11 plus - what is the average mark in the practice papers?

[AngelEyes46]

What is mark that DDs and DSs should strive for in the practice test papers for 11 plus?

100%

Seriously it depends a lot of the school they are applying for. In Kent its easier to get into grammar than a super selective like Tiffins.

in Kent 100% is not unusual. In other areas the tests are harder and the marks lower, although I do know a boy who passed in Buckinghamshire but failed in Kent, so it's not always so clear cut. Generally a child scoring 85%+ in timed practice papers done under exam conditions has a good chance of passing, although it is very fiddicult indeed to accuratly score a creative writing paper yourself.

Kent is not easy to get into, there are children who have scored nearly maximum score i.e. 410 out of 420 (after standardisation) who have not got their favoured school; so dont get the impression that a pass is enough!

If near perfect test results are required then the testing methods are flawed as it comes down to luck of not making silly mistakes. Surely the grammar schools would have spotted this and made the tests harder to distinguish levels better.

SchoolsNightmare I think you're right about the marks required.
I'm just astonished to find this is the system used. How can a test is designed to distinguish those scoring in the top 2 percent be an accurate assessment of a child's ability?

There is a difference between passing the 11+ and getting a place in the school.
The pass mark will be lower than the mark needed to get a place, because of the competition.

When DS was practising (he is now in Yr12) we were told 86% was minimum mark you should be averaging if wanting a chance. Competition is tougher now too.

In Kent the tests marks are standardised. When ds passed. His scores were 140 in each paper. Top marks. This does not mean 100 percent in each paper .When we got his raw scores from KCC his marks ranged from 75-80 % in each paper.

The reason I asked is 'cos I tried a couple of the sample papers. I got between 91% and 97% so a pass but not an automatic 'in'! I can't do what that TV programme did where the mum sat for her daughter (a school in Dulwich I think!)

Yes a standardised score of 140 means you were in the top 1% of candidates, so say the top 15 to 20 children. It tells you nothing about the actual mark ("raw score").

I think I'm beginning to understand this. A score of 140 does not mean 100 percent and the raw score which led to say 126 would not be 90 percent correct answers.
Infact the a final score of 126 would depend on the child's age when sitting the test, with younger ones not needing quite as high a percentage.
Is this correct, because it's beginning to make sense?
In which case there is no single pass or fail percentage.