How difficult/easy to get to a grammar school on Essex?

[bluesuffolk]

Above question, really...

Would love to hear different opinions.

[1940s]

Where abouts in Essex? What schools are you near / are you looking into?

[bluesuffolk]

We are in Westcliff, Southend catchment.

[Fink]

Westcliff I don't know. We're looking at Redbridge (Ilford/ Woodford), which publishes data on exams taken. Last year they had 2260 people take the test for 360 places, so about a 16% success rate. It's tough. The bottom score was 54, for a nominal pass mark of 104 (you're allowed to apply with a score of 104, I think the lowest person to actually get a place was around 115), which indicates that some people are sitting the test who just don't stand a chance, which will pull the percentage down, but it's still very very competitive.

[MarchingFrogs]

If you are in the priority area for SHSG/ WHSG then the the chance of getting a place if your DD achieves the threshold standardised score has always been very good; unless it has changed this year, even with the priority area expansion in 2013, the number of places available has always exceeded the number of local girls passing.

Have you looked at the familiarisation material on the CSSE website to see the standard required? What year is your DD in currently?

[bluesuffolk]

Thank you MarchingFrogs.
DD is currently in Year4.
I am familiar with most materials, and her personality and thirst for knowledge would certainly make her a good candidate.
Do you know any details about the passing mark? Something that one can easily understand....

[MarchingFrogs]

If you live in the priority area, then the standardised score required to be eligible for a place is 303. However, ot is not possible to say exactly what the raw scores required are, because how these translate into the standardised score depends on the mean and standard deviation for each paper that year, plus there is the age adjustment, which will be different each year as well.

If you have a look here, you can see how various combinations of English score / Maths score/ birth month translated into standardised scores last year (although the age adjustment used is by actual days younger than a candidate with a September 1st birthday so there will be some variation between beginning and end of any given month.
www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=59278

[VashtaNerada]

DD got in and is bright but not a genius. We didn’t do any private tuition, just practiced at home on our own in the summer leading up to the exam. (I know you’re after actual stats but that gives you some RL context!)

[MarchingFrogs]

Oops..
Eta, the standardised score required for the Southend Borough grammats is 303 regardless of where you live, but your chance of actually getting a place with that score is significantly better if you live in the priority area.

[bluesuffolk]

Thank you.