Transfer Test AQE 2014-2015

Veggie_Northern_Ireland

It seems to me that they've been back for ages when it's actually been less than 2 weeks! Now as well as the two tests in school and extra homework (and after school class once a week) they are giving 1 test home at the weekend.

One thing were not happy with is that the aqe children have been banned from going swimming with the rest of the class each week until December! They will instead be using the hour to mark their homework and do extra work, I disagree with this... It seems like they are missing out and being punished for choosing to do the aqe!

So far her papers in school have been sitting at 75% but they have 80 questions in 1 hour compared to 58 in proper papers, Im hopeing that her score will go up a little when she does a test at home at the weekend (had week off for starting back to school and birthday). Now it's back to hard work, hopefully without stressing her out for the next 8 weeks.

Is anyone else still sitting in the 70% now?

Mrs_mum

Sounds a good score for that amount of questions to answer in an hour. Agree with u about the swimming, not fair. My daughters school are not taking themswimming til January when it is all over and they can enjoy it.

Busy_mum_3

this is my first post on MSE. My daughter is also preparing to sit the transfer in November. The school is not giving any coaching. I have taken this on myself with resources from various sources. We have worked through many CEA AQE tests, fairfields & windmill. I would like to thank Mrs Mum & Veggie & everyone else for your posts because I feel quite isolated & like to hear how others are getting on.

Although my daughter is very capable scores can be up and down and she sometimes struggles to get the test finished - sometimes she looks much too relaxed when she is doing it but I'm hoping that nearer the time she will knuckle down - today she did a windmill test and was finished 10 minutes early which was a bit more encouraging. I have all the past papers and was wondering if everyone else is planning to do all of these (about 15)?

Veggie_Northern_Ireland

Hi Busy Mum, We were in the same boat as you with the school giving almost no support until they suddenly completely changed their approach... Although while they are now doing tests in school, I find it unusual that the teacher is not asking the children their scores or going over mistakes. Should they not want to know how the children are progressing and what areas they need help in !? :huh: I felt a bit lost when the school were doing nothing, being unsure if we were going over the right things and taking the right approach to it.

Sunday is the day for a practice paper at home so I have fingers crossed that her marks will go up now that she's back to school and is getting a bit more practice.

The windmill papers are the ones she is using in school, aren't they the ones with 80 questions? She's been doing ok in them and they have me hoping that she'll do a bit better when she does a normal 58 question paper, yes I have some of the aqe papers too, she'll be doing one of those tomorrow.



Only 8 weeks from today until the 1st AQE Paper :shocked:

Mrs_mum

Hi busy mum, it seems that all our kids scores are up and down, this seems to be the normal pattern for most kids though I know it doesn't stop us all from worrying. We had a meeting with our daughters p7 teacher the other week and he said that when the kids sit the actual test this is when the majority of them bring their A game! Let's hope so, lol. We have been doing some of the old 11+ plus papers with the science bit taken out, it usually is 2 of the tests put together so it works out a bit longer than the actual AQE but the school told us last year that this is so that when the kids do the actual AQE papers they find them a bit easier to get through. The school asked us not to give them actual AQE papers as they want to use them between now and November in class as they are giving them 2 a week to do. I certainly feel for you though if the school is no support

Can't believe it is 8 weeks Veggie Northern Ireland! Where did the summer go?

Stressmother

My wee ladie was averaging 73 to 80% p6 and the summer . But has now hit p7 and the school do 2 papers a week they are made up by the school she only got 66% today 61 last one but I know all the class have dropped as the headmistress said at parents evening however she got 76% in her CEA test at the weekend I am very disciplined and she had no help in these papers she does ok in the late 70
Listening to every I am really starting to panic I don't won't her to have false hope as in p6 she was told she could pass now I am not sure I hope she starts to pull her marks back up has anyone any idea why this is happening and what paper would give me a true indication this is my first time with the AQE and I feel so sorry for my wee lady as she putting in all she can

Veggie_Northern_Ireland

Hi Stressmother, I know how you feel, we have been through the same problem. In June my sister was sitting between 78% to around 85% but in the summer dropped to a few tests in the 60%s and struggled to get in the low 70%s. Now that she's back at school she's been getting higher and her lowest has been 75% up to 86%.

I think the best papers to judge how their doing are the offical AQE past papers.

I was surprised that in her practice paper in school today she got 88% tho it was an old 11+ paper so hopefully she'll stay that high wth her next aqe paper (last aqe paper was 78%).

I know what you mean about false hope, it takes so much encouragement in our house to get her to try her best and practice in the hope that she'll get the score she needs, she'll be devastated if she doesn't get the score she needs, especially when friends are going it too in the hope of going to the same grammar.

Mrs_mum

Don't know what is going on with my daughter at the moment. When she is doing practice papers in class she seems to finish the paper one day and then the next paper she would still have a page and a half to do when the hour is up! It is frustrating because at home she can finish them with a few mins to spare. She said she just panics in school and finds herself constantly looking at the clock but at home she feels relaxed and doesn't feel the pressure. Don't know what to do to help her. I have tried telling her she has nothing to worry about,she knows how to do the work and I am proud of her no matter what the outcome if this test will be but she is very hard on herself.

Veggie_Northern_Ireland

Mrs mum, my sister has been a bit similar with worrying about the time in school, particularly when the other children have all finished 20 minutes before the hour is up and she's still going, then she starts to stress and rush thinking she's behind. Luckily that's only happened once or twice.

Have your daughters scores stayed consistent on the tests that she's been able to finish?

I asked for advice on the old 2012 - 2013 forum about Raw scores, percentages and final scores. One reply said that their child got 72% and it gave them a final aqe score of 96. The other reply had got 92% and had a final aqe score of 119. Going between them... 77% should be around a score of 100 (we should need around 99 for her first choice). I know it changes every year but a score to aim for helps a bit, unfortunately scores still aren't consistent for my sister.

Busy_mum_3

Dear All - sorry I disappeared for a few days - forgot my password and had a few diffs getting it reset - just shows my state of mind! I just want to be an encouragement to you all if I can because that's what we're here for - right? As I've said before I'm doing the coaching myself with no school help. My daughters scores in P6 and over the summer were mostly good and showing gradual increase to mid-high 80s. Then at the start of sept scores just plummeted - in one test she got 60 and another 70 - some of this also was due to not getting the test finished in time. However she seemed to have no sense of urgency and I found her sitting with her feet up in one test! She was very despondent about these results. I thought it would only be a waste of past papers to give her any more in this frame of mind. I decided to give her some papers that were a bit easier to get her confidence back up. I gave her two 45 minute Windmill papers (old 11 plus eng & maths only). She did well in these & that did a lot for her confidence and she seems to concentrate better now. She had previously done the test sitting on a sofa whilst working off a small table with a drink of water. I moved her to large dining table with no water. I tell her the time every 15 minutes as I think they do this in the real thing - I also prod her on "15 minutes gone 45 left - you should have at least 15 questions done" etc. We have since done 2 past papers and she got 94%, then 84%. Hope she can keep this up. I think having confidence is crucial at this stage - I think it's a good plan to try an easier paper - but don't tell her it's classed as easier - I think numbers 1-6 CEA practice papers are graded easy, or perhaps Windmill as I have mentioned. Another thing I know seems obvious - trying to identify any theme in the things they are getting wrong and working on these. Some teaching friends and parents who have been through this before tell me that it is normal for kid's marks to drop in sept because they are fed up with all the work and it still seems like a long way to go before it is all over - one of these friends says the kids will pull out all the stops in the real thing - let's hope so! Sorry for being long-winded!