I am rarely caught out completely by admission matters, but events at the two Chatham grammar schools for entry in September 2017 have completely amazed me. These are compounded by the Medway Test results this year, when the built in bias towards girls’ success has completely vanished, as explained below.
The Medway Test outcomes, in summary, have seen 23% of the Medway cohort this year found suitable for grammar school before Reviews take place, which is exactly on target as in 2016. However, the annual gender differential stretching back for years, which saw 25% of girls passing the test as against 21% of boys in 2016, has disappeared, with 23% of both boys and girls passing for admission in 2018.
Both Chatham grammar schools have been suffering from a shortage of pupils in recent years: in 2015, Chatham Girls admitted just 93 pupils with a planned admission number of 142; and Holcombe Grammar (previously Chatham Boys) 106, PAN 120. This September Chatham Girls has admitted over 180 pupils, Holcombe over 150.
The main reason for this dramatic surge in numbers is the influx of London children who, uniquely in Medway are grammar qualified for the two Chatham’s by virtue of success in the Kent Test. For September 2018 entry, there were 659 out of county passes, including 263 from London Boroughs (the largest number as always were the 381 from Kent).
So, what do these remarkable outcomes offer for 2018 entry? Some thoughts below, together with further analysis of Medway Test results. You will find further information on the Review process and its implications for appeals, here, which will answer most queries.
Medway Test Outcomes 2017 | |||
| Boys | Girls | Total | |
Medway Pupils | 1649 | 1632 | 3281 |
Entered Test | 857 | 928 | 1785 |
Passed Test | 381 | 375 | 756 |
% Pass Rate | 23.1% | 23.0% | 23.0% |
% Pass Rate 2016 (before Review) | 21.0% | 25.2% | 23.1% |
It is apparent that the historical reason for the bias towards girls in the Medway Test is through the English component, a single piece of Free Writing, which is not age standardised in the same way as the VR and maths, which both produce little gender bias. The only solution I can see is that a new type of marking scheme, set this year after the previous marking team was dismissed somehow reverses the bias.
Another issue that has arisen with the Free Writing Assessment is the standardisation system that is applied. To quote the NFER, the country’s leading research institute ‘Standardised scores from most educational tests cover the same range from 70 to 140’. The occasional pupil dips a point below or above this range, but I have never come across one in the Medway Test. This year for some reason at least two boys without a bad record scored 65 & 67, way adrift, of the base line, and at least one girl scored 146, way above the normal cut off.
Just one school, Phoenix Junior Academy, had no one taking the test, and one small school had no successes.
Out of County Medway Test Outcomes | ||
Number Entered | Number Passed | |
| Kent | 624 | 381 |
| Greenwich | 150 | 91 |
| Bexley | 146 | 86 |
| Bromley | 36 | 28 |
| Lewisham | 33 | 17 |
Southwark | 11 | 6 |
Newham | 10 | 9 |
Thurrock | 8 | 5 |
Other London Boroughs | 29 | 21 |
| Other | 16 | 14 |
| TOTAL | 1063 | 659 |
| Total 2016 | 918 | 626 |
The number of ooc candidates for Medway grammar schools continues to rise far faster than the local population. It is down to two main factors, primarily the caravan rolling down from London Boroughs, where there is an inexhaustible supply of families seeking grammar school places for their children. First stop are the four Dartford grammar schools, nearest the county boundary and easily accessible by rail. With a combined 600 children failing to gain access in spite of placing one of the schools as first preference, many will have put the Gravesend grammars on as a back up. As these are mainly second preferences, it is impossible to identify the pressure on them, but again many are thwarted. Gravesend Grammar, admitting over a quarter of its pupils from London, when it aspires to be a school serving the local community, has reduced its PAN from 180 to 150 for 2018 entry. That just leaves Medway grammars, and social media sites reveal that many put the schools down without even having visited them (as also can happen in Gravesend) and know nothing about them.
The issue is exacerbated by an additional considerable number of children who don’t feature in this table, who qualify for the two Chatham grammar schools by virtue of success in the Kent Test, without needing to take the Medway Test.
Rainham Mark Grammar School, up to now super-selective, happily is turning against the tide of chasing every higher grades by selecting and retaining only the highest performers, as described elsewhere on this site. From September 2018, the school has abandoned high scores and is giving priority to those children who live nearest, which means the few London families who will be offered places will be siblings of current pupils.
The second issue is of course wider awareness of opportunities with an ever increasing proportion of Kent children living in towns such as Gravesend and Sittingbourne taking the Medway Test as a backup.
I suspect none of this will affect decision making this year, and anticipate the ever increasing ooc effect will ensure another year of high oversubscription.