A standardised score is your child's raw mark converted onto a common scale that adjusts for their exact age. It usually runs from about 69 to 141, with 100 sitting right in the middle as the average. The age adjustment matters because children in one school year can be almost twelve months apart, and it stops younger children being penalised for being born later in the year. Schools compare standardised scores, not raw marks, when they decide places.
- A standardised score puts your child's raw mark onto a common scale.
- It adjusts for your child's exact age, so younger children are not disadvantaged.
- Scores usually run from about 69 to 141, with 100 as the average.
- Schools compare standardised scores, not raw marks, to decide places.
What a standardised score is
It is a way of expressing how your child did relative to everyone else who sat the same test, on one tidy scale. Rather than reporting a raw count of correct answers, the test turns that count into a score where 100 is the typical result.
Most 11+ standardised scores fall between roughly 69 and 141. A child on 100 is average for the group, while higher numbers mean a stronger result. This conversion is the second half of how the 11+ is scored and marked, after the raw mark is counted.
Why age is adjusted
Children in the same Year 6 cohort can be almost a full year apart in age. A child born in September has had months more development than a classmate born the following August, and at age ten that gap can show.
Age standardisation evens this out. The system looks at your child's age in years and months on the test date and adjusts accordingly, so a summer-born child is compared fairly with older peers. It is also why no child is ever simply "too young" to do well, even though everyone sits at around the same time.
Two children with the same raw mark can receive slightly different standardised scores if one is younger. The younger child's score is nudged to reflect their age, so being born late in the school year is not a disadvantage in itself.
What the numbers mean
Use 100 as your anchor. It is the average, so a score above it means your child performed better than the typical child who sat the test, and a score below means the opposite.
For grammar entry, a standardised score of around 110 or higher is often competitive, although the exact level depends on the school and the year. The top of the scale, near 141, is reached by very few children. Knowing this helps you read the 11+ pass mark sensibly and set a realistic target.
Why schools use it
A standardised score lets a school line up children who sat different papers, on different days, at different ages, and compare them on equal terms. A raw mark cannot do that.
This is what makes the score the basis for selection, and it feeds directly into how many children pass and where the cut-off falls. You will usually see the standardised score itself when results arrive, so it helps to know when 11+ results are released.
Can you improve a standardised score?
You cannot change the age adjustment, but you can absolutely change the raw performance underneath it. Every extra question your child can answer accurately lifts the raw mark, and that lifts the standardised score.
Steady, broad practice across all the tested skills is the reliable route, far more than last-minute cramming. A few minutes of daily practice with Pip keeps maths, English and reasoning improving gently across the whole year.