The Tiffin Girls' School

Who should I contact if I have a query?

All queries regarding year 7-11 admissions and the selection tests should be directed to the Admissions Office by email: admissions@tiffingirls.kingston.sch.uk

All queries regarding Y12 admissions should be directed to Sixth Form Admissions by email: sfadmissions@tiffingirls.rbksch.org

Section 1: In Year Admissions to Year 7 to Year 11

See the link on the main Admissions page.

Section 2: Admission to Sixth Form

See the link on the main Admissions page.

Section 3: Admission to Year 7

What are the published admissions criteria for entry into Year 7?

Please see the 'determined admission arrangements' for the relevant September of entry on the main Admissions page.

What are the selection tests like?

Selection for entry to the school is by ability as measured solely by reference to performance in the selection tests.

Stage 1 consists of a multiple choice verbal reasoning test and a multiple choice non-verbal reasoning test. These are prepared exclusively for Tiffin School and Tiffin Girls' School by the National Foundation for Education Research and differ from any other tests which are publicly available. Past papers are not available. The unique nature of the tests makes it difficult to prepare for them. However, familiarization elements, which are not marked, are included before each new section in the test. Note that the results of these two tests are not comparable to those for other schools' entrance tests due to their unique nature.

The selection test consists of a 50 minute Verbal Reasoning paper and a 50 minute Non-verbal Reasoning paper, with a short break in between. Both tests contain 80 questions. Practice verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning papers are available commercially from outlets such as W.H. Smith. However, the questions in them are not as difficult as those used in the Tiffin Girls' School selection tests.

Stage 2 tests are written by the Tiffin Girls’ School and consist of three tests which will assess numeracy and literacy: one test of mathematics, one test of reading and one test of writing.

How are the Stage 1 selection tests marked?

The answer sheets from the Stage 1 tests are marked electronically using an Optical Mark Reader which gives the candidate's raw mark. This is the number of questions in the test that the candidate answered correctly. The raw marks are then sent to GL Assessment to be standardised. The standardised score is different to the candidate's raw mark and takes account of the candidate's age (in months within the year group) on the date the selection test was sat.

Staff from the Tiffin Girls’ school will mark the Stage 2 tests.

Why are the raw test marks from the Stage 1 tests standardised?

Test results are standardised because there can be a difference of almost 12 months between the oldest and youngest children taking the test. Older children normally obtain slightly higher raw marks in ability tests than younger pupils within the same year group. In order not to disadvantage the younger children, an allowance is included in their mark to reflect their younger age.

The allowance is not fixed in advance, but is determined by GL Assessment by comparing the raw marks of all the candidates who have sat the test, according to the month of their birthday.

The standardisation allowance cannot be compared with standardisation tables for ‘off the shelf' tests. These have been devised from samples of children spanning the whole ability range. The profile of the group of children entered for the Tiffin Girls' School selection test is generally of higher than average ability.

More information on the standardisation of raw marks can be found at the following page on the National Foundation for Educational Research website.

When will I hear what my daughter's score in the Stage 1 selection tests was?

Tiffin Girls' School will post a letter to the parents/carers of all candidates that sat the Stage 1 tests as soon as possible after the test. The letter will give the candidate's score, the mark of the 450th applicant. Only applicants who achieve a score equal to, or better than, the mark of the 450th applicant will be eligible for the Stage 2 selection test.

What happens after the Stage 2 tests?

The names of the 150 girls achieving the highest total score in the 3 tests that form the Stage 2 test will be submitted to Kingston LA as potentially having met the Tiffin Girls' School admissions criteria. Kingston LA then exchange this information with all the local authorities that applicants have come from. Each LA then looks to see whether you have met the admissions criteria for the schools you applied to. Your daughter will then be offered a place at the school you gave the highest preference to on your CAF.

When will I hear which school my daughter has been offered a place in?

Letters from all Local Authorities are posted on the same day - 1 March (or the nearest working day after if 1 March falls on a weekend). Across the nation, parents have two weeks in which to accept an offer. If nothing is heard from the parents then that is taken as a refusal of the place on offer.

When will I hear what my daughter's score in the Stage 2 selection tests was?

Tiffin Girls' School will post a letter to the parents/carers of all candidates that sat the Stage 2 tests on the day Local Authorities post the offer letters. The letter will give the candidate's score, the mark of the person offered the 150th place and, if applicable, why the applicant was not offered a place. Also in the letter will be information for parents of girls who are not offered a place about how to appeal against the decision.

If some of the successful candidates decide not to take up their place, how are the vacant places allocated?

From 2 March, a list is kept of all candidates that sat the Stage 2 tests in ranked score order that have not had a higher preference offer. For those on the same score they will be placed in order of distance to Tiffin Girls' School, with the nearest applicant being higher up the list (as judged by Kingston Council's computerised Geographical information System). The ranked score list will be maintained until the end of the school’s academic year, so if any of the candidates offered a place decide not to take it up, their place will be offered to the next applicant on the ranked score list.

The names of girls who have sat the test and who have been offered a higher preference school are removed from the ranked score list.

The ranked score list will no longer be maintained after the end of Year 7 that application was made for entry to. Candidates who took the selection test but who did not achieve the qualifying mark and therefore not offered a place by that date will not be considered for a place at any future time until entry to the sixth form.

If I miss the deadline for applications for Year 7, what do I do?

If your application is received late it may not be possible for your child to be tested for admission the following September. Only applicants who have sat the Stage 1 tests are eligible for the Stage 2 tests.

What are the key dates in the process for September 2013 entry?