11 Plus Exams Forum

Has anyone else noticed a drop in marks with this paper or is it just my DS? This is admittedly the 2nd time we're doing them (I know.. not the best thing to do, but I went the hard way around this, I did the practice papers, then the vocab and now back to the practice papers!). He just seemed to find this paper much more difficult than the rest of the Bright Sparks (even more difficult than Walsh )

Bright Sparks are graded within each pack.

Test 1 being easier than test 4 and test 5 being easier than test 8

I use them in the order 1,5 2, 6, 3, 7, 4, 8

Patricia

Thank you Patricia, now it all makes sense. No wonder he got such high marks on paper 1

dear patricia just want to let you know i brought the 11+ vr practice test by susan j. daughtrey pack 2 but it does not say anything on the cover about bright sparks. is this the right test papers! if so what should my ds be getting as a pass mark out of 80 questions. for a jan child in bucks.

Dear khanj010

Yes, they were called Bright Sparks, then had a name change to just Susan Daughtrey. Both can be found from various sources. They are identical, so please do not worry.

To check they have 4 tests inside, each test is a different colour - lilac,blue, green and red.

I like my students to be scoring 72/80 ie. 90%

Patricia

DS had a complete nightmare with paper 4 - but bounced back on 5! It may be an easier paper but it did wonders for his confidence! He also found no. 6 difficult and was a bit slow. 7 was better but he didn't quite finish in time. He's already decided he doesn't like these papers so I'm trying to think up ways of persuading him to do paper 8.

Marylou wrote:so I'm trying to think up ways of persuading him to do paper 8.

Bribary goes a long way...

I bribed all 3 of my own children [many moons ago] they received £1 for every test they scored 90% and over. In addition they had to complete the test without moaning and groaning ...

So if they score 90% or over but made a fuss, they did not get their £1...

Once they realised I meant it about the moaning, they got the hang of it!

Peace.

Patricia

patricia wrote:In addition they had to complete the test without moaning and groaning ...

Once they realised I meant it about the moaning, they got the hang of it!

I, too, resort to bribery - but now I think I know where I've been going wrong...

My daughter completed all the Bright Sparks Tests and also struggled with Test 4.

This is the only Bright Sparks test where she failed, getting 79%. I must admit that I didn't know how the papers were graded and that it is advisable to do them in a specific order. We just sat them 1 through to 8. She got 93% in the last one that she did, which was Test 8.

We're currently working our way through Walsh. My daughter has sat 8 papers so far. She's passed 5 and failed 3 of them. She has found Walsh Paper 6 the most difficult so far, with Walsh Paper 3 being the least difficult (I won't say easiest - because they are by no means easy!!!!)

How are others getting on with Walsh?

I've avoided Walsh altogether as DS gets very disheartened when he encounters words he doesn't know. I think it would be counterproductive for him at this stage. Not saying that's the same for everyone, mind - I'm sure they are useful in some circumstances and for stretching children who might benefit from more challenging vocabulary, but I don't want to knock his confidence too much. Besides, we've had enough papers what with IPS, Tutors, Bright Sparks, GL Assessment and the official practice tests for him to have done (and still be doing) at least one practice test a week since last spring!