Selective test score calculator: raw marks to percentile and band
Enter your child's raw mark on each Selective Set 01 paper. The calculator ranks each mark among real Test Academy first sittings of that paper and shows which Department report band that rank falls in. Where a paper does not yet have enough sittings, you get a clearly marked rough guide instead. There is no login, and nothing you type is stored. Not sat Set 01 yet? Sit it online free, no card, and each paper is marked for you.
How the Department's bands read
The Department's performance report says: “For each of the test components, the report shows where your child performed in one of four bands”. The bands count down from the top, so each label only makes sense with the ones above it:
- Lowest 50%lower half
- Next 25%so top half
- Next 15%so top 25%
- Top 10%top 10%
So “next 15%” is the top 25% of the state, and “next 25%” is the top half. The Department adds: “The Performance report does not give individual test scores or placement ranks.” In our view that leaves a family with very little to act on, since one band can hold half the state. A raw mark on a known paper, ranked against real sittings, places each section much more precisely.
Enter the Set 01 marks
No marks yet? Sit Set 01 online.
Free, no card. Each paper is marked for you and ranked against the same first sittings this calculator uses.
Questions families ask
What does the Department's report show?
The Department says: "For each of the test components, the report shows where your child performed in one of four bands": top 10%, next 15%, next 25% and lowest 50%. It adds: "The Performance report does not give individual test scores or placement ranks." We think that leaves families with too little to act on, because a single band spans up to half the state. A raw mark on a known paper, ranked against real sittings, says far more precisely where each section stands and what to work on next.
What does "next 15%" mean?
The bands are cumulative from the top. "Next 15%" sits under the top 10%, so it means the top 25% but not the top 10%. "Next 25%" means the top half but not the top 25%, and "lowest 50%" is the lower half.
Why is a middle rank in this calculator still a strong rank statewide?
The percentile compares your child with Test Academy students: families who are preparing for the Selective test, many of them already strong. Everyone who applies sits the real test, prepared or not, so the same mark usually ranks higher across the state than it does among our students.
Does this predict a selective school offer?
No. The Department says: "There are no set minimum entry scores to receive an offer to a selective high school or opportunity class." That is true in the sense that no number is ever published, but places still go in order of merit, so a stronger band profile is a stronger position. This calculator ranks one paper at a time. It gives no school, no offer chance and no cut-off, and it does not combine the sections.
How accurate is it?
It is calibrated on real first sittings of each paper, and it is accurate as a ranking among those sittings. Where a paper does not yet have enough sittings, the calculator says so and shows a rough guide instead of a percentile.
What should we do with each band?
Top 10%: Keep the timing sharp and widen the range of question types; at this level, marks are lost to pace and careless slips more than to gaps. Next 15%: Find the two or three question types that cost the most marks and work on those; a band 2 section is usually a few habits away from band 1. Next 25%: Go back over every wrong answer with its explanation before sitting another paper; the gains at this level come from understanding, not volume. Lowest 50%: Rebuild the foundations of this section slowly, one question type at a time, untimed at first; more full papers will not move it yet.
Why is Writing not included?
A Writing mark comes from a marking rubric, so a mark given at home cannot be ranked fairly against marked sittings. Sit the Writing paper online for criterion-by-criterion feedback instead.