Sutton SET 11+ Exam - Appeal - please help

[Naomijennifer]

My son passed Stage 1 because of a very high English score, but we’re concerned the maths result doesn’t reflect his ability.

He told me after the stage 1 test that he coloured the wrong lines on the maths answer sheet and had to rub out and redo lots of answers, which may have caused scanning issues.

He also had a bad headache on the day, later linked to an incorrect glasses prescription.

His teachers and tutor were surprised by the low maths score, as he had consistently been scoring 80–90% in practice papers, and he performed better in the more difficult Stage 2 maths.

I’m preparing for an appeal for Sutton Grammar and would really appreciate advice from anyone who’s been through it. There seems to be very little transparency around the marking system, and I haven’t been able to see my son’s answer sheet or fully understand how his Stage 1 maths score was calculated.

Any advice on obtaining his raw scores, answer sheets, or how to approach this in an appeal would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Did he sit Stage 2? If he has scores I assume either not or not likely to make the cut off. Medical evidence is probably too late.

Yes, he sat stage 2 and scored higher than on the stage 1 maths. As stage 2 is more challenging, it shows that something went wrong on the day of stage 1.

Did he receive any offers from the 3 Sutton grammar schools?

It is too early for state school offers yet. I don’t think you can appeal until after March 1st, assuming he misses out on a place.

Surely little you can do. It is the most horrible dog eat dog world for Sutton Grammars. To be blunt, not be able to follow instructions to fill in the form is unlikely to be looked on kindly - there are thousands of kids who would be comfortably grammar material in other counties but have missed out.

Presume he’s got an offer expected level for Wilson’s which has less stress on Stage 1?

That’s correct. We’ll know on 1st March. He’s unlikely to get offers though as he missed the threshold by a few marks.

You’re right. My only option is too appeal. He knew how to fill in the answer sheet as he practised it many times beforehand. He just coloured in the wrong lines on the day, probably due to his headache + nerves. They have to colour in the entire oval for each question without going over the line, which can be time consuming and hard to rub out. They’re not allowed to simply draw a line in the middle. The papers are marked by a machine. I did ask if they could get a person to double check his paper but they didn’t respond.

My son sat the Sutton 11+ - all papers are marked by computer AND by hand. It states that clearly on the guidance. You are not offered a place if you haven't passed the pass mark - even then you have to be a bit over the pass mark to be offered a spot. I recently saw a freedom of information request stating that for Wilsons over the last 3 years only 1 person has successfully won an appeal.

The website says:

If your child has passed the SET for ANY of the participating schools .. you will not be given their scores but you will be told that he/she has met the required standard(s) and invited to second stage testing (where applicable).

If your child does not meet the required standard for any of the participating schools, you will be given his/her standardised scores in both papers which will include any appropriate age adjustment and their total score.

So how do you know he didn't get a high mark on the maths, as he got through to second stage and therefore shouldn't have been given his stage 1 score - ?

It also says

Once the shared Second Stage Entrance Examination has been marked, each school will combine the scores of this test with the scores of the SET in accordance with its own Admissions Criteria.

For Sutton Grammar School, four standardised scores will be calculated using: (1) the multiple choice items from the English paper on the Selective Eligibility Test; (2) the multiple choice items from the mathematics paper on the Selective Eligibility Test; (3) the English paper in the second stage test and (4) the mathematics paper in the second stage test. The four standardised scores will be weighted in the ratio 2:2:3:3, an age allowance will be added, and the total rounded to the nearest four marks to give the final score.

So a 'bad' stage one maths makes up only 20% of the weighted final score.

As you have scores I assume that you did not get an email saying that you have met the threshold to apply to the boys schools in Sutton. I would advise that unfortunately it is very unlikely you would be able to successfully appeal and gain a school place. The passing threshold is such that even boys within the threshold will not all get a place. I don't know the numbers for boys as I have a DD but for girls around 1100 can apply for only 420 places.

To be fair to OP you can not pass for one but pass for others. My son didn’t pass for Wilson’s so I have his scores but passed for Sutton and wallington. But be warned the marks you are given are standardized so we don’t know the raw marks

Thank you.

That’s fair. Thank you.

As your post says, “If your child has passed the SET for ANY of the participating schools .. you will not be given their scores. Therefore, we didn’t get the scores at stage 1 because he passed.

The stage two results are calculated using all four standardised scores. You post also says, “If your child does not meet the required standard for any of the participating schools, you will be given his/her standardised scores“. ALL of the scores were provided after the stage two test was complete and it became apparent that it was the stage 1 maths that brought the overall score down and he only missed out by a few points so 20% would make a difference in the grand scheme of things.

OK, thanks for clarifying about getting all the scores.

As it says on the Sutton GS website - there may be 50-100 boys within each 'point'. So missing out by a few points could mean there were 200+ boys 'ahead' of your DS.

Did you report any issues with headache etc on the day or immediately after SET first stage?

We went through appeal for my older DC 8 years ago. Her case was different and more about how the exam was administered (access arrangements so did not affect everyone). The panel were very sympathetic and agreed on the administration point. However they asked for last 3 years school scores to judge whether truly DC’s score COULD HAVE been higher if not for the admin issue. Unfortunately her special needs were only established in Year5 so previous scores were not as stellar (prior to access arrangements) so we lost the appeal. But we were satisfied that the outcome was fair.

objectively in your case the wrong prescription is the only valid grounds I see. So if this was before the said low scoring exam + you can prove stellar past scores you have a decent case.