2017 PSLE Discussions and Strategies

[floppy]

Steadyberry:

Actually I hv friend asking me the same que. since her dd’s t-score is way above her dream school, why should she be bothered to fill in the rest of the 5 choices. If this is not allowed, then how about putting the same school for all 6 choices?

Few years ago, someone got 220+. Then the mother put all 6 choices above 230 thinking that moe will post to one of her choices. In the end, she was posted to a school near her place & of course, the cop of the school is below her daughter’s t score & not above.

Factually, your friend's daughter t-sore is way above her dream school's previous year's COP.
However, last year's COP is not necessary the same as this year's COP. If for some unexplained reasons, the COP goes up way above last year's, she will be stuck with the MOE lottery machine (which tends to throw out some poor options).
Before we dismiss the above as 'impossible', bear in mind that BREXIT is not a figment of our imagination and Donald Trump did become POTUS.

So, fill up the rest of the options with logical choices even if you think liu lian bao jiak.

[Steadyberry]

floppy:

Steadyberry:

Actually I hv friend asking me the same que. since her dd’s t-score is way above her dream school, why should she be bothered to fill in the rest of the 5 choices. If this is not allowed, then how about putting the same school for all 6 choices?

Few years ago, someone got 220+. Then the mother put all 6 choices above 230 thinking that moe will post to one of her choices. In the end, she was posted to a school near her place & of course, the cop of the school is below her daughter’s t score & not above.

Factually, your friend's daughter t-sore is way above her dream school's previous year's COP.
However, last year's COP is not necessary the same as this year's COP. If for some unexplained reasons, the COP goes up way above last year's, she will be stuck with the MOE lottery machine (which tends to throw out some poor options).
Before we dismiss the above as 'impossible', bear in mind that BREXIT is not a figment of our imagination and Donald Trump did become POTUS.

So, fill up the rest of the options with logical choices even if you think liu lian bao jiak.

I told her no harm filling in 6 sch since they are so confident getting their 1st choice.

[veryscared]

lee_yl:

ChiefKiasu:

Actually, my experience with my daughter's t-score this year makes me appreciate the t-score system. She didn't get any A* for any of her subjects, but still managed to get 249, which is way above my expectations. I suspect her raw scores for all her subjects must be quite close to A* for this to happen. Had this been based on the new AL system, she will probably be lumped into the 2nd or 3rd tier group with limited choices for secondary schools, since she has no AL1s.

Exactly! We can criticise the tscore but it does have its merits.

Under the new AL banding, an all rounder getting 91% for all subjects means scoring 4 points (4 subjects AL1s) while scoring 90% for 4 subjects will mean 8 points (4 subjects AL2s), 8 points probably tier 2 or tier 3 schools.

Scoring 249 without any A* means all 4 subjects near A*!

:congrats:

Even my DS is in the top 10% (>252), I still don't think T-score system is fair.

Child with 3A* 1A is having lower T score than another child with 2A*2A? How and in what way, can this be fair? Every parents and students know that to get the extra one mark from 90 to 91 is \"seem so near, yet so far\".

Under new system, 3A*1A might be 5 points and 2A*2A is 6 points, which in my opinion, is fairer.

[woocheehoe.052266gmail.052266com]

Hi all, I read some comments that the COP for this year could be higher as many schools have reported better results as compared to last year (or something similar). I wonder is this just a general comment based on some feedbacks from parents of teachers or there are some true data to support this projection. There are over 200 primary schools and close to 39000 students taking the exams, so I’m not sure if we have enough data to make any meaningful or accurate predictions.

[woocheehoe.052266gmail.052266com]

bbcat:

Mum Needs Advice:

Sorry May I know if this year PSLE score was better , as in more students did well?

Yes many schools reported a stronger showing in this year's psle performance compared to last year. Hence the general consensus is that COP of popular schools will go up cos of the overall good performance of this year's cohort. To be safe, factor this into consideration when selecting yr choice of schools.

Hi, can share the basis of this general consensus as in how many schools a stronger showing and what is this stronger showing, and how e.g. more students with higher average t score, higher quality passes, % into express, % >250 etc?

[Zappy]

veryscared:

Even my DS is in the top 10% (>252), I still don't think T-score system is fair.

Child with 3A* 1A is having lower T score than another child with 2A*2A? How and in what way, can this be fair? Every parents and students know that to get the extra one mark from 90 to 91 is \"seem so near, yet so far\".

Under new system, 3A*1A might be 5 points and 2A*2A is 6 points, which in my opinion, is fairer.

It is difficult to get the extra 1 mark and that's why the T-score is used, right?
The T-score is a transformed score that takes into consideration the national cohort's marks so it correspondingly rewards/ penalizes for any marks relative to that national average.
The sec school posting is also based on this T-score, not the A* or A grades.

