People who know about ISEB pre-tests

[tangerino]

My son's school runs all the way from junior school to 18- they therefore don't prepare the boys at all for ISEB or common entrance.

He's now Y6 and we've registered him for two other schools for 13+ entrance (our expectation is actually that he will stay where he is, but it seemed worth having options). We have discussed all this with the school and they have been v supportive.

Each of the two schools we've registered with has said that boys can come and do their ISEB tests there, if their current school doesn't do the test. I'm really keen, however, for my son to do the test at his own school as he'll be more relaxed. The school are happy with this but have asked me to find out what needs to be done (it's unusual for boys to do 13+- most just stay on.)

Does anyone understand how it works and how these tests are usually administered? Is it the prep school that usually registers boys for the tests or the senior schools they are applying to? Am I right that he only takes the test once? Presumably I need to pay, but how do I do that- or have I already paid through the registration fees I've paid to the schools?

I'm really confused as you can probably tell. If anyone understands the system, please let me know!

Only the senior school can register them. It's very easy to administer in the prep school, you just need a computer on the Internet!

The parents register for pretests, but the school does all the CE admin.

The pretests are not ISEB. They are unique to each senior school. It's usual to have the pretest in the school on the same day with all the other candidates. There is often more to the day than just the testing.

If you want your DS to sit the tests in his prep school, the senior school will have to post the papers for him to sit on the same day as the other candidates.

For the actual CE, he would sit the exams in his current school, and they would post them off to the senior school for marking.

If the senior school requires CE, it will be tricky for him not not follow the CE specifications, as there can be quite a discrepancy. For example, Geography requires a field study, and French is not far off GCSE level in Year 8. There will also be set texts for English, and eras in History.

Actually, BizzyFizzy, many schools do use the ISEB pre-test:

www.iseb.co.uk/getmedia/74a04c0d-0651-4639-996e-3901db330542/Documentation-CPT-Senior-Schools.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf

Tangerino, the parents don't register for the pre-test. Have a look at this link:

www.iseb.co.uk/Parents/What-are-the-Common-Pre-Tests

Your son will just sit the test once, usually at his current school.