Can someone explain ISEB to me?

[Stircrazyschoolmum]

Just that really.. a number of the indies are using ISEB this year due to Covid. I understand it’s online, multiple choice and covers English /maths/VR/NVR. But how in practice does this actually work? Is there paper to work out the maths on? Is it intuitive how to click on answers? What does adaptive mean in this context?!

We are at a state primary so it’s all gibberish.. it seems a good way to keep kids safe and reduce stress from multiple exams but if your DC has a bad day then all eggs in one basket?!?

On the ISEB website it is stated “ The use of pen/pencil and paper is not permitted in the non-verbal reasoning or English tests. However, candidates should have access to pen/pencil and paper for their rough work during the verbal reasoning and mathematics tests. It is the responsibility of the invigilation centre to provide pen/pencil and paper.”

Adaptive means the questions get tougher/easier depending on whether previous answers are right/wrong.

Yes it is very intuitive, DC usually have to click on the right answer. In any case at the start of the test they are given some familiarisations questions do that they know what to do.
“ No special preparation is required for the Common Pre-Tests, which are designed to identify potential as well as attainment. Practice tests are not available. Examples and practice questions, where relevant, are provided during the tests so that candidates understand what they have to do. Each question is answered by choosing an answer from a selection shown on the screen. Each question must be answered and candidates cannot go back to previous questions. While taking the tests, candidates are able to track their progress within the test (number of questions answered in relation to overall number of questions).”

Thanks Oceane, I guess I’m struggling with the timing side.. DD can be quite slow.. in a traditional exam she would be able to skip questions and go back to them but I don’t think this is possible with ISEB. 25 mins for an English paper seems very short!

Completely agree. My daughter is really strong at English but 25 minutes is really short and I guess this won’t include any creative writing if it’s all multiple choice. Do this mean English is deprioritised over maths and VR/non VR? It’s quite worrying

There will be no opportunity for creative writing in the ISEB test as it is multiple choice, but perhaps the individual schools will ask for a short creative writing exercise at interview.

I think it is a good solution - the alternative of traveling around several schools to sit an exam along with 800+ other people in early January was worrying.

Is this really a fair solution?
State primary entrants have not had to prepare for computer based tests.
Many prep school entrants have been undertaking computer ISEB practice daily for up to a year...
The timing strikes me as being potentially tricky.

Only the Maths is actually properly adaptive. Pencil/paper can be used for the tests where working out is needed.
You can’t go back and change answers though once submitted.

BOFA do decent practice tests you can buy to do online.

Utility I can't think of any other way for the schools to carry out the assessments while keeping everyone safe.

The ISEB is imo a really good solution because it can't be prepared for, unlike a lot of the written papers where those that can afford tutors have an unfair advantage. It will also take a lot of pressure off the 10/11 year olds who otherwise would have to sit separate exams at each school.

In my experience, the senior schools already consider state school and prep school applicants differently as they increasingly want to have a better balance of the year coming from state schools, so I wouldn't worry about prep school entrants having more experience with computerised tests.

Weirdly, I showed DD the familiarisation test and she seemed to know the format already.. she said they had done something similar in y4/5.. and we are state?

Thank you for the insights to date. Are children expected to finish or will it kept throwing questions at them till the time runs out? Is it better to do less accurately or to get to the end?

Can I just confirm that each child will be sitting it only once, and all schools applied to will have access to the same results ? thanks

montlieu from reading the ISEB website that is my understanding. If a child takes it twice by accident only the first result will count.

This is also my understanding. However happy to be corrected.

One ISEB exam covers all the schools your applying to, that adopt the ISEB. The time constraint to take the ISEB, is the latest date you need to take the exam for any of your preferred schools would be 25 November is the example below.

For example:
Ist pref School A closing date, 7 January
2nd pref B closing date 15 December
3rd pref C, 25 November.

Just heard DS2 will be sitting this, so signing in for insight!

@Stircrazyschoolmum I wonder if she did a computerised CAT test at school and it was similar? As they are reasoning tests, they might be somewhat similar.

