Bucks 11+ test 2015

[duffymoon]

Yes that's a good point scary Mum. This is what worries me about my DD as I have heard numerous cases of people previously saying it wasn't that bad and then not qualifying. There can be traps and the obvious answer may not be the correct answer. It's all just a case of nail biting and wait and see!

Same concerns here. DC said "easier than I thought it was going to be". Nails being bitten too !

[StacatoMum]

I'm not sure if I got the actual general sentiment of examinees but it seemed they find it "easier" than what they expected (I know that the result will not automatically reflect this). Comparing answers of those whom I asked last year- more kids were saying it was hard and tricky. I know in several schools kids were really upset after taking the actual exam.

I was wondering if CEM Durham actually took a different route this year, so as not to make the exam too traumatic for the children, and would end up having a higher pass mark instead.

Just a personal hypothesis here.

I'm just glad kids were quite happy and calm at the end of the day in DS' school. Last year, I did see several red puffy eyes yr6-ers being picked up. Good luck to all takers this year... Now I'm praying for a positive result.

[duffymoon]

.....I was wondering if CEM Durham actually took a different route this year, so as not to make the exam too traumatic for the children, and would end up having a higher pass mark instead.

I'm thinking the same thing.

[Marylou]

.....I was wondering if CEM Durham actually took a different route this year, so as not to make the exam too traumatic for the children, and would end up having a higher pass mark instead.

I'm thinking the same thing.

+1!

I hope so too. One thing I've said about this new exam from the start is that it's far harder than it needs to be...not in terms of difficulty level, but based on the sheer number of questions to be answered in such a short time. This can have a bad effect on kids who are used to being able to tackle anything that's thrown at them, when they suddenly encounter something they can't finish but feel as though they should be able to. If children are briefed to expect this, the shock is not so great. Nevertheless I think CEM could easily reduce the number of questions in the Bucks test by up to 25% (while maintaining the same difficulty level) and still end up with a reliable test, even if the raw score needed to reach 121 is increased as a result. At least more kids would feel they were given a fair crack at it.

[Tolstoy]

Could just be that with more CEM prep available the DC were more prepared? Many of DC on this site will have been doing Bond and all sorts.

I hope CEM are producing a more 'opt out' geared test though. When you think how low some of the scores have been it must be incredibly distressing for some DC who have been given no preparation what-so-ever and would find even a SATs paper a bit of a stretch.

[duffymoon]

+1!

I hope so too. One thing I've said about this new exam from the start is that it's far harder than it needs to be...not in terms of difficulty level, but based on the sheer number of questions to be answered in such a short time. ......

My DC thought there were A LOT of questions and not much time to answer them.

[Numair]

Hi,
My first post guys. Fantastic and informative forum.

My daughter felt both the practice and the actual test were not difficult. She said that a lot of her friends found the test easy. Which is obviously fantastic if they are right. However, last year there was only one pass from her school.

We have worked extremely hard and spent months and months practicing and ironing out problem areas. We also have a tutor with a fantastic track record. We have spent a lot of time on speed and my daughter was working well within the allocated times. She has been consistently been scoring 80-85 plus in the tests that we have done.

What does concern me is that there are only a handful of children in her school who have had tuition and dare I say have the support of their parents to pass the test. The 11 plus meeting held at the school before the summer holidays was only attended by 5-6 parents.

My point is if they all thought it was easy have they all just got it massively wrong... should I be concerned. The wait for the results is painful!

[gowest]

DD found the test less difficult and less time-pressured than she expected it to be. She actually found it rather easy (and that worries me more if she would find the test challenging ). However she said: "I am sure I`ve made mistakes".
In some sections she was able to check her answers, some sections she left without checking - she just had time to finish them.
She found Paper 1 just a tad more difficult than Paper 2.
By her own words DCs from her class thought the test was an easy/medium one

[Numair]

Hi Gowest,

My daughter managed to finish everything in time, and double-checked everything. She was very happy on the day of the test (she is normally very hard on herself). I asked was there anything she could have done differently and she replied "No, everything was perfect".

Apart from the odd word that caught her out, she said we had covered everything else.

I just wanted to check what other parents were thinking.

[bucksmum01]

My DS mentioned paper was ok, paper 2 slightly harder than 1. NVR was lengthy in both papers *******he couldn't finish 2 NVR questions in each which he had to guess after narrowing to 2 options. Completed everything else on time...who knows what to believe, but looked relaxed coming out of the exam.
******

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