AQE Exam Results

karenha

Yes. Due to uncertainity I think people have to be creative and are trying to cover all options to ensure their child gets a grammar school place.

kingston_2730

Yes I think there's definately a sense of insecurity/uncertainty that I don't think existed before to as great an extent. I think people whose children have achieved fantastic scores are not feeling as secure as they should and that is because no matter how well your child has done this year you are always going to hear of other children who have done better. We've seen it on this board...people coming on with just fantastic scores wondering if their child has a chance. I would imagine that yes perhaps out of a sense of insecurity people may be putting schools that aren't in their immediate area if these are schools they may have a better chance getting into. It will be very interesting to see how it all pans out.

Co_Down_mum

I've been thinking about the whole quintile thing. We have all been talking about the scores seeming lower than what was expected and that there doesn't seem to be that many kids from the info we have had with scores in the highest band. Surely if AQE are saying that in each band there are 20% of the total amount of kids sitting the test then there must be approx 1400 kids in each band. There has to be or they are feeding us with wrong info. From this forum most of the results seem to be a lot lower but would that lead us to believe that many of the higher marks are actually outside of the Co Antrim/Co Down areas?? Just a thought. Obviously without any breakdowns from AQE on scores and areas we cannot tell but there must be the 1400 in each band or the whole credibility of AQE must be in dispute.

twiggy1_2

I've been reading with interest the discussion re AQE v GL. My daughter got 112 in AQE and B1 in GL with a score of 231. She preferred the multiple choice paper that was offered with GL compared to the more traditional AQE 11+ type paper. On reflection, I think that AQE was perhaps the 'best' option with the best 2 of 3 papers to count. She may have had an 'off' day with GL as I would have expected an 'A', based on performance at school and in practice papers etc. (Granted neither option was ideal....)

From reading the posts in this forum I understand that 112 in AQE may constitute what we previously would have considered to be an 'A'. We have listed a GL school as option 1 but with a B1 no guarantee of a place (special circumstances as an unknown quantity this year - is particularly concerning me)

It would have been really helpful to parents, if the schools that set admissions tests had listed on their websites the number of children who attended for testing and a breakdown of scores/grades obtained in that particular school. A very very rough guide maybe but nevertheless helpful for parents when listing schools in order of priority.

In the meantime, until end May anyway, I'm trying not to place any additional pressure on my daughter (or mention schools) until we see what the outcome of the admissions process is. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best. Good luck everyone and well done on getting this far!

Stanjnr

Hi there,
been reading the forum since the results first came out, thought it was about time I added to it.

I've been emailing the AQE office for some answers, my son's score was not as high as we had expected, he is an August birthday, and looks like he is set for the local high school, its been difficult getting over the disappointment of the score but think he his ok (well certainly not showing it), and once I completed his form I felt we had to move on. I'd asked the AQE office to share his raw scores with me to be able to make sense of the mark he received and if they could also give me the calculation for the standardised score - I was shocked at the answer I received.

Extract from email reply from AQE office:-
The formula for converting from raw scores to the age standardised one is a
large, complicated one - which I don't understand and wouldn't be able to
send to you. But it is highly sophisticated and very accurate. It was
applied to each of the assessments separately, before the best two scores
were taken.

What confidence can you take from that statement that its accurate!!!

From the scores I have heard, there certainly seems to be a lot of younger children scoring the big scores, and the older children not doing so well.

Personally I don't agree with age standardisation, if they are going to do that they also have to make it fair across the sexes, girls are more advanced than boys at this stage in their lives. The children have all been at school for the same length of time so should be treated equally. I have a daughter coming up who has a July birthday so will have to do exceptionally well to beat the June birthdays!!! Don't know if I'd look on it any differently if I was at the young end of the school year!

Anyone else think older children have had a hard time in this exam?

TINKERBELLL

:oi was just thinking if we know a GRADE in Gl and the percentile rate ,and we know a score in the AQE and that percentile rate supplied by VICTORIA then we could roughly work out what GRADE ,A,B1,B2,C . I Think it would probably work out the same as the GRADES worked out by TOMMY 80, but it would be nice to have another idea. :j SO DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE A CHILD THAT SET THE GL ----GOT A PERCENTILE RATE OF 43 ish AND WHAT GRADE WAS IT .. PRETTY PLEASE

Ex-Spendaholic

Welcome Twiggy and Stanjnr. :wave:

Stanjnr that is an absolutely ridiculous statement AQE have made to you. :mad: I would seriously consider passing it on to the press to see if some publicity could occur on this.

I too would love to know how the standardisation thing worked. My son is an end of March birthday. From the score he got I certainly don't think he had marks added. I have to be honest and say that the kids I know with the high marks were birthdays ranging from July through to mid October.

mrsdrb

poppyanne wrote: »

I don't think -from all the reading I've been doing on this subject, which is slowly taking over my life :mad: - that we can equate 'old' 11+ grades to the aqe. Old system had science included therefore easier for kids to get higher grades. This therefore means that there are fewer kids in top band of scores, with majority around the 100 mark - this makes sense when you look at good old standard deviation. Hopefully this means that grammer schools will, unless very high marks in area, have to take children from majority of aqe 'bands'. As aqe test was harder than GL perhaps 100 is the new 'A'?

re debate about Gl being easier than AQE, my daughter did both, whilst she found the maths paper straightfoward the english was not so ... can't recall her exact marks but while she got high marks on the maths her english marks meant she just got in at the lower end of the A banding - we found the mock GL papers much harder on the english than AQE,

would be interesting to see what level both exam papers were pitched ... think there was some debate on the forum that Gl was set level below AQE but haven't seen the evidence/ don't know source of that claim

rubylee11

does anyone understand how they could have set the marks for the quintiles ie 113 and over equals 1st quintile and 20% of children before the marks were known ?or did this information come out when results known .Ithought i heard that before cause thought 113 and above was an A(originally)

BumbleBEE

Ex-Spendaholic wrote: »

Welcome Twiggy and Stanjnr. :wave:

Stanjnr that is an absolutely ridiculous statement AQE have made to you. :mad: I would seriously consider passing it on to the press to see if some publicity could occur on this.

I too would love to know how the standardisation thing worked. My son is an end of March birthday. From the score he got I certainly don't think he had marks added. I have to be honest and say that the kids I know with the high marks were birthdays ranging from July through to mid October.

I am in complete shock with that ridiculous atatement from AQE, just fills you with confidence ..... NOT!!

My daughter has an April birthday and from the score she got she must have had three very off days!