Anyway, ultimately, whichever system is used, I honestly believe that the all the desired schools have limited slots and many students wanting to enter. So there will still need to be a system to have a cut-off. Those at the borderline will either find it lucky/ unlucky and MOE has to figure out how to deal with those on a case-by-case basis.

[fable]

[email protected]:

Hi all, I read some comments that the COP for this year could be higher as many schools have reported better results as compared to last year (or something similar). I wonder is this just a general comment based on some feedbacks from parents of teachers or there are some true data to support this projection. There are over 200 primary schools and close to 39000 students taking the exams, so I'm not sure if we have enough data to make any meaningful or accurate predictions.

In terms of objective data, what I have gathered is that the top 10% (represented by Cat 3 language qualifying Tscore) is unchanged from last year at 252 and the top 3% (representated by ESIS qualifying Tscore) is unchanged at 262. Which implies to me that by and large the students performed similarly this year compared to last year. Anecdotally it does sound like more students scored very high T scores, but this may be a self-selection bias. Objectively again it appears that the highest score is higher this year than last, but these outliers don't really affect school COPs, given that each school is taking in approx 200+ students in the S1 exercise.

I think what might affect COP for the top schools is that fewer DSA places were offered to students. While this is unofficial, the schools said that DSA places for IP schools were reduced from up to 50% to about 30 - 35%. I suspect this means that a) there are 15 - 20% more places for students applying via S1 to these schools and b) there are more high scoring students (but less than 15 - 20% more) applying under S1 using T score. My guess (i.e. NOT based on objective information) is that the very top school COPs (RI, HCI, RGS NYGH, MGS) may go up a little because of this, especially because there seems to be a larger number of students who scored in the high 260/270 range), but that by and large it will not affect most schools' COP very much, if at all. But I don't think that would change my application strategy at all. It would be first by what school my child most wants to go to and whether his T Score is higher than last years COP. Then adding options with COPs similar to or lower than this preferred school as insurance in case the COPs have moved significantly this year.

Good luck everyone!

[mum_sugoku]

veryscared:

Even my DS is in the top 10% (>252), I still don't think T-score system is fair.

Child with 3A* 1A is having lower T score than another child with 2A*2A? How and in what way, can this be fair? Every parents and students know that to get the extra one mark from 90 to 91 is \"seem so near, yet so far\".

Under new system, 3A*1A might be 5 points and 2A*2A is 6 points, which in my opinion, is fairer.

I disagree.

Note that the grade \"A\" is for raw scores of 75-90 marks. \"A*\" is for raw scores 91 marks and above

Hence, for child with 3A* 1A, his raw score can range from (91x3+75=) 348 to (100x3+90=) 390

For a child with 2A* 2A, his raw score can range from (91x2+75x2=) 332 to (100x2+90x2=) 380.

Both the upper and lower limit of child with 3A*1A is clearly higher than that of one with 2A*2A

Of cos if the 3A*1A child scored 348 marks (lowest possible), and the 2A*2A child score 380 (highest possible), the 2A*2A will enjoy a higher t-score than the 3A*A (since 380>348).

On the other hand, under the to-be-implemented AL system, for a child with 2A*2A, whether his raw marks is 332 (lowest possible) or 380 (highest possible), he still gets 6 points.

You can see that the current t-score system reflects the child's actual exam marks more accurately and IMO, is a much fairer system.

I mean, will you still find it fair if you know your 2A*2A child's raw score is 380, a good 48 marks higher than his 2A*2A classmate's raw score of 332, but both are still getting the same 6 points (and stand exactly same chance in selection of sec schools)?

[ss2]

Completely Agreed with you.Current system is much fairer than points.

[Png123]

Steadyberry:

Actually I hv friend asking me the same que. since her dd’s t-score is way above her dream school, why should she be bothered to fill in the rest of the 5 choices. If this is not allowed, then how about putting the same school for all 6 choices?

Few years ago, someone got 220+. Then the mother put all 6 choices above 230 thinking that moe will post to one of her choices. In the end, she was posted to a school near her place & of course, the cop of the school is below her daughter’s t score & not above.

I think this year, the COP of Top School will be a few points higher. Unless you are high band of 260s or great than 270, better be careful. If you read DSA 2017 thread, this year DSA, many GEP kids were not successful. Many mainstream neighbourhood school kids were successful. The GEP kids and other kids from top schools' top classes, they will have to compete via PSLE. This is why you are hearing many high scores this year because these top performers high 260s and 270s, they are forced to go all out in PSLE. So, better put in all 6 choices with a few school with lower COP. Be careful this year. The COP for Top School will be high. Even the ESIS COP is higher by 2 points this year and third language is also higher.