6 points higher than the scores she is currently getting on Atom after 1.5 months practice (when we started it was more 10-15 points lower!).
When is your DC taking the pretest?

[Celeste999]

Sorry I meant her Atom score was 10-15 points lower than her CAT score when she started practicing but then the gap narrowed.

[olucares]

My son used Atom last year to prep and he was scoring between 120-129 in the mocks, I think Maths at the upper end and Non Verbal at the lower end. He did secure a scholarship place at the independent school we applied to (albeit after another written round of Maths and English).

[Celeste999]

Thanks Olicares, that’s very useful information, and well done to your son for getting a scholarship. Would you be able to tell us which school it was for?

[nylon14]

The boys' school advice from Atom seems about right, we did this last year. But I'd take the girls' school info with a pinch of salt, I don't understand why the G&L numbers are so high, it makes them seem like an exam factory, which they are not. They will be interviewing all the girls this year as they have always done, which does count for something. Are the girls' schools using this as pre-test as boys schools do?

[Celeste999]

Hi Nylon, for the first time G&L will not interview everyone. They are planning to interview half of all applicants.
A lot of the girls' schools are using the ISEB pretest this year in lieu of other pretests and/or written exams, G&L, PH, Alleyns, JAGS, some of the other schools within the London Consortium etc
If you have any last minute advice on ISEB preparation, I'd be interested to know. Thank you!