Kent 11+ 2023

[MoggyMittens23]

Is anyone else here from Kent and their child sitting the Kent test this September? thought it might be good to have a support thread going. If there already is one could someone point me in the right direction? Thanks

@enigmaticc It's usually 75-80% isn't it? Obviously it changes all the time depending on the year's cohort

thanks ,i didn’t know that

I thought it was more like 50-55%! It was in the mocks we had.
But yes it changes every year doesn't it, as does the overall pass mark.

I was checked the exam paper plus blog from three years and the raw marks converted into the score depends on the age as well.I’m so worried about my DC’s reasoning part.She passed all her mocks and worked so hard for 3 years.she was getting in 90’s in the tests she was doing at home.She said nobody else had a problem with the reasoning part.I hope she passes

The passing marks were 109 last year.Let’s see what happens this year

@enigmaticc in the 90s at home is amazing! I am sure she will be ok. Was it verbal or non verbal or both? DD said in both she came across something she had never seen before.

@CautiousOptimist But how many people did the mocks? Because the score would be based on that set of children wouldn't it? (am i making any sense?!)

Hi I was looking for a thread about this years Kent Test. My son sat his test last week, he didn't enjoy the English Comprehension test but he found the Maths and reasoning ok. But that's always his preference Maths over English. Now the long wait for the results!

He also has to guess the last few on NV as dan out of time. This has never happened in the practice or mocks so i think it's across the board more questions in the time frame than usual so i wouldn't worry too much about that.

@MoggyMittens23 and @Lulu1976 which books or publishers did your DC practice as we did bond ,cgp both online and hard copies and also did GL papers.Im curious to know where those reasoning questions came from.Apparently kids that went to tutor world (which has branches all over kent) aced the test.Nonetheless my DD is quite miffed.She just want to pass the test.Such a long wait.I’m glad I have you guys to talk to at least.

we used CGP study books and tests for GL test. my son said there were 3 new question types this year that didn't feature in the study guides and new to tutors. He drew them out when he got home and they were new types. So they are really trying to thwart tutors.

Yes I guess they were trying to make that paper tutor-proof, see whether children had natural ability? Not a bad idea tbh!

I'm feeling just the same worry as you, I'm sure many of us are. I bet your daughter will have passed though, it sounds like she worked really hard and hopefully they were able to use the skills they'd learned.

Apparently kids that went to tutor world (which has branches all over kent) aced the test.
You can't possibly know that until the results come out. They may have been over confident & misunderstood the questions.

How on earth would anyone know that children who went to a certain tutor chain have 'aced the test' already - the papers are still warm!

Honestly, having been through this 4 times (in Kent), there is NO point spending the next few weeks obsessing - try and forget about it as they will only remember the bits they found hard/know they missed and won't remember how much they got right. The results are standardised so much depends on the cohort etc.

There are always one or two surprises in every cohort IME, BUT generally if you think the grammar is right for your child and they were doing well in their practice papers, they most probably will have passed. And if they threw a curveball question or two on the NVR as they do every year, then it will have been hard for the WHOLE cohort and the scores will reflect that!!

Best of luck to them all for results day - it is such a hideous system.

@Panicmode1 such a ridiculous system!

Thank you for the wise words, you are so right. This is my first time (of 3 I expect, once we're through), and can see how it could drive you a bit loopy tbh. It's a long wait. But this viewpoint really grounds me, and I'm going to try to remember it.

Honestly, I went a bit mad the first time...and it was the year they changed the tests and the scores dropped from over 410 for even having a chance at the superselectives to a much bigger range - even the schools sent out emails saying 'apply even if you think you haven't got the score, you probably have enough'.

I genuinely think if you know your child well (and are honest (to yourself!!) about their ability) then they should do what you expect them to do!

@Lulu1976 same as my daughter. I guess they make one paper really hard.Last year everyone said English was very hard as in the comprehension passage.

Can anyone tell me what standardised cohort mean. My DC is the eldest and i’m new to the system.Many thanks

There is an explanation here
https://support.gl-education.com/knowledge-base/guides/a-guide-to-standardised-tests/a-guide-to-standardised-tests/how-are-standardised-test-results-described/

It's not really for the 11 plus, but should give you the idea

@enigmaticc we also used CGP books and GL tests, and had some group tutoring. DD still hadn't seen these types of questions before! Don't worry, you are not alone.

@CautiousOptimist completely agree, nothing wrong with throwing some curveballs in there!

I don't know about anyone else, but DD has worked very hard over the last year and is now absolutely smashing year 6! All the maths work they are doing in class she breezes through and her teacher said she is going to have to find some harder stuff for her as she completes even the harder challenges with ease. I am glad all the work she has put in has paid off, in regular schooling and not just for the test.

That's my philosophy , pass or fail the kent test , the last years practice has really supported my son to be a confident mathematician and with a good basis in English comprehension, spelling and grammar and that can't be a bad thing whatever the outcome of the kent test :)

Thanks for finding out! Guess we'll see how it goes and if I hear from the HT in the next few weeks about his books I'll know why they need them😬

Perhaps a stupid question, but why can't we discuss the specifics of what was in the paper? The exam is over now, so it doesn't give anyone an unfair advantage.

Also, do the children who sit it on the Thursday in school sit the same people as those who sit it on the Saturday? Surely that's a hugely unfair advantage, it wouldn't be difficult for a determined parent or child to ask a friend who is just inside the county to tell them what was in the paper. They could even pay a child who has no interest in passing to sit the test and memorise the questions.

I remember doing my A levels and if anyone had to sit an exam a few hours later (in the case of an exam clash), they were escorted everywhere they went and if they spoke to anyone, they were at risk of falling. Yet with the Kent Test, there are two whole days for unscrupulous people to profit from selling/buying info on what questions are about to come up.

I assumed it was the same paper as otherwise parents could say one paper was harder/ easier than another but I don't know. We were part of the Saturday Kent lot.

I guess people don't want to associate ten year olds as being caught up in the kind of stuff that goes on with later exams though I don't deny it could be possible.

I was grateful that we could do it that way as those coming into Bexley have to sit the test on school days with the whole secondary school population in the school and all the school traffic and rage in the morning. DD said she saw the face of one little girl in her summer dress coming out of the exam looking alarmed as all the big school kids came out of their classes at the same time.