S W Herts consortium: cut-off scores 2014

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

I don't have a child applying to secondary this year (one last year, two next year) but have been hearing rumours that the cut-off scores for both academic and music places at the schools in the S W Herts consortium (Watford Boys, Watford Girls, Parmiter's etc) are significantly higher than the cut-offs in previous years.

Can anyone confirm or shed any light on this?

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Definitely yes I'm afraid.

Ds got 260 this year and I was reasonably confident he would be fine for Parmiters as the cut off has been fairly consistent at 246-247 the last few years.

From looking at the 11+ forum it seems that 254 wasn't enough this year for Parmiters. I guess it will all pan out over the next few days but it is certainly a worrying trend that seems to have been mirrored for the Watford grammars at least, both for academic and music places. I noticed the Watford inner catchment score for both boys and girls seemed to have jumped considerably.

With any luck those scores will drop down as successful candidates take places offered at independents, but with those scores on allocation day it is definitely a significant upward trend.

Have a look on the Herts 11+ forum for detail.

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewforum.php?f=18

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Ps 254 didn't get in at Parmiters, 259 did so the cut off is somewhere between those two figures.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

Well done to your DS. That's a great score!

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Thanks, he is thrilled.

Just looking at that forum, WGSB inner catchment looks to be between 253-256. Again, a big jump.

Are you thinking of applying to a different school for your siblings?

(Fingers crossed for anyone still waiting to hear this year by the way).

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

Hoping DS3 will get a sibling place.

Hoping DD will get a cross-sibling place but slightly concerned that there will be more cross-siblings than places. She might stand a chance on music, but that can be a bit hit or miss. Several people have said that WBGS & WGGS recommend that cross-siblings sit the academic test, but I cannot see her scoring higher than 220 (on an extremely good day) so I can't see what the point would be.

There are a couple of children in the year above at their primary who got high 240s, which last year would have been enough by a margin.

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Yes I've read that cross siblings are "strongly recommended" to sit the test. I am hoping to get ds2 into Parmiters next year, but worried there could be a sibling bulge! Let's hope the initial allocation figures aren't a true reflection of who goes on to take the places come September.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

I feel sorry for those children with scores in the high 240s or low 250s who would have had every reason to feel confident of a place at their first choice school until today's email. Hopefully they'll receive happier news as places get allocated to those towards the top of the continuing interest list.

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Me too. I'm hoping that quite a few parents will give up those places in favour of independents.

[tryingreallytrying]

Interesting.

When my dd2 applied last year, WGGS specifically advised us she should NOT sit the test - presumably to save them the time and hassle of marking all those extra tests. (She's now in year 7.)

Wonder when/why the policy was changed?

[tryingreallytrying]

And yes, feeling for those kids who had good reason to think they would get a place and now haven't. In some ways, the old system where you knew nothing till March, was kinder.

[tryingreallytrying]

Wonder why the scores are so much higher??

[Dancergirl]

Anyone know the cut-off for outer area?

[Dancergirl]

In some ways, the old system where you knew nothing till March, was kinder

I've been wondering this too. I have just been through this process with dd2 who thankfully got her first choice school, also did it 2 years ago with dd1 under the old system.

I know the thinking is it's better to know how your child has done before applying, but what with the early testing, waiting for results, getting CAF in, waiting for results AGAIN.....it really does add to the stress levels. And for what end? Fine if you got an exceptionally high mark but if you got low 250s you're still in the dark until allocation day!

The old process was much less stressful, get CAF in, sit test and be blissfully ignorant until 1st March.

[sittingatmydesk]

Marking place here. We'll be applying next year, although we haven't actually decided which schools DS1 will be applying for. Outer catchment for Watford Boys.

Rumour in our playground this morning is that no one got Grammars or Ricky, four got St CD and the rest got REACH...

[FiveHoursSleep]

We are in the outer area and my DD2 got a sibling place at WGSG and will follow her Y7 sister next year. DDs half heartedly sat the exam and got in the late 240s which would mean that if we lived in the inner area, she would have got an academic place in the past. Not this year :(
Thank goodness for sibling places!
She has a few friends who got 251-255 and so have been hoping for a place this year but are so upset this morning.
Apparently there were a lot more private kids sitting this exam this year, perhaps they have something to do with the increased marks?

[FiveHoursSleep]

Our outer area school got 11 girls into WGSG last year- 2 music and 2 siblings, I think.
This year it will only be 4-5....

[Dancergirl]

fivehours I feel so sorry for your dd's friends Fingers crossed for waiting list places.

[ShredMeJillianIWantToBeNatalie]

Fingers crossed for those on the waiting list. I'm sure lots will be very disappointed this morning, but hopefully in the coming weeks and months the score should drop enough to help.

I must admit I had started to get a bit worried by lots of talk of high scores; lots of parents we know were talking about scores significantly over last year's cut offs but I thought the whole point of standardisation was to eliminate the risk of huge jumps like this.

[sittingatmydesk]

Actually, I do have a question, if any of you experienced Consortium people can help.:)

I can't get my head around the standardised score. Does anyone know roughly what raw score you should be aiming at - so what percentage on a test at home?

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

I thought the whole point of standardisation was to eliminate the risk of huge jumps like this

They don't restandardise every year.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

Does anyone know roughly what raw score you should be aiming at - so what percentage on a test at home?

That would depend on what sort of tests you are doing at home, but we can make a guess at translating raw scores in the actual test into standardised scores, because several parents have found out their child's raw score and then shared this information along with their standardised score.

Maths:
Raw score of high 40s out of 50 needed to get standardised score of 120. My guess is maybe 47/50?

VR:
Raw score of high 80s out of 100 needed to get standardised score of 120.

A higher score is needed in Maths because it is an easier test and the mean raw score is higher. Within the range of scores we are discussing, one dropped Maths mark can reduce your standardised score by four points. One dropped VR mark would only reduce your standardised score by one point.

[FiveHoursSleep]

Sittingatmydesk, you need to be getting as high over 90% as possible especially in outer area of WGSG.
95% average in both papers is probably safe, especially if you are one of the older kids.

[sittingatmydesk]

That's really helpful, thanks. He's got the knack of the question types, but he is prone to silly mistakes sometimes.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

I ended up sort of bribing DS1 not to make careless mistakes. After he'd finished each paper, we'd mark it together. If he made a careless mistake then I'd make him re-do that question. He soon learned that a couple of minutes spent checking his answers was a good investment if he wanted to be finished sooner.

[manechanger]

Can someone explain the inner and outer areas to me. Apparently they make a difference of some sort. Wondering if its worth sitting on waiting lists. Thanks