Urgent please share! children sitting the 11+ exam Slough Consortium (Kendrick) on Saturday can cheat

[Lindy123]

This has been raised with Kendrick and Reading schools and so far the response has been "Raise a formal complaint" and "we can look at this next year"

Please share urgently!

The morning exam at Reading Boys will finish at around 11.00AM, the morning exam at Kendrick finishes at 11.30AM. The afternoon exam at Kendrick does not start until 13.00 hours with registration half an hour before at 12.30PM. This leaves a possible one and a half hours in which exam content could be distributed to friends and family and content becomes viral.
With this lack of safeguarding a boy could sit the morning exam and his twin sister could sit the afternoon exam and they would be able to have lunch together in between and share the content of the morning paper which is quite feasible as they would not be competing for the same school.

[Lindy123]

tiggytape

Your point is totally valid as is mine. Would it not make sense to update a ridiculous system that allows ANY margin for cheating by simple doing what is done for all GCSE exams at the moment? Quarantine morning sitting from afternoon. Pretty simple stuff really.

[Lindy123]

tiggytape

If you read the prior posts you'll see this is not about 5 random words from a test, nothing of the sort. I don't care if it's difficult, that's not my problem. If the system is broken then it should be fixed no matter how difficult.

[Lindy123]

tiggytape

Actually, your post really proves what a fiasco it all is then!

[andmypointis]

To be honest there is no limit to the steps some parents would be willing to take to get a child into these grammar schools. It is like getting a private education for free. Some parents have been paying for tutoring for their kids for years and will do anything and everything they can to get a competitive advantage. Now I am not saying that it is right (far from it!) but I do think in such a fiercely competitive situation the administration of the test must be scrupulously fair and seen to be fair, with no information overlap possible between those sitting it. There is no doubt that snippets of valuable information can be shared given the time-lag between schools/sittings. I honestly believe that close-knit, extended families and friendship groups will share information to get children in using whatever means. All that needs to be done to resolve is to have an effective quarantine procedure. I can see lots of appeals afoot! Good luck….

[CatherineofMumbles]

I'm not sure that the child can be relied upon to remember what was in the test.
My own DC sat similar highly competitive tests and were successful, to the extent that we were notified by HT of the target schools that they had done exceptionally well. However, when we collected them after the tests and asked them they couldn't remember anything useful.
The more real danger I would suggest is that teachers have access to the info in advance of the second test. Mostly teachers are law-abiding people, but even saints can be tempted if they 'have a dog in the fight' as the saying goes. In state schools I have been in, as a teacher and other professional capacity, I have seen blatant cheating in GCSE Controlled Assessments, so teachers are not above giving some 'help' in some circs. I'm surprised that in the new article none of the parents raised that as a concern - instead suggesting outlandish scenarios with twins/cousins.

[prh47bridge]

I am not sure how you think having words from the Bucks paper is in any way relevant to the Slough consortium. They use different tests, albeit from the same provider. It is by no means guaranteed the test will include antonyms at all, let alone the same ones used in the Bucks paper.

[papercliplover]

Good luck taking a complaint of "Mal Administration" to law re these 11 plus papers.

The judge'll get a good laugh anyway.

[Lindy123]

Papercliplover

A senior director of Trafford borough resigned when it was proved that the 11+ papers had been Mal Administered.

[Lindy123]

prh47bridge

I was never suggesting a relevance, maybe go back and read again?

There is no relevance at all between the two boroughs, none at all as regards the content of that particular paper.

My prior post shows that I had obtained relevant words from a morning candidate in my hand within 5 minutes which I could have passed on to an afternoon candidate. Of course there is no relevance to Slough and I have not suggested that in any of my previous posts. why would I even think that a different borough would sit the same paper? I'd like to think that doesn't happen.....

I show that it can be done and with the two hour gap between Reading Boys and Kendrick where candidates are not competing for places it is entirely feasible. There should be no possibility that morning kids can discuss content with afternoon kids.

[Lindy123]

andmypointis

Thank you. I think your post makes sense and is clear.

[Lindy123]

I'm off to grab a lottery ticket now, if Iwe win I doubt we'll bother with the test tomorrow........

[Lindy123]

*we

[papercliplover]

proved in a court of law or proved in an internal examination?

Am not familiar with the area but a google suggests that each grammar school has their own test.

