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?!?

We signed to to Atom yesterday so a bit late to the party

The mock English test DS took seemed very grammar heavy, which he found discouraging. Hopefully he was just thrown by the test format though

Hi @YellowOranges. Welcome to the thread! When are you sitting ISEB?

We found Atom a useful tool but mainly for pacing and technique rather than content. The grammar in the ‘real’ ISEB is apparently lighter. Depending on how much time you have I would do a mock test in each subject and then focus on the gaps/timing issues. There are more experiences on the girls indie thread if you fancy a read.

Best of luck!

Thank you! He’s sitting it day after tomorrow so it does seem quite late to climb on board the Atom train

DS got back from school and was determined to have another go at the English and did much better this time round so I think is feeling happier. I’m just looking forward to when all of this is over!

My DS sat the ISEB today...he had done some preparation (BOFA pre-tests not ATOM - I'm assuming they're the same kind of thing?) which I think was worthwhile, although he said the ISEB was harder than the pre-tests he'd done.

DS was asking me what I thought the pass marks would be and I had to say I had no idea. Does anyone know? My guess is that the schools will need to review all the test results before they set an actual pass mark (rather like they way they set grade boundaries for GCSE/A level once the exams have been done) simply because they haven't used the ISEB for entrance before so won't really know what they're expecting. Using their normal exams they'd have a reasonable idea as to how many would pass/fail, based on previous years' performance, but it's all a bit 'wait and see' this year...

Glad to get it over and done with though.

And forgot to say good luck to all DC who are still to take the exam!

I expect it depends on each school as some won’t be looking at the VR and NVR scores.

Would be great to hear more feedback on those who have sat recently or this week. My daughter has hers next Saturday.

Really good to hear how it went. Would be great to hear more feedback on ISEB pre-test if any others have sat this week. Daughter sits this Saturday. Thx

Hi - just popping in to say that in the interests of fairness, it's best if people avoid posting actual exam content on this thread.

@soniamumsnet

Hi - just popping in to say that in the interests of fairness, it's best if people avoid posting actual exam content on this thread.

Is it not unfair for mumsnet to delete them? The posts were very non-specific as I read them myself yesterday. Is that not the point of a forum? The ISEB is adaptive so will be a different experience for everyone, but surely one has a right to share their experience and perhaps put others at ease because this is an unknown extremely stressful process this year?

DD is sitting here tomorrow, I’ll post afterwards.

Here? Why does autocorrect not know “hers”?

Thanks SoniaMumsnet.
Apologies.
I didn't think that posting that the ISEB is similar to Atom, but that the English is less difficult, was contentious? It was a very generic observation.

We haven’t even done it yet, not sure either what is contentious about what I posted.

I read all those deleted messages and I wouldn't label it as exam content. I think it was directed more to reassure anxious parents that what was tested as part of the Atom mocks (especially the technical English grammar) isn't necessarily in the actual pretest.

My DS has completed his pretest many weeks ago, but I recall getting worried when I saw all these Eng questions my DS was getting wrong in the Atom mocks and then panicking coz I had to google most of those terms/definitions.

I didn't think those posts were too contentious either.

I think there's been a bit of misunderstanding on here and the 11+ thread when people have been comparing what is covered by commercial organisations offering preparation material for certain types of test and how well that relates to what is actually in the test. Or not in the test, which I think was actually stated.

Mine was deleted too before, and I didn't think anything I said then was putting anyone at unfair disadvantage. Oh, well...

Mumsnet and no democracy - cannot believe how many posters messages have been deleted and no trace left at all!! They don’t even stay up as ‘message deleted’. Just wiped clean as if no post was ever there 😱 and having read these posts - some of them are really not descriptive or giving anything away. Just reassuring. Makes me sad.

The posts everyone made were all fair and square and gave nothing away. Simply reporting an experience and view / question. Nothing negative or contentious at all. I find it really unfair they have done that and not explained specific reasons.

@Stircrazyschoolmum, @Oceane11plus, @GrammarHopeful and others who went through the ISEB pretest process last year and used Atom for prep, I hope you don’t mind me resurrecting this thread.

It would be really helpful to know, if you’re prepared to share, what sort of scores your DC we’re getting on ATOM shortly before the ISEB, and which schools they ended up getting offers from? I’m personally more interested in the indies than the grammars, but I expect others going through the process this year would be interested in grammar results as well.

DS has just done a set of Atom mocks and I’m trying to get a realistic view on whether it’s worth applying to one of the top London selectives.

The tables on the Atom website give a pretty good indication of the scores required for each school.

Thanks @Utility, I’ve seen those. I think they show the average score for those getting places at the relevant schools? There will obviously be a spread around that with the minimum scores a bit lower. I was therefore interested in anecdotal evidence of the actual recent experience of those who went through the process last year.

I think you'll find that everyone's Atom scores were fairly stellar just before the ISEB, as children become attuned to the platform! At our West London primary school, pretty much everyone used Atom and those documented scores held for the relevant schools.