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Last 11-plus results come through the letterboxes
Saturday, 7 February 2009
More than 15,000 children across Northern Ireland made history today when they received results from the last ever 11-plus tests.
The P7 pupils found out this morning what grade they received from their two tests — which they sat in November.
The controversial exam has been scrapped by the Department of Education — however, no political agreement has yet been reached on its replacement.
A total of 15,378 10 and 11-year-olds took the 11-plus this year, out of a possible 22,970.
During each test, the young people had an hour to answer questions on English, mathematics, science and technology.
An A grade has been awarded to the top 25% of the entire age group eligible to transfer, then grade B1 to the next 5%, B2 the next 5% and so on until grade D, which has been awarded to the balance.
Caitriona Ruane has announced that she will issue admissions criteria guidelines for school transfer in 2010 and has recommended that grammar schools no longer use academic selection to determine their first year intake.
However, it is likely that up to 40 grammar schools will set their own entrance exams — which they are legally entitled to do.
The minister who has driven forward the abolition of the 11-plus against considerable opposition, particularly from unionist politicians, hailed its end.
In a message to pupils she said: “I would like to say to all children receiving their 11-plus results, you are making history, you were the last to take this test, you were the last ones to sit anxiously awaiting a grade which determines the school you will go to.”
The minister added: “While some will celebrate achieving the results they had wanted, many of our children may be disappointed. This is why I am glad this is the last year such letters will be dropping through letterboxes.”
Ms Ruane said she was responsible for all children and that was why she was engaged in the process of changing the education system.
“The sole aim of this change is to build on the successes of our current system while addressing the very serious inequalities and weaknesses which also exist.
“Weaknesses such as declining school numbers and the 12,000 young people per year who leave school without adequate numeracy and literacy skills. This is why the resolution of the issue of post-primary transfer is part of a much wider debate.”
Meanwhile, in a surprising move yesterday, the Alliance Party called on academic selection by examination to be maintained for at least two years, to avoid the education system falling into chaos.
Alliance education spokesperson Trevor Lunn announced the proposal following consultation with primary school principals.
The Lagan Valley MLA said: “There is now complete consternation among parents, teachers and pupils as to what system will be used to select children for all secondary and grammar schools.
“This chaotic situation has been brought on by an incompetent and divided Executive which has failed even to come close to agreement on the way forward.
“The Alliance Party would rather academic selection examinations were not part of our education system, and we maintain our view that a non-selective process at age 14, close to that which operates under the Dickson Plan, represents the way forward.
“However, selection is preferable to leaving the situation entirely unregulated. The idea of confronting parents with multiple confusing options will only work against those whom the Minister claims to want to help.”
As the 11-plus is consigned to history, a new blog has been established for parents and education experts to exchange views.
Professor Tony Gallagher |expressed his opinion at www.|educationforallni.blogspot.com and he appears to support the view put forward by Mr Lunn.
Prof Gallagher said: “The main political parties appear to be willing to wait until the other side blinks, but while that might make for good political theatre, it plays with the future of a generation of children and should not be seen by anyone as a price worth paying |either for change or no change.”
He added: “The practical option is to continue with selection for two or three years, to give time to agree mechanisms to make differentiation at age 14 work.”
A parent blogger expressed her frustration at the lack of information on how her daughter will transfer to a post-primary school.
She said: “I believed this would be something of a priority for our elected representatives. The current situation is a complete mess.”
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Aha......the exclusive 'grammar' ethos that "matches" a child to an institution!
Posted by Exasperated | 10.02.09, 10:39 GMT
Disappointed: 07.02.09, 15:35 GMT
Your comments are so true. People who want to scrap academic selection often say those who don't get into grammar school are seen as "failures". I fail to see where they get this view from, as the schools certainly don't use it.
It is simply that some children are more academic than others - every child is different. Therefore one type of school will not suit everyone. It is vital to cater for each child's needs. Bunging everyone together in one school will make things worse for both the academic and less academic children.
Posted by David | 09.02.09, 19:22 GMT
Transfer Test 2008/9
This is update from previous post on 7 Feb.
New figures have been releasd from CCEA today re Transfer Test.
They are as follows:-
Number of children sitting the test is now 14,840. The number of children allocated grades are as follows:-
A Grade 5913
B1 Grade 1177
B2 Grade 1173
C1 Grade 1207
C2 Grade 1164
D Grade 4206
As there are 8,900 grammar school places in Northern Ireland and the total of A and B grades above equals 8,263, there will be places for 637 C1's at least.
8,900 represents 60% of those who sat the test can go to grammar school. This is the biggest percentage ever in the history of the test. Do your homework by looking at previous years intake from the school you wish your child to attend and hopefully a C1 will be good enough for a grammar school place.
C1's gofor it!
Posted by John Wilson | 09.02.09, 13:22 GMT
Soarer
John Wilson is correct in his figures.
Now please tell other parents what score did your child get? You state that the 11-plus is an "outdated, backward, unfair system" but availed of it.
Please tell us all Soarer - replaced by what?
Posted by M Blair | 09.02.09, 12:48 GMT
Cant see that John. You would be exceedingly hard pushed to get into a grammar with a c grade or less. Not ones I have seen takes a C grade. So more like around 25% of the P7 kids
Mine got an A which I am happy about and so are they as they were expressly told they would be living with Dr Barnardo if the score was any less.
I am not one for 'I am alright Jack' and hopefully this outdated, backward, unfair system will be replaced. Just need people in power with something about them....
Posted by soarer | 08.02.09, 11:41 GMT
My son did not receive his results either, what a shambles, he was stressed with the build up to this morning, and then NO RESULTS!!! and not even anyone at CCEA manning a telephone to help us and those like us obtain our results. In my view this shows the minister has no consideration for these childrens feelings.
