Transfer Test AQE 2014-2015

A question about : Transfer Test AQE 2014-2015

I've seen a few posts on sites from the last few years for the AQE, haven't seen one yet for children that will be sitting the tests in November 2014 so thought I'd post one and hope for some replies

Has everyone started preparing for them already, how long ago have you started? How many tests, extra work are they doing at the minute?

I've noticed that when talking about it people never seem to write the primary school that their child is in or the grammar that they hope to get into, is there a reason for that?

I'm new to Internet forums!

Best answers:

• Our daughter will be sitting hers in November this year
  Her school is holding after school classes once a week where they do a paper and then get it home for us to mark.
  It's about all the schools are allowed to do apparently
  We are getting her a tutor next month so hopefully that should get her sorted.
  The whole thing is an absolute disgrace,there was nothing wrong with the old system IMO
• It's my little sister that will be sitting it, to be honest I think I prefer the aqe in the way that they have 3 tests and choose the best two scores, hopefully it'll give them a better chance of scoring as high as they can. The problem is schools not being allowed to do the tests etc. her school has after school club but at the minute their just doing extra math/English work, no practice papers yet. (Tho another school close to us has their kids doing tests in class).
  She's done two at home but I wonder what scores most kids are getting at this stage and how much they are likely to raise over the months.
• Our primary did a fantastic job of preparing the kids and gave great advice as to what you need to do yourself. We didnt have a tutor but did do a practice test at least once a week and then an additional one a week during the easter, summer and halloween holidays
  Rather than being a lot and putting pressure on our child, it made the idea of doing the test routine and took the stress off - waiting for the results was more stressful.
  The approach must have worked - 95% of the pupils sat the test, the scores ranged from 92 - 124 and all but five kids scored more than 100.
  My advice is that no matter what the school does, you need to get in there yourself. At our school if say the child got five wrong in a test, they had to do the corrections for homework, and the parent had to set them twice as many new questions as they got wrong in addition - and then mark them - for us it allowed us to see that our child was great at maths, but needed to work on grammar
  I think the reason why no one mentions names is because every primary has their own interpretation of the rules and no one wants to rock the boat.
  Hope this helps
• I'm not too sure how well her school will prepare them (this is the first year that they've done the after school club for it) so I'm hopeing to help her at home. So far she's done 3 past papers with 60% 54% and 71% and I'm looking at what ones I should order now. I think we're going to go with the practice papers from TheTransferTest website.
  What papers have you all found best? What marks are they sitting at at the minute?
• It's good to see a thread started for the 2014 kids. My daughter will be sitting her tests in November. Her school have started an after school club doing a P6 test each week and building up the knowledge. She has came on well but no where near ready for the full AQE papers. Also each week the school sends home a test at the weekend to complete which is marked in school on a Monday. The school is doing what it can but also bearing in mind they are not allowed to do too much. So far I think this is enough but may think of getting a tutor after the summer break if she needs some extra help. It is a lot for a 9 year old to take on but just trying to keep everything calm at the minute. I look forward to hearing how other kids are getting on.
• I love seeing replies and conversations on here My sister has a sept birthday so is one of the oldest in her class but is very young and immature for her age (but extremely competitive in everything), I'm aiming on doing a practice paper on Sundays and one on an evening half way through the week is there's time that it fits in and isn't stressful. She does ok but panics when there's a question that she really struggles with (she's been told it's still early days and she hasn't even covered a lot of the areas in school yet).
  It's nice to see how other people are planning and dealing with the stress of it, even this early.
  Has everyone completed their registration for aqe yet?
• I hope a few others come on to post in the forum. It looks to have been quiet the last couple of years but I have enjoyed following the posts. My DD has a June birthday and is holding up ok against the older children but certainly not in the top group. Someone has said she will get some sort of allowance for her age but not sure if that is true or how that will work. I haven't got the entry form in yet, hope to get photos taken next week then get it in. I agree that the children haven't covered everything they need in school. Still work to cover in P6 and then a couple of months of P7 so I am ok with that. I'm thinking that going over tests and concentrating on picking speed up is important for DD at the minute and will see how it all goes over the summer. The children finding out their schools today have definitely made me thankful that in a year it will all be over. Looking forward to it!!
• Yes aqe use a system that divides the kids into groups with birthdays the same month, then their results are compared before deciding the final marks, not too sure exactly how the marks are done We completed the forms about two weeks ago (you can hand deliver them to aqe office to get it done quicker) and received her details the next day! It says upto 3 weeks so we were pretty surprised when it came through the door.
  It seems that's aren't many people online talking about it yet, it'll be here so quick when you think there's just over 4 weeks left until the end of term, then summer and they only have September and October!
