AQE Exam Results

bangor_dad

Relax, I don't think that people are trying to "justify" a disappointing score. Most people have been genuinely confused, are trying to make sense of a new system and explain to their child what the results mean. I agree with you that in some respects getting an actual mark is better than a grade in that selection should be more transparent. However for the first year, parents are understandably confused and want to provide reassurance to their child where reassurance is justified.

relax_2

I understand that some people seem confused but what I can't understand is why. The schools cannot possibly know for sure the score that will guarantee a place until they see how many children apply to their school. They are estimating at the minute based on places available and previous years intakes just as parents are. What makes this more difficult is the parents trying to second guess schools and trying to find a grammar school place at any cost. Thsi will surely distort intakes and just make the system more confusing. The advice to all from the grammars and the proimarys is apply for the school you want your child to attend and if their result is good enough they will get in if not they won't. What has changed from any other year?

CoDown

Hi,

89% was her actual percentage score.

kingston_2730

relax wrote: »

I understand that some people seem confused but what I can't understand is why. The schools cannot possibly know for sure the score that will guarantee a place until they see how many children apply to their school. They are estimating at the minute based on places available and previous years intakes just as parents are. What makes this more difficult is the parents trying to second guess schools and trying to find a grammar school place at any cost. Thsi will surely distort intakes and just make the system more confusing. The advice to all from the grammars and the proimarys is apply for the school you want your child to attend and if their result is good enough they will get in if not they won't. What has changed from any other year?

Do you actually have a child who is going through this right now because it really doesn't sound like it (no disrespect intended)? You say there is no difference from other years but I think you are really missing what we are all saying! In previous years marks of A,B1 B2 etc were issued to GUIDE people in their choices of schools. It was a fairly easy task to look over the statistics published by the grammar schools which showed over the previous 3 years how many As applied and how many As were accepted and so on and generally from year to year there tended to be very little discrepancy. From this information parents and principles were able to make realistic choices for grammar schools, for example if your child received a C1 there would be no point in applying for a grammar school which for the previous three years only accepted As. This year we really have nothing reliable to go on to assist in making realistic choices for our grammar school preferences. My child wants to go to a grammar school which for the past three years has accepted its As and B1s but no B2s. My child scored 102 and I have been told by one grammar school that this is a very low B1 bordering on a top B2. However I have also been told from the principle of the grammar school that he wants to attend that his mark of 102 is actually top of the B1s bordering on an A!!!!! A third grammar school principle feels it is somewhere in between. It is VERY different from last year as if my son had written the test last year he would have been given for example a grade of B1 and we would have known which grammars schools, based on the published admission info for past three years, he would be likely to have a chance at. I can't understand how anyone cannot see how utterly confusing and distressing this is for all parents and principles alike!! (sorry rant over)!!

ni-mum

CoDown wrote: »

Additionally he confirms that the top NI AQE score was 128.

I wonder why they said 145 was the top score?? It doesn't make sense even if 145 is 100%. If 116 is 89%, then 128 must be very close to 100%, and 128 is a long way from 145.

grahamjo30

Unfortunately I think only the pupils in the top quintile benefit from this format of results.
I'm in the lucky position that both my twins did well scoring 118 and 121, so we know for sure that they will get into their 1st choice school.
I've heard from other people that even some marks at the top of the 4th quintile may get into grammars.
The only definite reason for a child not getting into a school is if it isn't put down on the transfer form - there are plenty of spaces, so make sure and list as many as possible.
Remember that the actual pupil population has diminished year on year (although think there was a boom of millennium babies) and less kids sat the tests than the old 11+, so lower 'grades' than before will get in.

ni-mum

Has anyone heard if Grosvenor are likely to accept the 3rd quintile?

neveranymoney

I agree completely, Kingston 2730! My childs score is one point below yours and I feel that parents of the kids with the supposed 'high b2/low b1' score are really just going to have face a long, nail biting wait. What concerns me is the possibilty that we are being given false hope, something I really don't want to pass on to my daughter, we had told her that her score was great etc and when she returned to school on monday and heard others she was gutted, 'you said my score was good, IT'S NOT!' I could go on..... I can't believe AQE feel we have been given enough information, only in this country!

Ardara1

Ex-Spendaholic wrote: »

I phoned AQE today. Unfortunately I have a horrendous cough at present and had to get off the phone very quickly.

I asked them if they were going to publish more guidance on the breakdown of these marks, quintiles etc and how many kids were in Quintile 1 and 2. They said they weren't and the information we got on Saturday was sufficient. :mad: I told her it was anything but and has led to shock, despair, misconceptions etc regarding what it all means.

She told me that my child's mark of 104 is "excellent" so that is reassuring for me at least although I wonder if she is saying that for all marks. :mad: Furthermore she told me that the top mark achieved was 128 and that only a couple of kids got anything like this.

I hope to phone them back when I can manage to speak for more than 30 seconds without coughing but it would be great if anyone else could call them and see what they can find out.

In my daughters class - around 6 pupils scored 118+, my own daughter got 124 - we (the parents) were under the impression that these higher levels were quite common - the questions I ask is - are the 'percentiles' quoted actually accurate?

There are a number of pupils in the same class that 'under scored' to their potential - it is such a pity that all our secondary level schools can't offer them ALL the same resources to achieve their full potential, reading this forum thread and the debate of whether +/- 10 points will have change our children's future, for better or worse, is so sad and wrong.

Ex-Spendaholic

Can someone please tell me what percentiles are all about? Is this different than the quintiles?