Common Entrance Exams

[bictoria]

My son is doing the common entrance exam for Reading Boys School. Does anyone know what sort of pass mark is needed? I know it must vary slightly year to year but I wondered what the ball-park figure is

It depends on the Senior School - they are the ones who mark the papers and decide on the pass marks.

The typical pass mark is 55% but some schools set it at 65%. You have no idea how strict or lenient the marking is.

On the plus side, most boys get into their first choice schools (unless parents don't take the prep school's advice), so CE is almost a formality.

this forum may help

If he is applying to Reading School, there are only 12 places available in Y9 and these are hotly contested but the exam isn't the standard common entrance (as far as I am aware).

I don't know the details for Reading School, but if it is like any other school, they will allocated their places based on the pretest in Y6 or Y7, with those narrowly missing out being put on a waiting list.

No one wants to be hunting for places in June, so the school should not be entertaining any CE applicants beyond their firm offers and waiting list in June.

Having looked at the Reading link, they aren't doing CE in June, so forget anything I have said. It looks like their test is more like the 11+ tests that girls do for their senior schools.