• So glad to see a thread for the kids sitting the AQE in Nov 2015. Daughter is doing old 11plus papers in school at the moment (the science bit is taken out) but it seems to be a few papers are then put back together again so there can be anything from 73 to 85 questions in a paper and she is panicking trying to complete these papers in an hour. Her percentage score has been all over the place, from mid 40s to mid 60s, we were hoping that she would be hitting the 70s by now but I think her confidence is a bit knocked. When we go over the papers it is really frustrating because she knows how to do the majority of the paper, it is just silly mistakes or she hasn't finished the paper. Is other schools using old 11plus papers?
• Our daughter is the same...one minute she gets 75, the next she could be below 40!!!
  She seems to be having diffs with the maths problems,not understanding what they are asking her,which is a real shock cos she is studying GCSE level maths at an after school study class
  We have a tutor coming in the next few weeks...
• It is reassuring to hear that someone else is having similar problems. Her school is offering an after schools AQE club, 2 afternoons a week, which I am pleased about and they give her homework over the weekend, which we mark and then they do the practice paper once a week, so I am not sure how much more work to give her at home? It seems a fine line between supporting and encouraging and perhaps putting her under too much pressure.
• My son will be doing AQE tests in November 2014. His Primary School started practice tests in March (1 per week). His scores have ranged from 54% to 80% but are mostly in mid to high 60s which seems not too bad but at the same time, I don't know if it's good enough. Some people say approx 66/67% is enough for entry to most grammars whilst other people tell me they reckon you need to be scoring in the 70s - so I just don't know, but I'm hoping (with lots of practice over the next 5 months) that my DSs scores will get into the 70s. I'm not expecting 80s or 90s but 70s would give me comfort. As for tutoring, although, in principle, I am against this, I also feel that if many other parents are doing it that my son will be disadvantaged if I don't. So, no plans at the moment for a tutor but I may reconsider this.
  Finally, I'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows the lowest scores accepted for entry in Sept 14 by RBAI, Belfast High, Belfast Royal Academy and Ballyclare High as these are the schools I will be considering for my DS.
• My child did the AQE November 2012 and my other one is doing it this November. I wouldn't worry about what your child is getting now in terms of percentages in the practice papers - the only ones that count are the real ones. I saw lots of kids who were getting in the 50's/60's % in P6 pull up to the 80's by the time they did the test and most came out with a score which was enough for a grammar school. Having said that, to be comfortable, you would be wanting your child to be consistently scoring 75% and above by the time they are sitting the test. My daughter got a score of 96 in the AQE and I wrote to them for her raw marks, ie marks she got out of 64 in each paper (which they will happily give to you if you write them a letter). Her best two papers gave her a combined percentage of 75% and this equated to 96 as an AQE score. So to get a score over 100 you would probably be looking to score over 80%. This does change from year to year however, based on what all the other children score and then its all standardised.
  In terms of what scores schools took this year, just give them a ring and they'll be happy to tell you what their lowest accepted score was or some even have it on their website.
• Haven't heard yet what sort of scores were accepted for Sept 2014. A friend of mines child got 100 and was accepted for BRA. I am hoping with practice over the summer my daughters scores will go up!
• Thanks aqeworrier, really helpful info.
• Here are some schools 'lowest scores' for Sept 2014 intake.
  Apologies, I don't know the ones requested above.
  Bloomfield Collegiate 82
  Campbell College. 81
  Grosvenor Grammar 101
  Methodist College 104
  R.B.A.I. 96
  Strathearn School 100
  Sullivan Upper 100
  Wellington College 100
  Hope that helps but am guessing each year is different anyway.
• I'm a bit worried seeing how many primary schools are doing extra practice for aqe, my sisters school are doing an after school club once a week (this is the first year they've done it) but the school have said they they will not be doing practice tests , in class or the club. It seems that the club is just a little bit extra Math & English. I'm doing the tests with her at home but it would be nice to see the school doing some and the kids getting some support from teachers explaining their mistakes etc.
  Mrs Mum, is your daughter sitting aqe in November 2014 or 2015?
  For those doing practice papers at home, are you timing them for an hour or just letting them complete them however long it takes? I don't want to pressure her into hurrying up yet and want her to work out and get familiar with the questions first but I think I should start timing her more now ( I always time to see how long she takes but when she goes over an hour I just let her).
  Percentages are going up and down here too, started in low 60s and went up to getting 78-79% and one 82% but dropped to 64% in the most recent practice test. Maths is her weaker section.
  Im going with the thought that it's still 5 months away and scores will slowly go up and even out over the summer but November will be here in no time!
• Sorry daughter is doing test November 2014! Not timing her yet on any of the work she is doing at home but the school gives them 1 hour to do the practice paper in class and my daughter usually doesn't get the last few questions done but these practice papers that the school is setting seem to be quite a bit longer than the AQE papers. Headmaster said that when they go into P7 they will do 2 practice papers a week and these ones will be actual old/sample AQE papers.
• I guessed you'd meant 2014... Or you were getting super prepared for 2015
  I agree with what you said about confidence being knocked, my sister wasn't overly confident doing practice papers but once she did well in one (79%) her confidence went up and she started tackling the questions with a more positive attitude, rather than thinking she couldn't do them, she at least tries most of the now. Tho it seems to knock confidence a bit when she does down a bit in percentage.
  What type of work are you doing at home?