2.  Cognitive  Ability  Testing  Objective testing – independently marked and interpreted by an outside agency  Completed online with both auditory and visual instructions

3.  Widely in the UK  Widely in British International Schools  JPGS have introduced this form of testing this academic year with Year 7 and Year 9  It is planned to introduce this form of testing with Year 4 and Year 6 next term

4.  A body of knowledge  These tests cannot be learnt and revised for..

5.  A child’s ability to manipulate and interpret different types of symbols which feature in everyday learning

6.  A child’s ability to understand and interpret verbal symbols – WORDS  A child’s ability to understand and interpret quantitative symbols – NUMBERS  A child’s ability to understand and interpret non-verbal symbols and patterns – SHAPES SYMBOLS

7.  Each individual child’s score is measured against ALL children of the same age in the UK and internationally where this form of testing is used  Each individual child’s score is standardised taking into account his / her chronological age  As a school we get the results and the interpretation of each child’s score numerically

8.  A child’s POTENTIAL  Dependent on age…..  Where a child should be as a minimum at the end of Year 6 in terms of a National Curriculum Level in each subject area…particularly Maths English and Science

9.  Where a child should be at the end of Year 9 in terms of National Curriculum Levels in different subjects  What sort of minimum IGCSE examination results a child should be achieving at the end of Year 11  Even potential results at AS and A level (Years 12 and 13)

10.  Helps identify strengths and weaknesses of an individual child so these can be targeted  Identifies a child’s best learning style so staff in their planning can take this into consideration  Helps staff know in what areas pupils need challenging and support

11.  An individual child may be exceeding the potential level that the CAT predicts – good news! JPGS is adding value to the child’s education as he/she is doing better than might have been expected  An individual child may not be achieving as well as the CAT predicts – this may be due to a number of factors which can be investigated and hopefully rectified through intervention within school

12.  This will come in the form of a letter with your individual child’s scores  100 is the average  There will be a mean score which is the average of the 3 tests verbal, quantitative and non-verbal tests  A score for the verbal test  A score for the quantitative test  A score for the non-verbal test

13.  Interpretation of what each score means 127 and aboveVery High 126 - 112Above Average 111 - 89Average 88 - 74Below Average 73 and belowVery low

14.  Information regarding potential end of Year 6/9 levels  For example:  English:  Mean: 101 – 6c (end of Year 9) – B (IGCSE)

15.  For Year 7 we sent out the standardised scores plus the projected end of Year 9 National Curriculum levels  For Year 9 we will be sending out the standardised scores plus the end of Year 9 National Curriculum levels and the projected IGCSE grades in different subject areas to help with subject choices for Key Stage 4  The probability in percentage terms of a child achieving 5 A* - C including English Language and Maths  Hopefully then pupils will choose subjects that they are stronger in!

16.  In consultation with Mr O’Shaughnessy and Mr Bedford we will feedback information that will be helpful to you as parents

17.  Everything I have talked about is referring to potential…  Children with hard work and a positive attitude to learning can far exceed their potential..  Equally children who do not commit themselves fully to learning can fall short of their potential  Hopefully you are now more informed about Cognitive Ability Testing..

18.  Website for more information on the Cognitive Ability Tests www.gl-assessment.co.uk