Grammer Schools by CAT assesment

[FlyingHigh55]

Dc has just had her cat assessment in school and has scored quite well ( average 124) and we are looking for a grammer school to aim for. There two nearest to us are over an hour away and do not suit us for various other reasons.

Some private schools indicate what their average cat score is. Do grammer schools do the same? It's there a list I can see.

There is an eleven plus forum, you could probably get some local knowledge from that.
Where I am, 124 would not guarantee a place.

Where we live 124 without any tutoring would possibly scrape you into the most academically selective school locally with some tutoring. But you’d have to ask if she didn’t mind being bottom set of a clever school vs top set of a more normal school.

Again, in our area 124 would certainly get you into the local best independents that get decent grades and are more well-rounded than the academic hot houses. It would also get you into most of the biggish boarding schools we looked at assuming she has extra curricular and interviews well.

Another info point is that 120-128 Cat seems to put you in 2nd set maths at our non-selecting prep school.

If you go around the school fairs they will broadly tell you what cat score they’re looking for although the assessments are broader than just academics.

Can’t comment on grammar schools as there aren’t any in our area.

Just be mindful, as a pp has pointed out, that CAT scores are not translatable (if that's a real word) to pass mark scores.

Pates in Gloucester is very good if you want to stay west.

It really does go on area OP, my DD had a similar cat score in yr4 and whilst she has gone on to get an academic scholarship in a senior school which isn't particularly academically selective - I wouldn't have been hugely confident she would have got a place at our local super selective Grammar, certainly she would have had no chance without tutoring and its even more competitive now. But if you're looking at Grammar schools that aren't super selective then that's different. My other DC had the top/max CAT score for maths and probably around 124 for English, I'm not confident on a Grammar school place but we will tutor and apply to a couple of independent schools as well.

My DS got 130 & 136 in year 5 CAT4 tests (both are reasoning but his school had not taken Maths test). And he got 391 in Kent test this October. We put Judd as 1st choice and Skinners' as 2nd choice and we are in catchment for both schools.

But we are not 100% guarantee to get the offer as they are both super selective. 😪

I think if the CATS test (scored 124) taken in year 5, your DD is high chance to get a place in non super selective school in Kent.

But if you don't mind travelling a few miles further east, you will actually find it.

It's in Cheltenham.

Move to Canterbury. Aim for the Langtons.

124 is a good score, esp without tutoring but for London super selective grammar possibly not high enough. It also depends on what the underlying scores are and whether it’s even or a spiky profile. Grammars seem
to favour all-rounders. My DD’s CAT is 131 but we didn’t even bother considering any grammar or super selective indies tbh as her underlying profile is too spiky (highly biased to NVR/Spatial and VR much lower).

I think next step is to understand where she is for English and Maths and maybe do some mock tests? From reading the eleven plus forums Dorset is much easier than say Essex in respect of the academic attainment needed to get in. A CAT score 124 is a good indication of natural ability but for most areas you’ll still need to prep to pass, especially if the primary school isn’t doing any.

I'm literally asking about if grammar schools have some sort of LIST to see grading/ cat scores etc where you can see the difficulty rating to get in / Abilities of pupils within the schools.

They don’t do CATs at our grammars. How old is your DC?

The answer to your first question is almost certainly No.

As others keep trying to explain, whether you can 'sort' the rest really depends on what the actual admissions criteria are for the grammar schools in the area you are looking at. No school / consortium / LA (whichever is responsible for arranging the entrance test) can prevent you from registering your DD to sit the test, or from actually turning up and taking it, but it may well be that the determined admissions arrangements for the school(s) concerned are such that even if your DD gets the highest possible score, applying from where you live currently is unlikely to result in a offer on March 1st, or possibly at all.

For example...

The London Borough of Bexley essentially guarantees a place at any of its grammar schools (with an intake of the appropriate sex) to the top 180 highest scorers in is entrance test, with no condition on place of residence. However, for all the remaining places, allocation involves (just - no higher ranking for a higher score) having passed the test and then mainly proximity to the school at the time of application or within a very short grace period for moving into the area. So unless top 180, an applicant from a couple of hundred miles away has zero chance of an offer on March 1st and possibly none even if they move in next door to one of the schools sometime between then and September, if no places become available to the waiting list.

Similar arrangement with the vast majority of Kent grammar schools.

You obviously don't like Devon enough to want to just move a fairly short distance to be nearer to one of your own county's grammar schools, so presumably you do have some thoughts on what kind of area you want to live in?

Also you have reasons for not liking the nearest grammar schools anyway? What makes you believe that there won't turn out to be similar issues with a grammar school miles away with which you have hitherto had no contact at all?

I don’t understand why you’d move from Devon in order to apply to different grammar schools. The grammars in Devon have no catchment areas and there are several options: Torquay, Churston and Colyton. So you can apply to grammar school and stay put.

