Support thread for parents of chilldren sitting the transfer test in 2011

Skulmartin

Can anyone please explain what these bloody AQE scores mean? My son got a 105 and is hoping for a place in Regent. Last year they took children with scores from 100 up. I am told however that this can change radically every year. Am I correct in thinking that a 100 score is the average????

beccasmum

Skulmartin
Yes 100 is the average each year because the marks are standardised and not an actual score. They compare only the kids that did the test and place their scores in a table and age adjust them so that they are all allocated a score with the average always being 100. Your son is well above average for this year so should be a safe bet for any school and as the highest score this year is 123 he is not that far form the top so well done to him.:T As far as cut offs for each school are concerned it really all depends on who applies and what criteria they use after rank order. If more kids with high marks apply to a certain school then their cut off will be high but if not the cut off will be lower. It is a bit confusing because it seems like the goal posts keep moving but that is just the way it is as each school year has different abilities. Hope this has been some help.

Skulmartin

Beccasmum

This is very helpful and is reassuring. I am hoping he will be accpeted in Regent House in Newtownards. The cutoff score last year was 100 so hopefully 105 will be enough. He is also a July born child which means he must also have had the maximum age adjustment so he probably did better in the test than the score shows.

I was talking to a techer at Regent who said basically that the maths dictate that around 70% of children who sit the test get accepted into one of the schools of choice because the ratio of applicants to places is 70%. Thats why some schools have to drop the intake level to below 100.??
Confusing?????

beccasmum

If we knew how many children did the test this year and how many places there are going we could say what percentage will get grammar places but each area will have varying numbers of kids each year with varying marks looking to fill the same number of grammar places so it is not as straight forward as that. It really is a gamble each year and it is very difficult to predict what each cut off will be until all the applications are in and the schools see who has applied, so the advice is stick to your choices in order of preference and hope for the best.:j If you are not in you can't win.:)

flymetothemoon_2

gsurgenor wrote: »

Hi, my daughter scored a 104 in the AQE and 231 in the GL exam, both of which I'm very peased with, however I'm not sure they are good enough to put her two Grammar choices (Antrim Grammar and Ballymena Academy) and then risk not getting into Slemish, which is highly over subscribed, can any explain how the schools clear applications. Is there a chance she would get into none of her 3 choices and if so what then? I saw someone mention that Ballyclare High were having an open eveing tonight and that they may give info on the spread of results across the grades this year, that information would be very useful but I can't make it this evening, if anyone is there could they post up anything that might be useful?

Thanks

gsurgenor

Your daughter has done very well to score 104 and I would be shocked if she didn't get into Antrim Grammar with that score. I really don't think you have anything to worry about because Antrim's cut off in 2010 was 92 & in 2011 it was 97. She is well above that. If anything , I think post 240 from beccasmum does give some hope that scores (and therefore cut-offs) may be lower this yr becasue the highest score achieved in AQE over the past 2 yrs seems to have been 127 both years. It has also been suggested that fewer kids sat the AQE this yr which, if true, would also help. Best wishes.

:T

cashcrisis

DPROVAN - I really wouldn't worry so much firstly about whether your dd will get into the Academy and secondly about Cambridge House.
Put the Academy as your first choice, after all if you don't put it first she's got zero chance of getting in!!
As for Cambridge House, yes it had a bad inspection but it was only for the 6th form A levels, not GCSE's. Thi swas probably due to the fact of them admitting pupils with poorer GCSE grades to make up numbers, I think they'll stop this from now.
Yes it is in formal intervention and it's the first Grammar to be placed into it but intervention measures have only been going for around 2 years so there's not really a lot of history with any school, let alone a grammar. It is I believe the kick up the bum it needed.

I don't think a merger with a secondary school is an option, if you research formal intervention there are many options of what could happen should the school not sufficiently improve but I hardly think they'll close the whole school fi the A level results don't sufficiently improve.

No, there's no principal at the moment but well, no principal is better than a rubbish one and the school is not suffering for not having a principal.

To be honest I think you're mad to consider St. Louis, not becuase it's not a good school, but she hasn't expressed any want to actually go there and it wasn't on your list I presume for a reason.

Put Academy as your first choice and C House as your second and see what happens but if she doesn't get her first choice then don't panic because C House is a good school and it will only get better.

Yes the Academy is a fantastic school but it's not hard to teach and get through exams pupils who are scoring so highly in the transfer tests, they almost teach themselves!!!

Let us know how you get on.

dprovan

cashcrisis, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I agree with pretty much all that you have said and have pretty much worked towards the same thinking. I am getting to a place where i can see advanatages in either outcome and have become more focussed on the fact that either way my dd will have every opportunity to make the most of her education. I did quickly discount the st louis option, for no other reason than it would be a complete curve ball for my dd. I think her feeling happy and settled with outcome will go a very long way to enable her to get settled. thanks again.

Pmum

Guys,

I don't want to be a harbinger of ... but I think it's probably better to be aware of the possibilities.

If the top mark was lower than in the last 2 years as has been reported it means that the results around the 100 mark are going to be more bunched up than in previous years. That probably also means that there will be more children with scores in the low 100's.

If the schools end up with their cut off in that area they are more likely to have several kids competing for those last few places.

Just make sure you have all the documentation that the school are asking for that may give you an edge.

If you have a connection to the school make sure you write it down for each and every school. If they give priority to the eldest child, make sure you write it down. They can only use the information you give them so make sure you know what each school wants and put it on the form.

runninggal

Hi - DS got 107. Very pleased .
I know the quintiles are not reported this year but does anyone know if they still exist in that 20% must be in each category. If thats still the case then would you still not get 20% in the band that has the low 100's irrespective of what the lowest score was. All it means is that there would be a larger number of children getting between 113 and 123 than previously when it was spread out between 113 and 127.

Pmum

The kids in the top 2 quintiles are home on a boat though. No matter how compacted they are they will all still get their first choice school.

It's the kids with the scores around 100 that might be more likely to have greater competition.

They are also most likely to be the most densly packed as it is, given the distribution of results is probably something close to the normal curve.