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Secondary education

Common entrance level 2 or 3?

4 replies

yotty · 03/06/2016 20:14

My DS2 will probably be doing common entrance this time next year. He needs 55% to get into his chosen school. I suspect he will do much better than that if he does the level 2 papers. Should I be pushing for him to do the level 3 paper? Is it better to get a high score in level 2 or a mediocre score in level 3?

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trinity0097 · 03/06/2016 20:46

It's only Latin and Maths that have Level 3. Level 3 Latin is pretty hard, so it depends on what he is like at the subject and the demands of the extra vocab/grammar of Level 3.

Most schools would look favourably on Level 3 Maths, but would your son prefer a high grade following a Level 2 paper or a lower grade on Level 3? It would have no bearing on what happens at the next school. I teach pupils who cover the Level 3 work but do the Level 2 paper.

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Nairsmellsbad · 04/06/2016 01:10

Doesn't the school normally specify which level the required grade is for?

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trinity0097 · 04/06/2016 07:15

Only a tiny number insist on Level 3 (e.g. RGS Guildford) most insist on Level 2 or higher, so there is flexibility.

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yotty · 05/06/2016 11:08

Thanks for responses. His current prep has 3 maths sets. He is sitting at the top of the middle set and says he's bored with the pace. Middle set will only do level 2, whilst top set will either do scholarships or level 3. We are waiting on this weeks end of year exams to decide whether he should bother with the scholarship. However, I'm a bit worried about how they will be dividing the year group up next year. His cohort has a large number of very bright children, a few middle of the road children and a few real strugglers. I'm worried that if he sticks with level 2 maths and no scholarship he will get lumped in with the lower group for all the other subjects as they only have 2 classes in the year group for everything except maths and English. By pushing for him to do the scholarship he will be guaranteed a top set place. On the other hand he could just chill and cruise through next year and have fun doing other stuff.
All very tricky! He says he wants to do the scholarship, but I'm not convinced he's prepared to put the work in, as he's very happy to kick a football about given the choice between fun and work!