I have a horrible feeling that the OP is trying to game the system in some way. Otherwise why is she so reluctant to seek advice....

i got the sense the op felt the cat score was extremely remarkable (which is easy to understand initially). then you find out that with some tutoring and exam prep that score puts you in the middle of a large pool of very driven parents and you don't get to straight out "pick" any school and be guaranteed admission.

interestingly and maybe a need for another thread the concept of schools not being exam factories and being more inclusive could mean changes for grammar schools?? not sure as the interpretation congers up all sorts of ideas.

There are a lot of people who do no proper research on the nitty-gritty of school admissions processes and just think that Being Clever (and usually tutored up to the eyeballs) -> Getting Top Score in 11+ exams everywhere there's a Grammar School -> Place Given at GS of Choice, move at leisure.

Whereas in reality, more and more GS, especially the girls' ones, are, like Buckinghamshire and Kent, getting with the idea of providing an academically selective environment for their local (at least '-ish') population. No more - or at least, only a very slim chance of - children traipsing off from London into Birmingham New St and back out to the KE Canp Hill schools and from next September at least, fewer DDs accompanying their brothers on the njgh-on 50 mile trek up the A12 from the eastern parts of London to GRGS, to get to Colchester County High School, which has now introduced a priority admissions area.

Sorry, I am asking for advice. I want my kids to go to a good grammer that would suit her.

We are happy to deal with all the issues / costs of us moving home so she can get into a school that suits her and she's happy and does well in her exams and her sports. ) she is VERY sporty!!

Not sure how that's playing the system? We just want what's best for her and will do what we can for her.

The grammar near us is extremely academic and would involve a 1 .5 hour journey each way for her.

We don't think she'll get in as it's too academic, and the journey is waaay too long.

We're looking to move somewhere we think she'll have a chance to get in to and thrive nothing more.

If she's not academic enough for those, why not just go for a really great comprehensive?

It's utterly miserable being bottom set.

If a house move is in the equation then just target the best comprehensives you can - especially ones with great sport if that is your daughter's interest - and she'll almost certainly get the same grades and a happier childhood.

I was at super-selective grammar myself, and deliberately didn't send DD (138 CAT) to one because she may have high scores but she's also SEN and would have been miserable.

We don't think she'll get in as it's too academic

The nature of grammar schools is that they are academic. Some like Kent where they are an entire county are slightly less academic than some grammars but still do have academic rigour, especially the ones in NW Kent that are by score rather than just pass.

she is VERY sporty!!

Get used to the idea that most of the grammar school headliners that went to the Olympics or competed at top level and were sporty did their sport outside school which you can do at any school. DD’s grammar had Dina Asher-Smith and Emma Radacanu amongst a range of alumnae but they did their sport mostly outside of school.

As i mentioned..They are an hour and a half away minimum, if we move to be closer then we may as well move anywhere. The social upheaval, costs and stamp duty etc etc means we may as well look for what's best for her wherever it may be.

We're looking for a grammar in a more cosmipolitan town than where we currently are, we don't think we can get what we're looking for where we currently are. Hence looking for a list of grammars and their enterance requirements. So we can find one that suits her and an area that suits the rest of us.

looking for a list of grammars and their enterance requirements.

I refer to my previous post referencing the eleven plus forum. Look at the ‘regions’ section and you will find out lots www.elevenplusexams.co.uk

The scores that will get you in will change. If they have 100 places available then the 100 highest scores will be their starting point. This will depend on the cohort.
I have not heard of a grammar doing CATs as entrance exams though, certainly not in my area.

She is academic, never gotten less than an A ( except in drama lol ) or if ungraded her teavhers have always said she's outstanding. But I don't think she's henrietta barnett material for instance, and I don't want her stressed about not being the top 1% of the country. I think she'll get all her As in exams etc but I find if she's surrounded by less academic children she starts getting lazy, ( and a bit arrogant), a bit of competition really suits her. So it's a real fine balance some competition but not too much. Lol . It's hard to explain, but we know that as she's getting older she needs more...energy in the school, we think a selective school would suit her.

We're happy to do her sports clubs etc out of school, but somewhere that is a bit rounded would be nice.

Yes I have started looking through my area I think I will also have to spend too a consultant some of it is a bit confusing for me ( after all I'm not the one with the 124 lol)

Grammars are often rubbish for sports. That was one of the reasons I never considered GS for a very sporty DC.

You can do sports outside but with two hours of homework every day it's going to be tricky.

Yeah that's the sad part as they get older they can't do it all. We're lucky she's academic and loves sport, and has always had time to do both. We can see as she gets older something will probably have to take a back seat.

She has chosen sports to be in second place and we are going with that.