11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi,

Can anyone suggest material to use for the English portion of the multiple choice GL Assessment test? Not too worried about exam technique at this stage. My aim is to identify any gaps she may have. DD2 is currently in year 4.

My current plan is to go through CGP's "11+ English Practice Book with Assessment Tests" for ages 9-10 and then 10-11.

Thanks in advance.

Thinking (out loud) about this, I wondered if an up to date KS2 revision book may be the answer with regards to finding gaps. With the recent changes to the English curriculum, I wonder if the 11+ test providers will be adding new questions to cover the new skills.

I'll update if I find anything.

Hi RedPanda,
Your current plan is exactly what we did and it worked well (DS in year 6 so followed the new curriculum); the CGP 11+ series is generally very good. Good luck!

What about Bond?

We did Bond with DS1 and mostly left it out with DS2. If I were to use Bond books for English, I would go for their 'Up To Speed' and 'Stretch' series- they can be useful for targeted practice, as they have sections organised by topic, rather than only mixed tests. Still prefer CGP, though.

ETA: Bond's 'Assessment Papers' books are exactly the same in terms of contents as they were 6 years ago, only the cover is different. The two of their series I've mentioned are quite new - I don't remember seeing them when we did 11+ first time round. CGP, on the other hand, is more current - their first 11+ books started coming out in late 2012/2013, with new titles being added all the time (it's not relevant for GL English, but I've just noticed they published NVR '3D and Spatial' a few months ago and a VR 'Cloze' last March).

Thank you for that PurpleDuck. That's just the nudge I needed.

salsa - I used Bond last time around for Maths (10 min tests). I found them easier than CGP and the official GL Assessment material. Came in useful when DD1 was having a wobble. I've never used their English material though.

You're welcome, RedPanda.