Re: 11+ How was it decided?

"confusedcom" <confusedcom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Jc6dndDLTfmo2NfZRVnygw@xxxxxxxxx
Many years ago, back in 1967 I took the 11+.

I was told at school I had passed the test . I was not supposed to pass
the
test and I was told I would have to take more tests in school to see if I
could go to grammar school.

We all sort of knew that the only ones who would pass these tests were
those
in one class who had been taught differently and taught together four
years.
It had always been the case. I was not in that group.
Everyone in that class passed the tests and went off to Grammar School.

I was sent to SM. When I got to school I remember one of the teachers
looking at me and saying - you have an IQ of 143. I didn't know what he
meant and ignored him.

I have since found out that the 11+ was supposed to select out the top 20%
of IQ scores and send them to Grammar School ( it was on the TV - That'll
Teach 'um).
I have tried to look up what IQ score was regarded as the pass score . I
know it must be above 115 but less than 120 as far as I can work out.

But the scores also show that my IQ score of 147 is in the top 5%.

So, why did I get sent to SM?

I always wondered but no one could ever explain it to me. Seeing these
programmes has made me wonder again.
I was in the top three in my class at junior school. I could read and
write
well. I wasn't a problem in any way, that is I didn't mess around and was
not naughty. All my reports show I got A's and B's in all subjects and the
teacher said I was good. I got as good marks as those in the top class who
did go to grammar school . I did better than nearly all of them in those
tests.

So why did I pass the 11+ with such a high score and then get sent to an
SM?


Your 'score' and your IQ are not the same. Kent still has the 11+ (called,
funnily enough, the 'Kent Test') and a score of at least 1 category at 114
and the other 2 categories at 118 (or above) is required. This will select
the top 25%. The three categories are: Verbal reasoning, Non-verbal
reasoning and Maths.

The 'scores' can (and do) change depending upon the mix (area/year) so, for
example, the scores above are for East Kent in 2006: West Kent could ask for
1 at 110 and 2 at 114 - or 1 at 120 and 2 at 124!! (Next year could be
different, too!!)

Your IQ is different: people can be VERY intelligent, but unable to apply
it. There are a lot of stories about e.g. Albert Einstein had a very high IQ
but had big problems dealing with day-to-day issues.

I, too, passed my 11+ (in the early 60's) but was not *allowed* to go to a
Grammar school as an elder brother and an elder sister had both been to a
Grammar. It was deemed that 2 children from a council estate was more than
enough.

I did, however, go to a Technical School - where I was bullied by the pupils
AND staff because a) I lived in a council house, b) my dad was a manual
worker (most of the other kids' dads were White Collar workers - like
Architects and Bank Managers) and my dad - horror of horrors! - was a
dustman, and c) I was trying to be 'above my station' by being
intelligent... (as my then Deputy Head repeatedly told me!). Little wonder,
then, that I left the school as soon after my 15th birthday as I could, even
though I should have stayed until I was 16.

Don't worry about going to a SM - especially if you were happy. I sometimes
wish that my parents hadn't stuck out for me going to a school where my 11+
was valued: it may have been but I was not, and was told so almost every
day!!
--
Nick

(Address is fake: Reply through Newsgroup)

Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first, and
the lesson afterward. - Anonymous


.

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