11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi gang,
Rash, hope you're OK...?
Are your preparations going well everyone?
DS has either got nerves kicking in already - or hormone levels are up the wall

Got my menu sorted out for week - no junk, all good green stuff and fish and seeds

We're [trying to] curb Xbox and computer this week, but also exam prep... he's got loads of good books lined up and will hopefully "Chill".

Anyone got any tips / good ideas... suspect this is going to be a stressful week for all concerned !
Nicky
[edit] BTW... Good Luck to everyone

There will be a lot of people there - read the posts about previous 12+ 'events'.

Leave plenty of time - your child may be called in alphabetical order as ther will be a hall full of children. This will probably be more formal than they are used to.

I wish you all enormous good luck for next week.

We were surprised at the number of anxious children waiting to go in BUT.. the exam hall, although vast, was very organised, calm, supervised like a small military operation and despite having shaky legs, once my son got the exam paper and turned it over, he realised he could do the questions and he said the 45 mins just flew by...so everything crossed that you will find it all just the same.

Parents have to wait outside the school, it was a freezing cold day last year when we took the test, all the parents waited in their cars, heating on and within minutes, windows down chatting to each other and comparing notes, it was quite funny on reflection!

Most of the children came out running and smiling with a whole different look on their faces from when they went in - and then the wait for the results....

Everything crossed for you all - you'll be in my thoughts - GOOD LUCK

Ambridge x

Which venue are they using?

The Grange is easier to park and the access is off a through road. If they are using The Misbourne this is down a cul-de-sac and traffic can be crazy.

My nerves have kicked in big time but thank goodness my DD is appears completely unaffected! Have planned a very quiet weekend and relieved that we are on first thing as she is very much a morning person!

Practice has been going so well and she seems very focused and relaxed. Think the nerves are better as she is luckily very happy at her current school!

Did ring Bucks to see if they planned to repeat last year when they ended up releasing the results a week early but they said the had no plans to!

Anyone heard anything to the contrary?

Guest55 wrote:Which venue are they using?

The Grange is easier to park and the access is off a through road. If they are using The Misbourne this is down a cul-de-sac and traffic can be crazy.

It's The Grange.

A bit concerned about the format for the 12+, now only a few days away.
Is anyone certain about what format will be followed by Bucks, have practiced a range of question types, by differing publishers and have found the Nfer disconcertingly comfortable, whereas some of the others are a wee bit harder. We've been told that the 12+ is exactly as the 11+ and therefore Nfer is correct standard and difficulty, but now a bit worried as some of what I've heard seems to contradict this. Does anyone no for sure. I would be extremely grateful.

The only difference from 11+ is the format of the answer sheet - this has been described in S-A's sticky. Several of us on here have have children successfully qualify through the 12+ - we have posted what our children said.

Hi,

Good Luck with your 12+ preparation. I believe the shop bought NFER papers are easier than the real exam, I think Susan Daughtry Bright Sparks papers are more similar in standard to the real thing and have all correct question types.

Hi Charles - and welcome!

With only a few days to go, there is not a great deal that I can recommend to you in the way of practice. Please do read my "Sticky" on the Bucks section for exact details of the 12+, but it is very similar to the 11+ in many ways. If you have any specific questions after reading that, please do post back.

NFER papers, Susan Daugthrey "Bright Sparks" papers and the real test are all within the range of the final papers - 11+ or 12+. Some children find one set easier, others will prefer a different set. Bucks Mum 1 is certainly not wrong, but at this level of difficulty it is really a matter of personal preference. For this year's 11+ my DS2 loathed the SD papers and scored bare pass marks on a couple, he did well on the NFER shop-bought and then did well on the real thing.

Personally I think that the vocab on SD is very tricky - far more so than the real thing.

Sally-Anne