Copies of past practice papers

[organic_cycles]

Hello. DD is in year five and we are going to move into the area in September. I have just been working on the Bond books - but I understand from this site it is verbal reasoning only. I have read that the county gives out practice papers - can we download copies of these to have a look at?

Thanks!

[scary mum]

They have a familiarisation pack which the local schools do in the summer term and then there are 3 practice papers in September. You may well be able to get the familiarisation pack from Bucks County Council (someone on here will know, or it may be in a sticky, above). If your DD will be in a local school in September she will do the practice papers along with the rest of the class at the correct time. I don't imagine that county would hand out copies as (rather bizarrely) they are the same papers every year. Some children will have done them previously and therefore will score very highly in the practice papers. I see little point in this unless it is to give the child confidence. Personally I have hidden my copies from DC2 & 3. And yes, it is verbal reasoning only in Bucks.

Edit: I probably should also have said that GL assessments (?) produce a pack of 4 paper in a similar style but with 85 questions instead of 80 and ?some questions missing. Again, see the stickies above, I think it is all in there.

[drummer]

The practice papers will be done in school (in September) under exam conditions.

[Y]

Don't use any of the Bond papers for Bucks - they aren't suitable. See the sticky above on DIY/Home tutoring.

[gertie]

Hi, just to say make sure you practice the correct VR question types as there are some particular ones used in Bucks; as mentioned in a previous post you can find the suggested papers on the DIY/Home Tutoring sticky above, plus lots of other useful info.

Children in Bucks are given a familiarisation test followed by 3 practice tests at school shortly before sitting the real thing, although many children are privately tutored months in advance. We chose to go down the route of doing practice papers at home in the lead up to tests and found the tips on this forum very valuable.

[organic_cycles]

Thanks everyone. Just out of curiosity though - why is bond unsuitable - as it covers some of the question types - I think....

[patricia]

Bond use 50 types of questions.

GL Assessment use 21

Bond only cover 17 of the 21 types.

Patricia