How is the Kent Test scored?
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Each question throughout the Test is multiple choice, with up to five answers.
Only one answer is the correct one and other answers can be very close to the correct answer which is designed to sometimes mislead the candidate who has not looked at each answer.
There is one mark awarded for each correct answer.
The correct answers are then totalled and this forms what is known as the "raw," score. This is done for each part of the Test;
Raw scores are standardised taking into account the pupil`s age using statistics. One must appreciate the oldest person in year 5 could be somewhat older than the youngest person in the same year group.
The index scores start from approximately 70 at the lower end and rise to a maximum of 140 with the index of 100 being the mean average for candidates of the current year's Kent Test.
Therefore the maximum standardised score over the three elements combined total 420
All pupils sitting the test are then ranked in order of their standardised scores highest to lowest and depending upon the number of pupils in the year group sitting the test. The scores of approximately the top 20 -24% are taken to determine the threshold overall to gain a grammar school place. The figure is then taken and divided by three to give a pass mark for each of the subjects taken. However there are sometimes a slight manual variation in one or more of the test scores.
Over the past few years the standardised scores to pass for each element of the test have varied between 106 and 110 whilst the total marks required to pass have been between 330 and 332 Pupils who achieve above the minimum threshold in each of the tests and achieve the aggregate threshold are automatically deemed as eligible to apply for a selected Grammar School place.
It should be pointed out that one very strong element does not compensate for a weaker one in terms of scores. For example a pupil cannot achieve the overall threshold and above whilst not gaining the minimum mark required in one of the other elements.
For those that miss out by one or two marks either in a subject or overall, or have special circumstances, are then the subject a Head Teacher's appeal where samples of the pupil`s work and staff opinions are submitted by the pupil`s school, to the Head Teacher`s Appeal Panel These are known as borderline cases and approximately 5% over Kent are successful.
What does the Kent Test Comprise of?
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This is for pupils that have been individually assessed and are at a common level and who have the same weakness; Or maybe for school friends who are experiencing the same difficulty within a topic. Small group tuition is not recommended for long periods of time as each individual will work through the difficulty at a different pace. Small group tuition is normally undertaken with pupils who know each other and is not given without the expressed wish and prior knowledge of all parents involved.
English comprehension, spelling and grammar.
Also known as SPAG
The comprehension although multi choice answers, will nearly always involve inference where the answer is not actually stated but inferred, thus making the pupil fully understand the text and must sometimes read, "between the lines."
Pupils are also expected to have a wide range of vocabulary.
There will also be sections on finding spelling or grammatical errors.
Mathematics (This is in the same booklet as the English test)
Multiple choice answers. and topics include the four rules of numeracy, decimals, fractions, percentages, symmetry, angles, triangles, and circles, probability, ratio, algebra, area,, perimeter, mass, capacity, pie charts, scales and negatives, averages, and graphs , this list is not exhaustive. The answers to the questions are purposely very close but there is only one right answer. This is to test the pupil`s ability to avoid common mistakes.
Reasoning (Including Non Verbal and Spatial)
Multi choice answers. In this part of the test pupils must understand and choose the correct vocabulary and grammar, identify parts of speech such as verbs, adjectives, types of nouns, connectives, homophones, prefix and suffix.
Also in this booklet are sequences of numbers and/or letters and some de coding of puzzles. This is Non Verbal Reasoning, and can include many aspects such as identifying patterns, shape, making the correct or incorrect cube as examples.
The last section of the booklet is spatial awareness which tests the pupils skills in looking down on shape, counting blocks not totally visible in the question or adding one shape to another.
Finally!
The pupil will be given several topics to choose from and be asked to write an essay. the points to bear in mind when writing this are fluency, a start, progression and an ending, paragraphs, punctuation and spelling.;
It can be seen from the above that for a pupil to have no knowledge of some or all of these concepts it can be quite daunting, and why so many children have the help of a private tutor so that some insight to the Test gives them a distinct advantage.
