Our school suggests 120-125 CAT score necessary to be of standard to progress to upper school - is this quite high?

[Michaelahpurple]

It sounds like quite a high indicative threshold , but I don't have much sense of what is "normal" at selective schools.

Does anyone have a sense of this?

eeyore
Yes, I agree wrt the translation from one to the other. My DS actually has the opposite problem to your DD - excellent reader, good at rote learning but crap at Reasoning.

I could imagine though that as a crude measure it probably does provide a reasonable indication for most children.

eeyore

I forgot to say, I think nowadays VR / NVR does count as a taught subject!

I think OP is talking about CAT scores needed for Westminster, and our prep would say that for super selective schools (like Westminster et al, both boys and girls), CAT scores need to be 125+.

Out of curiousity, has anyone been told what the average CAT score is for their DC's prep?

This is really interesting. I had my eldest tested at year 5 for various reasons and he was 133, 133 and 128 in the tests they did. I didn't realise that they were so high. He's a clever boy but not a genius by any stretch of the imagination. We didn't sit him for the super selective private day schools as felt he would struggle and sit near the bottom of the year. Luckily he's doing really well where he is but wonder if it's something we should have considered further.

Expat - our had said he had thought his last school's average of 124 was h

Sorry - half my answer disappeared.

Expat - our current head said he had thought his last school was high at an average of 124 so was surprised that the average at the boys' shop was in the low 130s

No idea how this compares to other selectives

That's crazily high OP!!

OP, just to confirm my understanding: your DC's current prep school has an average CAT score in the low 130's and your head teacher's previous school had an average of 124?

If that's correct then something like 75% of the children in your DC's current primary school should be potentially good candidates for the selective independent senior schools, as would have been about 50% of the children of the children in your head teacher's previous school. That's assuming the 120-125 minimum to be a good candidate is accurate. Do these numbers sound consistent with your situation?

Expat. I guess so, yes sounds about right

I'm guessing your DC is in the junior department of of the of the age 7 onwards super selectives OP? i.e. Westminster Under, Colet, KCJS (or girls' equivalent - sorry I have boys). In which case that isn't totally surprising.

OP, if I've put two and two together correctly, your head master should not have been terribly surprised at the difference in average scores. His (and your) current school screens boys with an academic exam at age 6+, including a reasoning paper. His former school screened boys with an assessment at age 3+. Also, I suspect your current school draws boys from a much larger effective catchment area than his former school.

With CAT scores like that, what is the value added of the school? They select extremely bright DC (and kick them out as they go along if they can't keep up) and get very good results. No surprise.....

Yes, the age of assessment is bound to influence the accuracy of the outcome

Value add question is interesting, particularly for interpreting the GCSE and a level league tables of various schools. Hard to remember though when dazzled by the surface results.

My daughters school has insinuated that a CAT score of 125-130 is needed for the likes of Outney High and Wimbledon High. My daughters CAT score was 123 at the start of year 5 (September). Can anyone tell me if it’s worth a shot and if their child was successful at getting a place with a CAT score below 125. Thank I’m advance!