250 more passes this year

Gercha · Post by **Gercha** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:06 pm

Did anyone else see that on a Kent advice website it stated that 250 more children passed the Kent 11+ this year compared to last year. This is a worry for us because we live in Bromley and may have to rely on our son getting in after the children who live nearer. In past years boys in our area got into Wilmington Grammar but will that be the case this year?

shuff · Post by **shuff** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:23 pm

This surprises me because although a lot more kids sat the exam this year, surely the same amount will pass as usual?!

Bexley Mum 2 · Post by **Bexley Mum 2** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:36 pm

I don't understand this. In Bexley (where admittedly everything operates on a much smaller scale as we only have four grammar schools plus one bilateral) the pass mark is not known until the results are published. This is because Bexley adjusts the pass mark in an attempt to match roughly the number of passes to the number of GS places. This must be a bit of a hit and miss affair as lots of children will pass the Bexley test but then take up non-selective places in Bexley or places in Kent, Bromley etc.

I've never been able to understand how, in Kent, the pass mark remains fairly static from year to year and is set before the test results are known. I'd assumed that there was perhaps some manipulation when standardising the scores so that lots of children weren't passing when there wasn't a GS place for them. But if they've ended up with 250 more passes this year, that can't be the case. It seems odd to me that Kent doesn't change the pass mark from year to year to try and roughly match places available to the number of passes.

jnadams2 · Post by **jnadams2** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:09 pm

At my DD's school 28% of the year group passed, compared to 24% of previous years??

tired_dad_2008 · Post by **tired_dad_2008** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:36 pm

The pass mark is set, after the results are known, to give a 21% pass rate for the whole Year 6 cohort (including those not taking the test). A further 4% are passed via head teacher appeals. This is how it is always done. If there are more kids in year 6 then there will be more who pass.

shuff · Post by **shuff** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 1:15 pm

What a shame there are still the same number of grammar school places.

perplexed · Post by **perplexed** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 9:14 pm

How many grammar school are there in Kent? Assuming the 250 extra kids are evenly spread across Kent, and that the grammars are evenly spread across Kent, how many extra children per school does it mean, roughly?

tired_dad_2008 · Post by **tired_dad_2008** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 9:26 pm

I count 25 grammar schools in the index to the Kent Admissions booklet. So 250 is 10 per school. But there are also some schools like St.Olave's which aren't in the booklet but still require an 11 plus pass. And of course some of those who pass will choose to go to independent schools.

Billie · Post by **Billie** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:17 pm

Just to clarify - St Olave's is in Bromley area so has nothing to do with the Kent tests. It carries out its own tests. However, boys going there will often have done the Bexley/ Kent tests first (and be high scorers).

tired_dad_2008 · Post by **tired_dad_2008** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:44 am

Billie wrote:Just to clarify - St Olave's is in Bromley area so has nothing to do with the Kent tests. It carries out its own tests. However, boys going there will often have done the Bexley/ Kent tests first (and be high scorers).

Yes, you are correct. I did think that as a "grammar school" it required a pass at 11 plus as well as success in their own entry exams - but reading through the admission criteria again I see that in fact it looks like you can just do their exams and don't need the 11 plus pass in addition.

I should have focused more closely since my son is doing the test there in two days' time (along with about 800 other boys)! But as West Kent residents we entered him for the 11+ anyway.