There’s a new transfer test on the block and its name is SEAG…Making its debut this November is the new SEAG transfer test! Wait what? Another new transfer test! The days of the AQE and GL transfer tests are gone. What is this new transfer test and how on earth do you pronounce it? We are going to take a deep dive into the new transfer test, finding out exactly what it is and how we actually say it!
Psst…if you would like to grab a SEAG Style Practice Paper, sign up here and get my FREE SEAG Practice Paper and Step-by-Step Teaching Guide for parents!
What is the Transfer Test Northern Ireland?
The Transfer Test system has been around since the 1940s. The main purpose of the transfer tests is for grammar schools to select their new intake of students for the next academic year. Most of us remember it as the 11-plus test and probably sat these tests ourselves. My most vivid memory of my 11-plus days was my teacher telling us that having chocolate before the test would help us answer the question. So that first Friday morning in 2004, I skipped into school with a handful of Freddos! (They were still 10p back then!) Fast forward to 2008, the 11-plus is scrapped, two private companies take over and the AQE and GL assessments were born.
The AQE and GL Assessments
The AQE assessment consisted of three, one-hour long papers set over three Saturdays. There was a mix of English and Math open-response questions. The student’s result for the AQE was taken from their two highest scores from the three papers. This allowed the students to have an “off day.”
The GL assessment consisted of two, one-hour-long papers which were held on the same Saturday with a short break in between. The papers consisted of one English paper and one Math paper with the questions being multiple choice. Rather than marking their answers on the actual paper, students were required to mark their answers on an answer sheet.
Having pupils of 10 and 11 years old, sitting a minimum of three test papers and a maximum of five test papers over a four-week period, is very intense for children of such a young age. Welcome to 2023, where there’s a new sheriff in town…
The New SEAG Transfer Test
Before we take a deep dive into the new transfer test, let’s learn how to pronounce it. Don’t worry you are not alone, most of my transfer students’ parents have asked me how to say it! SEAG, pronounced see-ag, stands for The School’s Entrance Assessment Group. I don’t know about you but I would rather take a gamble of trying to pronounce SEAG correctly than trying to remember that full name!
SEAG is a private company run by principals of schools who are members of SEAG. Member schools are grammar schools where your child can apply to sit the tests and that your child can apply to go to, using their results from the SEAG assessments.
The SEAG Transfer Test Papers
The SEAG transfer test papers are basically the AQE assessment and GL assessment combined. This means the papers are both multiple-choice and open-response questions. Your child must come up with the answers to open-response questions. There aren’t any answer options included. Pupils will record their answers on an answer sheet and there will be two papers instead of five test papers.
Those who attend Irish-speaking schools or speak Irish within their family can take the test papers in English or in Gaeilge.
The dates for the tests are Saturday the 16th of November 2024 and Saturday the 23rd of November 2024. Say goodbye to giving up four of your Saturdays to the transfer test because there is a one-week gap between papers! This is a blessing for your child and for you! You can use that one week to relax, de-stress and also do a tiny bit of extra preparation for the last test.
SEAG Application
You can complete the registration and application for your child to sit the SEAG transfer test 2024, via the SEAG website. The applications cost £20.00. However, it is free for pupils with a Free School Meals Entitlement (FSME). The registration and application process closes on Friday the 20th of September 2024 at 11.59pm. To complete the registration and application process you will need your child’s:
- Basic information – full name, address, date of birth and primary school name.
- Birth certificate
- Passport size photo
- Payment method for the £20.00 fee
- If you have a child who is entitled to free school meals, you need to submit evidence of this in order to be exempt from the fee.
If your child needs special requirements or specific needs, remember to complete the Access Arrangements step in the application.
The Assessment Centres
When completing your child’s registration and application, you can select which assessment centre you would like your child to sit the tests in. I recommend choosing an assessment centre that is close to your home. The assessment centre you select does not affect your child’s school choice. For example, if your child sits their tests in Friends and your child wants to go to Hunterhouse, this will have no impact on their school selection. If an assessment centre reaches maximum capacity, your child will be required to sit their transfer tests in another centre.
The Test
The timings of the test are 60 minutes to complete the 56 questions in the test. Your child will be required to mark their answers on the marking sheet provided. They should get as much practice using these answer sheets before the big day to become used to it. Three sections, Practice Section, English Section and Maths, make up the transfer test papers.
Section 1: The Practice Section
This section consists of 5 English and 5 Maths questions. These 10 questions will be completed as a warm-up exercise, and are not counted towards the final mark. This section will give your child a chance to get rid of any pre-test jitters they may be feeling and warm up their brains.
Section 2: The English Section of the Test
28 questions make up the English section of the test. They consist of 15 multiple-choice spelling, grammar and punctuation questions and a comprehension section which consists of 7 multiple-choice questions and 6 open-response questions. The spelling and punctuation sections were included in the previous GL assessment with the grammar section being new to SEAG.
Section 3: The Maths Section of the Test
The Maths section of the test includes 28 transfer test questions which consist of 22 multiple-choice questions and 6 open-response questions. All maths topics are taken from the Northern Ireland Key Stage 2 curriculum and range from questions on fractions to shapes.
The Answer Sheet
Your child will record their answers on the SEAG answer sheet. They will mark the boxes with a horizontal line. The multiple-choice options contain 5 possible answers – A, B, C, D and E. For the spelling and punctuation sections of the test, there will also be an N option which means there is no mistake. Encourage your child to mark their answers carefully as it’s easy to mark the wrong boxes.
SEAG Transfer Test Scores Explained
The results of the test are scheduled to be sent out to pupils on Saturday the 25th of January 2025 and can be accessed via a secure area on the SEAG website. That means no more peeking out the living room blinds to see if the post is coming! The results will arrive as a ‘Statement of Outcome,’ which is just a fancy way of telling you how your child performed in the SEAG assessments. Your child’s Total Standardised Age Score (TSAS), you’ve probably guessed by now that SEAG loves their acronyms, is the overall outcome of the two papers. Their Standardised Age Score (SAS) takes into account your child’s age when they took the test, the number of correct answers given in the two papers and the difficulty of the test papers.
To reach your child’s score, the assessors will look at:
- Your child’s English Standardised Age Score (SAS) for Papers 1 and 2.
- Your child’s Maths Standardised Age Score (SAS) for Papers 1 and 2.
The Bands
The Statement of Outcomes also includes six Bands which are appointed as Bands 1 to 6 and Cohort. The cohort is all of the pupils who sit the SEAG tests in that particular year. For example, if your child achieves a cohort percentile of 70, this means they will be awarded Band 1 and they scored in the top 30% of pupils who have sat the test. If they achieve a cohort percentile of 35, this means they will be awarded Band 4 and they scored in the top 65% of pupils who have sat the test.
Grammar Schools Admissions Criteria
Each SEAG school will decide on their admissions criteria for each academic year. This means different schools may have other criteria depending on what their Board of Governors agree on. They may decide to use pupils’ Total Standardised Age Score (TSAS), the band they receive or a combination of both. Make sure you check the admissions criteria for your child’s favourite schools.
More Information on the new SEAG Transfer Test Northern Ireland
5 fantastic, simple ways to prepare your child for the SEAG transfer test
Details of Single Transfer Test NI 2024
I hope I have helped you understand the ins and outs of the SEAG transfer test a bit better. If you would like some tips on how to prepare your child for the transfer test, check out my blog post on 5 fantastic, simple ways to prepare your child for the SEAG transfer test! Let me help you turn transfer test preparation from chaos to calm!
