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Secondary education

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Atom scores and entrance exams

7 replies

Disconcertinglyvague · 08/01/2024 10:58

Hi all, wondering if anyone can give me some info on Atom scores and how helpful it is for entrance exams?
Instead of a tutor we are using Atom and my DD is scoring 117-121 l/stanine 7/8 in the CEM Select mock tests. She does much better in the 15-20 question quick tests but I’m just wondering if those scores are decent? She’s year 5 currently. The SAS scores I am seeing on Mumsnet seem much higher and like all things related to entrance exams it’s giving me the wobbles. She seems like a bright kid to me who does well (not top of the class but comfortable) in an academic school but the scores bandied about on here seem so much better! Are we just hearing from people with kids who at the very top?

Can anyone talk to me about how exams went with those type of scores on Atom? Is CEM Select particularly challenging?

OP posts:
DibbleDooDah · 08/01/2024 11:13

Someone will come along and post a link to Atom scores and schools shortly (I can never find it!), but what I would say is look very closely at the exam format for the schools you are interested in.

I live in an area where people tend to sit both the (full county) grammar and independent school exams. A lot of children who have mainly used Atom got a bit unstuck with the grammar test as it is paper based and has a separate multiple choice answer sheet which you put marks on. They knew the stuff but hadn’t actually practiced real world things.

Likewise those children who had practiced specifically for the grammar test found the ISEB 11+ harder, just in terms of adapting to the computer based format.

You then have schools where everything is written like a more traditional exam. You’ll get marks for your workings in maths and will have to write in complete sentences, they look at your spellings, grammar and punctuation etc. If there’s a creative writing piece then do they know how to structure a good piece of writing.

Some schools it’s fine to worker slower but more accurately (like the ISEB). Grammar tests, speed is a lot more important. You can afford to drop a mark here and there so long as you get through the volume.

Some tests you can skip questions and then go back to them. Other tests you can’t.

Exam technique and timing is often overlooked by parents tutoring at home and it’s so important.

To add that by the time the exams came round my DD was scoring about 121-125 on Atom and has been offered places at all of the schools we applied to. A mixture of selectives (although not super selective), grammar and regular independents.

Disconcertinglyvague · 08/01/2024 11:59

Thank you @DibbleDooDah. agree technique is SO important. I was aghast at the speed required initially for CEM Select but we’re getting used to it now. She would have been totally at sea if we weren’t practising, even though she does know most of the content. A sense of the time passing is starting to develop which I think will be invaluable! She’s methodical, so this is a big switch for her. Good to hear what feel like more realistic scores and that it lead to success for her!

OP posts:
PreplexJ · 08/01/2024 13:40

"She seems like a bright kid to me who does well (not top of the class but comfortable) in an academic school but the scores bandied about on here seem so much better! Are we just hearing from people with kids who at the very top"

Yes there is sample as well as reporting bias in MN for sure. Also depends on your target schools, some schools might be perfectly OK with stanine 7/8. There is a full year to improve.

SamPoodle123 · 08/01/2024 14:22

Those scores are fine for now. You have plenty of time to improve. Atom says above 120 and 125 for the more competitive schools. In a few months your dd will probably be getting those scores or higher.

SwanHK · 09/01/2024 20:27

We did a lot of mock tests in atom, including different independent schools, grammar schools and brimingham grammar school in GL format. Well, we found the actuall 11+ score is higher than Atom for 3-5 points in SAS

PreplexJ · 09/01/2024 21:14

"Well, we found the actuall 11+ score is higher than Atom for 3-5 points in SAS"

Even it is named SAS (standardize age scores) Different exams for different schools (private or grammar) will have different age adjusted scheme, different sample population, different weighting or normalisation scale per subjects (for example some exam sum the SAS scores across all subjects, some exam sum the raw scores then do normalisation and etc.)

Hence these scores are not comparable like for like to the Atom mock SAS.

Greencrest · 11/10/2024 19:59

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