How schools mark 11plus maths papers

How is the 11+ maths paper marked?

The marking process for the 11 plus maths test typically involves the following steps:

1. Assignment of Marks: Each maths question is assigned a specific number of marks. Typically, easier questions are worth fewer marks, while more challenging questions carry more marks.

2. Workings: Some exam boards and schools award marks for showing workings. This encourages students to demonstrate their problem-solving process, even if they make a mistake in the final answer.

3. Raw Score Calculation: The examiner adds together all the marks earned by the student across all questions to create a raw score. This score reflects the total number of correct answers, including any marks awarded for showing workings.

4. Standardisation: Many exam boards then use a process called standardisation to create a 'standardised age score'. This takes into account the student's age in years and months at the time of the exam, as well as their raw score. The purpose of standardisation is to ensure fairness, particularly for students who may be younger or older relative to their peers due to their birthdate. This process helps to mitigate any potential disadvantage that could arise from differences in age.

5. Score Interpretation: The standardised age score provides a measure of how the student performed relative to other students of the same age. It allows for a fair comparison across different age groups and helps identify the student's strengths and areas for improvement.

Overall, the marking process for the 11 plus maths test aims to provide a fair and accurate assessment of the student's mathematical abilities, taking into account both the correctness of answers and the process of problem-solving demonstrated.