Posted by Tommy | 07.02.09, 22:20 GMT
Dawn you should have phoned your school this morning, principal and p7 teachers would have been there. Your principal will give you the results on Monday morning, probably before the post arrives!
Posted by WEndy | 07.02.09, 17:39 GMT
From afar, I hear of the last 11-plus. I sat the first one, called "the Qualifying" at the time.
Posted by Denis | 07.02.09, 17:23 GMT
(1) What was the difference between the Qualifying and the
11+
(2) What year did pupils first sit the Qualifying
(3) What year did pupils first sit the 11+
Thanks for replying. Irene
Posted by Irene | 07.02.09, 17:13 GMT
John Wilson makes a very important point. While parent J makes all sorts of assumptions about the daughter's A grade neither J nor any other parent will have an actual score for the transfer test result from CCEA. The important issue is the availability of grammar school places for the lower grades and that those pupils benefit most from a grammar school education as proven by attainment results.
If we had less contribution from ill-informed "plant parents" suggesting that their off spring were somehow superior based on a grade which removes information and focused more on the opportunity afforded those who benefit most from a grammar school education perhaps progress could be made towards a return to the 11-plus. Bottom line - it works.
The media's contribution speaks for itself.
Posted by parental alliance for choice in education | 07.02.09, 16:14 GMT
We need to go beyond this view that grammar schools are good and secondary schools are bad. Everyone had different abilities and is it not better to have a system that caters for each child's abilities, academic or vocational so that every child leaving education has achieved the best level of education they are capable of. It is impossible to meet the needs of children in a single classroom if there is a huge range of ability. With the cut backs on special needs provision too many children are being failed by a system that want to make one size fits all. The revised curriculum in primary schools is supposed to raise a generation of entrepreneurs which Northern Ireland is sadly lacking. How can this happen if the current situation goes forward and we fail an entire generation.
Posted by Disappointed | 07.02.09, 15:35 GMT
Transfer Test 2008/9
15,378 children sat the transfer test 2008/9. As there are 8,900 grammar school places in Northern Ireland, 57.9% of the children who sat the test can get a grammar place. So working class children from whatever background have never had a better chance to get a grammar school place!
These are the important statistics that the press should be releasing. The above figures mean nothing to the parents of the children sitting the test.
Posted by John Wilson | 07.02.09, 13:58 GMT
Our daughter received her result today, she got an A. This grade is befitting the educational ability which she possesses and I for one agree with David, not all children are academically the same. My daughter will be educated with individuals with a similar educational ability and therefore will not be held back by others who do not possess this ability.
My daughter was not stressed through this experience because she knew that whatever result she got she was not a failure and that she would go to a school which suited her. I feel that parents sometimes cause stress in this type of situation as they try to relive their childhood through their children.
The minister doesnt have a clue and she herself made the choice to have her children educated both in the North of Ireland and at a grammar school.
Get is sorted for the sake of the kids coming along next year who are currently more stressed than they would have been doing the 11 plus.
Posted by J | 07.02.09, 13:44 GMT
Perhaps worth remembering that the Alliance Party managed 5.2% of the poll in the assembly elections.
Two thirds of respondents and the same proportion of teachers "voted" (McGuinness's word at the time) for retaining academic selection in the consultation on Burns.
People, Protestant and Catholic, want selection. It is our perversion of democracy which would deny them this right.
Posted by Democrat | 07.02.09, 13:33 GMT
my daughter did not receive her results this morning!!!what can i do to get them?
Posted by dawn | 07.02.09, 13:04 GMT
And who are the "educationalists" SF keep referring to in interviews as the ones whose advice they seek? It's not teachers and certainly not parents. Who are they and why should their opinion have any value?
A real tragedy to see the ending of a system which, though not perfect, is better than chaos.
Do the people who "govern" us have no sense of right and wrong?
Posted by J Stanley | 07.02.09, 12:05 GMT
The last 11-plus. Wouldn't bank on it. Parents have discovered one thing. The entire education establishment have led them into this chaotic mess. The politicians have been blamed when to accept comprehensive schooling would be political suicide for unionists. The incoherence of Alliance and the SDLP have revealed a split between the Catholic church and middle class parents who want a grammar school education more than religious segregation.
As ever the bright poor are discarded as irrelevant.
I wonder what Robert McCartney has to say on this. He is the only public figure to have made warning of the potential for irreparable damage, especially to the disadvantaged in the columns of the Belfast Telegraph
Posted by M.Blair | 07.02.09, 11:56 GMT
Well there we go then. The final transfer test. We have sacrificed standards so we can pretend that all children are equally intelligent.
Has Ruane not considered it might be beneficial for the most academic children to be taught together, so they can be stretched, and the less academic children to be taught together, so they can get extra support? One type of school will hardly be suitable for every child's needs.
Posted by David | 07.02.09, 11:19 GMT
“The Alliance Party would rather academic selection examinations were not part of our education system, and we maintain our view that a non-selective process at age 14, close to that which operates under the Dickson Plan, represents the way forward.
The Dickson Plan relies on selection. What the Alliance party are saying here is no different to Mrs Ruane.
Posted by T J McClean | 07.02.09, 09:36 GMT
Repeal the Education Order 2006. It is not only transfer to post primary school that is in chaos. The delivery of an Entitlement Framework is still "aspirational" to quote DENI representatives. Provision of assessment to parents is in limbo land. All the while thousands of children are caught up in this almighty mess. So much for the delivery of a world class education system. Shame on all those educators, advisers and members of various working parties and consultative committees who have sat nodding in approval for the past decade. Not one has had the guts to admit they were wrong. All involved are culpable.
Posted by L Saunders | 07.02.09, 09:00 GMT