Support Thread for parents of children sitting the AQE /GL Transfer Test in 2012

BOBS

andyD wrote: »

Hi all, just wondering did any of you use the revision pack you buy from The Transfer Test site? Or what about the online Transfer Tutor? Any recommendations or thoughts welcome. Thankyou

are you GL or AQE ? _ We were AQE and used papers from pmp publications.

andyD_2

Yeah we're AQE.

Freefromdebt_2

I used the transfer tutor with both my girls. I found it very good. We did GL and nearer the time I did seek a little help for them. This was to help them with the multiple choice aspect of GL rather than the content.
I have just heard today that a child has got into one of the local grammars with a lower score than DD.
I have tried all week to speak to the principals of both grammars to try and determine where DD is on their waiting lists........am still waiting on their phone calls which is extremely bad mannered in my book.
Good luck to you all who are starting on this journey with your little ones. I wouldn't panic too much just yet........slow and steady wins the race.

Pmum

Ffd,

Do you know if the child you are talking about had claimed Special Circumstances which might explain their getting a place with a lower score?

Or do either of the schools in question operate a "pool" system for the last few places? I know of several schools who do that so it is entirely possible for a child with a lower score to legitimately be offered a place ahead of a child with a slightly higher score.

I know Methody operate that type of system by dividing all their applicants into bands of 5 marks. they admit the kids a band at a time until the the group which would make them oversubscribed. They then reassess the kids in that band on other criteria such as free school meals, siblings etc. This year that band was 100-104 ( I think).At that stage in the process they don't give any weight to the actual score so a child with 100 who is eligible for FSM will be admitted ahead of a kid with a score of 103 who is doesn't get FSM.

Might be worth checking the entry criteria again so you are sure of all the possibilities before you speak to the heads.

Freefromdebt_2

Pmum from memory both schools operate a 'cut-off' point. Sadly sometimes it comes down to who you are rather than what you have achieved in my local area.

leftieM

I hope that isn't true. GL schools operate on a grades system so someone may have a higher score than someone else but, as they are on the same grade, they are equal and selection criteria or random selection is used. The child at my daughters' school who came top of her year and one of the top in NI didn't get a place in the local oversubscribed grammar because it used grades, not marks, to select.
Schools can be rumbled for not applying criteria fairly. If you have evidence of this then it's a court issue.

Pmum

This is one area where I think the old system of tests was better. When all you got was a grade there were fewer families who were left feeling quite so hard done by because they usually didn't know just how close, or how far away from that final place they had come. I think that was easier for the kids to deal with than knowing a specific number.

Freefromdebt_2

The plot it seems thickens in my area..........one of our 2 grammars in the local town has apparently turned down a child with a B2 grade only to accept a C1 grade.........I have heard that some parents are not best pleased. They recently held an information event for this year's P7 and will not disclose their cut-off as there are appeals. The event was held early last week. The school in question would not have been aware of any appeals at that early stage. Is it possible that they have intentionally not applied their criteria correctly so that they lose their appeal(s) ? I didn't think schools could do that but after having a conversation with an irate parent I am just not sure anymore and this parent seems to think this is what they have done.
It really is a numbers game at the end of the day.

Pmum

What would be their motivation though?

Why would they want to admit a child with a lower grade? Or break their own criteria? Why would they want to lose an appeal?

My guess, admittedly knowing absolutely nothing about the situation, is that someone has successfully claimed Special Circumstances. They may, understandably, not want to make those circumstances public.

Freefromdebt_2

I honestly don't know....I have been told this by a parent whose child did not gain a place at the school. It has also been discussed at a local primary school so it may just be a Chinese whisper. Although they have refused to divulge their cut off point this year.... There's nothing like a bunch of suspicious parents to get the rumour mill going.