Transfer Test AQE 2014-2015

I took the information I posted from statistics stated on an end of term newsletter which came home from a local primary school. Hope that helps.

My friend's child is sitting the exam in November. They have moved here from Eastern Europe, he's a really bright child with excellent spoken English. He's scoring very high in the maths part, but he's only been speaking English for 18 months so while he's got the grammar basics all worked out, when he's faced with prose he is struggling.

Do schools need to see high marks in both sections or would a child get through if his maths is brilliant and his written Engish is just ok?

I'd appreciate any input or direction.

spendaholiceejit wrote: »

My friend's child is sitting the exam in November. They have moved here from Eastern Europe

For AQE, have a read with your friend at:

http://aqe.org.uk/how-to-enter/access-arrangements/

and in particular the guidance notes linked from:

Access arrangements may also apply to candidates whose first language is neither English nor Irish and who have spent less than three years in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland before September 2014. If your child falls into this category, please tick the box labelled ‘Yes’ in the Application Form. You can download further guidance notes here.

As you will see once you have, depending on circumstances, it may be possible to arrange that the child is given extra time on the paper and/or the use of a bi-lingual translation dictionary.

This page:

http://aqe.org.uk/frequency-asked-questions/

also has links to FAQ's in Polish and Lithuanian.

spendaholiceejit wrote: »

Thanks for your reply,
She was aware of the dictionary part, but when it comes to prose, the literal translation in a dictionary is not always what the writer means (does that make sense!?)

We'll just have to keep her fingers crossed that he gets tests that he understands.

Good luck to all youngsters studying for it.

There's probably an argument for a special circumstances admission in a case like that anyway... Especially if there's a noticeable disparity between the math and English portions of the test.
But only worth pursuing if the normal route doesn't work out.

1st daughter doing AQA/GL November, 2 practice papers a week in school and her scores are all over the place. I am glad to see here that other parents are finding the same. DD is in top band of year but results not reflecting this. :-( nervous as this year a lot of children didn't get 1st or 2nd school choices and a few didn't get placed at all!!!