Atom Learning is good for practice and has an online ISEB course and reasoning practice. Pre-test plus also has ISEB mock tests. So any state applicant should easily be able to spend a few months preparing for these online.

I actually think given the format, it should be easier for state applicants to prepare for this than in normal times when children sit a variety of exams with very different formats. These standardised reasoning tests don't require years of preparation, you just need a good amount of familiarisation and practice which can be done within a few months, assuming they have covered the curriculum and are doing well at school otherwise.

@Dailyjunglegrind

This is also my understanding. However happy to be corrected.

One ISEB exam covers all the schools your applying to, that adopt the ISEB. The time constraint to take the ISEB, is the latest date you need to take the exam for any of your preferred schools would be 25 November is the example below.

For example:
Ist pref School A closing date, 7 January
2nd pref B closing date 15 December
3rd pref C, 25 November.

I'm wondering about this as well. In your example isn't the 25 November the earliest date though? We're going to be in this position too as just heard that the two schools DS is applying to are moving to ISEB for this year. One has exam dates of 25th Nov and 5th Dec, the other 4th and 5th Jan.

The latest date to sit the exam for your DC is the earliest closing date of the schools your DC is applying to.
As far as we are concerned, we are beyond thrilled about being done with most of the exams by late November/early December and the prospect of enjoying a proper Christmas break without the stress of the 11+ preparation DD will still have to sit the consortium exam early Jan but there won't be much incremental prep beyond what we will have done for the ISEB.

Ah go it, thanks 😊
I agree, it'll be lovely to have the exams done pre-Christmas!

Yep we’re in this situation too, I think it’s about the most sensible thing they could have done under the circumstances tbh (though I take the point that if dc has an off day when taking the ISEB then that could be an issue if they can only take it once).

We are state too and dc definitely do online maths and English assessments each year which seem similar.

And a definite plus is the fact that they’ll be done by Christmas!

Has anyone heard what Emanuel or Alleyns plan to do? It would be odd if some schools took one approach and others didn’t.. (I selfishly admit the idea of an 11+ free Christmas is very tempting!! )

I can’t help wondering if it works this year whether the schools will keep this approach. Less admin, less stress, just gotta hope for a good day!!

@Stircrazyschoolmum I think it's just a matter of time before they announce they will be dropping the written exam in favor of the ISEB or CEM pre tests. Otherwise it's a big risk they would be taking as it would effectively be betting on January being back to normal without much need for social distancing, given the cheer number of applicants to both schools in particular. Perhaps more importantly I'm not sure they will want to be singled out as being seen as unflexible in the current circumstances and potentially exposing applicants (and their families) to health hazard.

@Stircrazyschoolmum DS is registered to sit for RGS and Hampton, and we received emails confirming the ISEB information from both schools today. My guess is that all the schools who have agreed this approach will be contacting parents this week, if they haven’t already. And as @Oceane11Plus says, schools will want to be seen as being as fair and flexible under the circumstances. Both emails made the point of acknowledging the disrupted y5 for all students, wanting to minimise anxiety and so on.

Neither of the schools we've applied to that have moved to ISEB have mentioned that we only need to sit it once (we're state applicants). Unfortunately, both are January dates, so no 11+ free Christmas for us!

Alleyns is still saying usual entrance exams apply - if they do move to ISEB I'm tempted to give it a go as it won't be any extra work.

All of these kind of tests such as ISEB, CEM Midyis or Cats say you can't prepare but in reality you can to an e tent.

A child who has never seen NVR puzzles before nor worked in timed conditions will be disadvantaged compared to a child who has learned to work in timed conditions and learned some skills for tackling NVR etc.

I take the view that extensive months of tutoring are not

Sorry...got cut off.

Extensive months of tutoring are not required but a few sessions to familiarise with the styles of NVR questions a nd learn to work in tight time conditions are very worthwhile.

If sources are correct I believe there are updates from numerous Selective schools this week. Whilst I can appreciate the safety and simplicity of logistics of adopting the ISEB, I dread the weight being placed on children for one test day. I would feel somewhat better knowing they could go back and check questions, or at least have two attempts at the Test.

How after all these years the schools have opted for their own exam to now rely fully on ISEB.