Our Lady and St Patrick’s College
Welcome to Our GLA Information Evening
GL Assessment and PPTC
Post-Primary Transfer Consortium
[PPTC] is made up of 35 Grammar
Schools
It uses GL Assessment to produce
and mark assessments in English and
mathematics based on the Northern
Ireland Key Stage 2 curriculum
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GL Assessment and PPTC
GL Assessment tests are used by over
85% of all UK primary and secondary
schools every year. This makes it the
UK's largest independent provider of
educational assessments.
GLA provide a bespoke, standardised
test to the PPTC for the purpose of
determining transfer from Primary
School to Grammar School.
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Key Dates
27 Sept 2013
Deadline for Registration
16 Nov 2013
Entrance Assessment Day
25 Nov 2013
Deadline to request the
Supplementary Assessment
7 Dec 2013
Supplementary Assessment
13 Dec 2013
Deadline for claims of Special
Circumstances
31 Jan 2014
Outcomes posted to parents
14 Feb 2014
Deadline for re-mark requests
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Registration Pack
Contains:
 Registration Form; photograph required
Specification for English and Maths
Sample English and Maths Booklets
Sample English and Maths Answer sheets
Guidance Notes and Access Arrangements
Frequently Asked Questions
www.pptcni.com has this information
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Arrangements on 16 November
Everyone who applied to sit their
Assessment in Our Lady and St Patrick’s
College, Knock will be able to do so.
Classrooms will be used rather than large
halls.
P7s to wear school uniform
As far as possible children will be in a
room with some children from their
Primary School.
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Assessment Day 16 November
Parents will leave their
children at the front door
of the College at 9.00am
Parents are welcome to
stay in the College during
the morning – tea and
coffee will be provided.
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Arrangements on 16 November
Staff will welcome
each boy and girl and
check the Information
Card which they bring
with them.
A member of staff will
stay with each group
and bring them to their
room at 0930.
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Details of GLA Tests
There are two standardised assessment
papers in English and Mathematics
Multiple choice format with 4 or 5
potential answers
First paper – English followed by BREAK
Second paper - Mathematics
Separate answer sheets
There is no charge to parents
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Details of GLA Tests
English Familiarisation and Practice:
1 short reading passage with 3 familiarisation
questions (answers and explanations given)
7 Practice questions (correct answers will be
read out)
English Assessment – 3 reading passages and
60 questions in 50 minutes
Comprehension, spelling and punctuation.
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Details of GLA Tests
Maths Familiarisation and Practice:
3 Familiarisation and 6 Practice questions
Maths Assessment – Number, Money,
Measurement, Geometry, Processes
45 questions in 45 minutes
12:30pm Children escorted to school exits
and collected by parents.
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Access Arrangements
For pupils with:
Special Educational Needs;
Medical needs;
Factors requiring reasonable adjustments
to be made to the assessment process;
Complete Forms AA1, AA2 and/or AA3.
and claims will be considered by Centre.
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Entrance Assessment Outcomes 1
There is a Supplementary Assessment for
children who were absent, with good
reason, or were unable to complete both
papers through illness
If a child sits the Supplementary Assessment
on 7 December 2013 then only these
outcomes will be used
Individual PPTC schools are free to use the
outcomes in ways which suit the school and
are in accordance with its Admissions
Criteria.
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Entrance Assessment Outcomes 2
Parents will receive the following
outcomes on Saturday 1st February:
1 An Entrance Assessment Grade –
i.e. A, B1, B2, C1, C2 and D and
awarded in percentages.
2 Standardised Age Scores (SAS) for both
English & Mathematics
3 National Percentile Ranks (NPR) for
both English & Mathematics
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Entrance Assessment Outcomes 3
Our Lady and St Patrick’s College,
will use Entrance Assessment
Grades as the first criteria i.e
Grade A before B1 before B2,
before C1 etc.
Other criteria such as siblings,
eldest child, SAS, etc will be used
to differentiate between children
in the same band – see Transfer
Booklet from SEELB.
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Special Circumstances
If your child has experienced adverse
circumstances which have affected
his/her performance in the Entrance
Assessment you should complete and
return Form SCR before the deadline of
2.00pm on Friday 13th December, 2013
Form SCR is available from the College
and from our website www.knock.co.uk
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Familiarisation Day 11 November
Supervisors will take you
to the assessment room;
Birth certificates will be
returned and questions
answered;
You can see the location
of the toilets;
 Remember the rooms
will have no visible aids.
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Open Day – Saturday, 11 Jan
The College will be
open from 9.15am
to 12 noon for P6
and P7 pupils and
their parents to
visit and meet staff
and students.
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To Conclude
More Registration
Packs available at
Reception
If you have
questions wait in
the Hall
Best wishes to all
P7s
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