Help! (again please)

[PettswoodFiona]

You can do a 'mock' at home - there's no need to pay for one.

Bucks selects the top third or so as 'suitable for a GS' and score (once 121 is achieved) is irrelevant - Kent is a bit different I think?

DD sat for Kent which we are not on but neighbouring as backup (top 25% but once you pass - just a pass, not score it is just about distance in most cases), Bexley - just a pass score again (5,500 sat for about 950 places but many sit for other regions too) and superselectives in Bromley (top 5% roughly but is based on score unlike the other two regions - harder for the boys than the girls due to catchment). Top 33% does sound less pressurised so definitely no need to do a mock for the most able but formal mocks may be beneficial to those of nervous disposition, needing a reassuring scenario, or borderline. We did paper tests at home but it wasn't always easy to identify which types of question she was struggling most with as they were scattered throughout the paper and a real mock in a large hall gave experience of jiggling question paper, answer sheet and note paper and all in a hall with official announcements. It also showed up anomalies like where she'd answered the question correctly but marked the box diagonally rather than across and so the computer had marked as wrong - simple techniques that all added together help. The mock provider we used sent an analysis of the type of questions E.g 3 out of 3 for type a and then 1 out of 3 for type b and we knew we only needed to work on type b and f etc and it made for a relaxing light work summer. It worked as DD got into the school of her choice.

[kittymum]

Whilst I'm certainly not disagreeing with Guest re it being in principle the top third who pass it doesn't quite reflect the reality. We are an opt out county but last year, in my area only 88% sat the test (lower in other areas). Of that 88% only 25% qualified initially rising to 28% post review. Bearing in mi d these figures (Wycombe) include places like Marlow where qualifiers are probably closer to 50 or 60% then there must be some areas with very low qualifiers. Plus the ooc cohort are all likely to be highly tutored which again sways things.

Also re tutors this Sept will be the 4th year of CEM do it's no longer a new thing in Bucks - I can't believe there are tutors not up to speed!

That said my children didn't do mocks / timed papers - we just did some individual timed sections.

[Guest55]

Bucks children sit in the test in their own school not in a large hall with children they do not know.

I think 'tourism' may not be so rife this year with the test moving to a later date - it is that that pushes the 'local' qualification rate down.

[2littleboys]

Guest55

Re tutoring:Sally Anne kindly PM'ed me a reputable company so I'm going to go with them as I don't feel confident DIY'ing. Obviously I will keep a close eye on things to see how my son is getting on, his weak spots etc so that "I'm on top" of the situation.

PettswoodFiona, Kittymum and Guest55

Re mocks:I'm not sure yet. My son can get quite anxious in unfamiliar situations so he may well benefit from taking a mock exam before the real thing although I know that they do this in school a few days before sitting the 11+ so that may be sufficient. I shall worry about that nearer the time-I have got to get through this year first

Thank you all very much for your helpful comments and suggestions