AQE Exam Results

kingston_2730

bangormum wrote: »

my son got 113 went to c his headmaster yesterday he said that he thinks the cut off point for grammar will start @103 with the rest going down 2 brothers@the school or distance or free school meals also kids from prep schools . total nightmare for every1 i wish evryone all the best and fingers crossed xx

I don't understand this comment. How can you say categorically that grammar school cut off is 103? I have been to an open night where the principle announced to the whole assembly hall that any child with a mark of 95 would get in. I was also told by principle of BRA that my child would get in with mark of 102, no problem. I also spoke on the phone with my son's first choice of grammar school principle. This school has only accepted its As and B1s for the previous 3 years. The principle told me that it is her strong belief that my child would be accepted with a mark of 102. Can Bangormum please clarify as I genuinely don't understand how one can generalise and say that 'grammar school cut off' is going to be 103 when different grammar schools accept different grades. Surely their cut off marks will all be different. Folks, am I missing something here? Its just I have heard remarks made like this and I really don't understand them at all.

ballynahinchdad

If the GL can publish numbers of pupils scores against grades surely AQE can at least do the same when they were paid £35.00.

portrushdad999

ballynahinchdad wrote: »

If the GL can publish numbers of pupils scores against grades surely AQE can at least do the same when they were paid £35.00.

I think AQE did in saying that we know there was approx 7000 kids entered and each band was a quintile therefore 1400 kids are in each band.This is the same depth of information that GL released. I hope this is correct and hopefully someone else will verify.

bangor_dad

P.7._teacher wrote: »

I can assure Bangor Dad that my Maths is fine. :rotfl:(wee anger management course needed!!) I've been at cluster meetings with local primary schools this week and on a board course and the general view is that few kids are in the top two quintiles. My school always scored well in the old 11+ and we found we had relatively few in quintile 1. If the scores are in quintiles then an awful lot of kids must have been in quintile 1 in the NE of the province because they're not down here.

In comparison the GL tests were much more straight forward with a score and a grade. These tests showed the importance of the age differential, similar raw scores were poles apart after the age differential was taken into account.

My advice is to focus on the score and forget about quintiles.

P7 teacher, sorry if I touched a raw nerve. Just as a little refresher, by definition if the results are split into quintiles then 20% of the scores must be within each quintile so there are the same number of pupils in quntile 1 as in quintile 2,3,4 or 5. It's quite possible that the proportion in each quintile will vary from loction to location, whether this is down to teaching standards, level of preparation or other factors I really don't know.

bangor_dad

Bangor mum, this is inconsistent with what the head of Bangor Grammar said. He stated thet quintile 1 & 2 would be ok but band 3 would have to wait and see. It very much depends on the school you are looking at, I'm aware that Sullivan has traditionally had tougher entry requirements than the Grammar and this is likely to be the case this year also.

JosieJoBelfast

All the talk of cut off points is just causing more distress. For years being one mark off an A or a B1 caused frustration and now the scores and not knowing what it means is causing more.

I was talking to some of my daughter's friends' parents whose kids had got good scores but maybe not as high as they would have liked. Our Principal was clear in his advice to them, he provided the same advice as he provided parents who had B1 or B2s or Cs in the past - you still include 1 or 2 of your first choices but you need to ensure that there are some realistic options there. To choose all schools with similar intake profiles could mean that no places were available as viable school options had not been chosen. He didn't think that the intake profile for the typically oversubscribed/popular schools was going to change much from past years.

With rank order no-one will know where the last score will fall until the forms are in and start the merry go round of passing from school to school until they have all their places filled.

I think trying to second guess and look for definitive answers will only add further anguish.

Ex-Spendaholic

JosieJo and Bangordad, I think you are right. As a parent with a child in Q3 I know that his chances aren't the same as a child in Q1 - that has always been the case.

I have spoken to Grosvenor, Wellington, Methody and Campbell plus the Primary School Principal and have consistently had the same message - no-one knows what the cut off will be, no-one knows how many will apply to each school. They have all said that in their opinion my child with 104 will get a grammar school place but just not to depend on our first choice.

There is of course going to be the scenario of our kids not getting into a school and their best mate getting into that school with one mark more. It is all going to be a nightmare but what can you do?

To be totally honest at this stage I will just be relieved if he gets in to any of them. Our form is going in next Thursday once my child decides which order to put for 2nd and 3rd choice. We already have 1 and 4 but the inbetweens are causing an issue. After that its sit back and wait and hope for the best.

bangormum_2

hi ya bangor dad im sorry if i put any doubt in ur head i was only tryin 2 set light on this situation . by reading what everyone is sayin and my own thoughts on previous years with the 11plus i reckon kids in the 1st,2nd and third will have a strong chance of getting in . thats not 2 say it can go pear shaped . my eldest son got a b2 in the old system and never got a grammar school place so there is cause for people 2 be concerned i have 2 more kids 2 go through this and i have 2 say im not happy at all by this time it will have changed again . in honesty we need a new education minister shes fine her kids r already in grammar schools xx

bangormum_2

may i just add that although my eldest didnt get a grammar school place he is doing outstanding at the comp school he is in top student so in my eyes if ur child is a hard worker no matter what school they attend they will do well . you can study a levels in most schools now with less pressure my son has a fantastic wee life and takes school in his stride . :Di know every parent wants the best for their kids but hey they will succeed in their own wee way and we will love them no matter what the out come . i think the scores where set @a very high standard and that band 1 and 2 should be A grades good luck xx

dark_horse_4

THe fact is that nobody knows what score the grammars will go down to. Im writing this for children with scores in the 80s and 90s. They could still get into some grammar schools who in the past have taken Cs (Bangor for example).