Do you have to pay for your child to sit the test?

[stonecircle]

Dear God. Somebody hand the OP a grip

[prh47bridge]

You told us that Kendrick have the list. That suggests whoever gave them the list thought it was relevant. And you continue to assume that the words you have been given were correct which is by no means guaranteed.

[MassaAttack]

"This is a national story with far reaching interest."

Given most areas of the country have comprehensive systems and aren't about to regress to a tripartite one, I can't agree with that statement.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Massa is right - round here, like so much of England the grammar system is a completely alien one. I'm more concerned about the bodged changes to the national curriculum and how that will affect my dd.

[poisonedbypen]

As a matter of interest, what happens with late takers for Kendrick etc? Presumably like everywhere else they use the same test as to do anything else would be expensive & (once again) not fair as a different test might be easier or harder. Also problems with standardisation. I think that's much more of a cheating issue as tutors will have had the opportunity to quiz many pupils & have a much better idea of the content. But as with the OP it would affect a tiny number so overall may well be irrelevant.

[stonecircle]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Kent children do the 11+ in school. Out of county candidates do it on a Saturday. Imagine the possibilities for 'cheating' there .

[poisonedbypen]

Same old, same old, stonecircle, that's the point, this is nothing new. It may not be fair, but it's how it is all over the country. In Bucks the in county children used to sit it at the end if September, and the out of county a month later in half term. At least now it is on the same day (with 2 hours in between ) except for late sitters.

[hopelessadventure]

As it happens the early sitting came out one entrance as the late sitters were going in at 12 on the other side of the school. No mixing and no chance to pass on any info. So people have been stressing over nothing. Kendrick appear to have it covered at least. Personally, I wasn't worried about it. If dd gets in it will be under her own merit regardless of what anyone else does.

[stonecircle]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never been able to get any sensible information out of my children about any of the exams they've sat (even at A level). I doubt there are many 10/11 year olds out there who could pass on information about an 11+ exam in a format that would be of any use to another candidate. The 11+ is designed to test ability not information recall anyway so what use would inside info be?

[Lindy123]

hopelessadventure and all other people

It has nothing to do with "As it happens" They held us there for half an hour apologising profusely that the kids were late. They apologised four times saying all the rooms finished at different times and they didn't want to disturb the other kids.Then on the dot of twelve the kids appeared and then it took 15 minutes for us to leave thus eradicating the overlap.

READING BOYS WERE HELD BACK ALSO AND FOR MUCH LONGER THEY WERE ALSO TOLD THAT THEY WERE RUNNING LATE.

Do you think it might be something to do with the fact that four parents campaigned without stopping for a moment this last week? Do you think it might be because it was in the press yesterday? Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that the BBC have asked to interview us on Monday?

I think "AS IT HAPPENS" is not quite the right phrase to describe what actually took place today.

Do you think they'll ever admit that four parents pressured a consortium of schools to change their administration policy at the 11th hour? I doubt it.

People have written over and over in this thread about how "This happens all the time and the 11+ isn't fair and you're wasting your time and this is humans rights...take a chill pill....oh she's worried her DD won't get in!"

So worried that my DD skipped off with another parent to go shopping and I didn't even ask her how it was?

She just got in now fours hours later having been dropped off home and this is what she said when I asked her how was it: "Actually mum it was fine. I didn't miss any out, I wasn't rushed and I understood it all I think. There were a few tricky words but I think I did all right....

She did say that they were told not to discuss the content with anybody - even their parents....

Do you think it's coincidence that both schools were running late and we were held apart? Do you think it's coincidence that the boys and girls were held apart just long enough to ensure a quarantine? The boys school started earlier than we did hence they had to hold them for much longer, we were held exactly half an hour.

This may sound picky now and even I admit that it does....We had a letter stating that children must only take a clear plastic bag with only 2 pencils, 1 rubber and a sharpener...they were told not to bring rough paper, rulers, compasses...it was very clear in black I white. I ask you then, why did 50% of those girls have back packs, large carrier bags even hand bags some of them? I don't care a jot about those bags...my point is, why make rules that sound so stringent and then fail to enforce them....

We don't think it was anything to do with coincidence because we know what we've done this week.

[FlowersForAlgernon]

St Bernard's were also running late by half an hour :)