Out of County - help needed please

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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consultjai
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:28 pm

Out of County - help needed please

Post by consultjai »

Hello,
I am new to this forum. have less knowledge about Bucks GS's and 11+ exams.
I live in Dunstable and my son expressed interest in (Grammar Schools) GS's in Bucks. He is in year 5 now in a local school. I contacted Bucks CC and was told that i can register my son to sit for 11+ exams in Oct 2012. I need advice on the following
1. what are the chances for him getting an admission in one of the GS's in Bucks since he is 'out of county' candidate?
2. if the chances are bright, is there a ranking for GS's in Bucks?
3. if he succeeds, apart from public and private transport (i am happy to take him to and from the school in my car) any other transport option we could get e.g. coach/school bus service from the school covering some areas in dunstable or adjacent areas?
4. where should i start with regards to exam preparation (given that he has less than 6 months to go)
5. anything else i should know/consider before pressing him to concentrate on preparation?

i am sorry if asking the questions asked by others several times in the past.
Thank you for your time.
Jaik
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by Guest55 »

Hi,

Welcome - the Bucks 11+ is a VR test - two papers with the higher score counting. You need '121' to qualify and then allocation is down to distance. Lots of people on here DIY the preparation and there's a lot of help with that.

How far are you from a GS? is this within the allocation distances in the 'sticky'?

The registration normally closes sometime before the test so keep checking online at the Bucks CC website for the dates.
consultjai
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:28 pm

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by consultjai »

Hi Guest55,
thanks for your quick response. distance from my house to Ayelsbury Grammar School is 16.5m according to google map. My son will be 10yrs 8m at the time of Oct 11+ exam this year - so how many right answers expected out of 80 to score 121? sorry i do not understand 'sticky' you mentioned.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by Guest55 »

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... re-11-plus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sorry, the allocation profile is above.

There are two GS in Aylesbury and should should go for both; in fact the Floyd is probably more popular than AGS these days.

No-one know how many questions are needed. It depends on standardisation and age when he takes the test. Somewhere near the top of the Bucks section there is a thread on 2010 raw scores which might give an idea.
andyb
Posts: 645
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:27 am
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by andyb »

consultjai wrote:My son will be 10yrs 8m at the time of Oct 11+ exam this year - so how many right answers expected out of 80 to score 121?
Hi Jaik

DS2 was a similar age to your DS when he sat the test last October and he is off to GS in September. We were aiming for 75/80 in the practice tests (well, we were aiming for 80/80 but let's be reasonable :wink: ). It was a number I picked out of the air as a target score - I think that a child of that age "needs" about 70/80 but because each cohort is different it seemed prudent to aim high. As it happens, DS2 was really against doing any practice at all after the first couple of tests when he scored around 70/80 - he invented any number of reasons/excuses/ailments that meant he couldn't do a practice test so he only did about 10 practice papers in total from January to October :roll: - Bucks 11+ in 6 months is most definitely achievable :D .
consultjai
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:28 pm

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by consultjai »

Hi Andyb,
thats really encouraging and congrats on your sons success. i know there are plenty of materials and resources around and everything depends on our childrens ability - but can you advice on the things/materials i need to concentrate more.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by Guest55 »

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/shop/Bucks" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look for posts by Patricia on the order.

You need to start by teaching the 21 types of questions that will be on the 11+. The IPS books are good for this.
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by patricia »

Welcome Consultjai

Take a look at my second post in the following link.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... =12&t=4782" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This forum is a wealth of information with many members offering help.

Patricia
andyb
Posts: 645
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:27 am
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by andyb »

Hi

Beaten to a response by very knowledgeable people :) . What I noticed in particular with both DS1 and DS2 is that they picked up the methods really quickly, it took longer to get the timing right - 80 questions in 50 minutes is quite daunting to start with. Your DS (and you) also needs to bear in mind that some question types take longer than others so not to panic if there are more than half the questions left but less than half the time.
consultjai
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:28 pm

Re: Out of County - help needed please

Post by consultjai »

thanks you all.
joined yesterday and already learnt a lot about GS's and 11+ preparation tips.
i totally agree that this forum has a wealth of information useful for achieving great results in 11+ exams.
BTW, will distance play a major factor in obtaining a place in the GS's (especially Chesham GS, Aylesbury GS,Dr Challoners GS - all approx 17m and 35 min- since they are reasonably close to my house than other GS's in Bucks) even if my DS is one among the top scorers of 2012 11+ exams?
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