Content of exam

[Milla]

I can't see that much advantage could be gained - and it might just be confusing to have scraps of "helpful advice." In an English test, yes, but surely not in VR where it is the processes rather than the actual content.

[Tolstoy]

I know what you mean Milla but my concerns would be because the margins are so tight re scores just inadvertently letting slip some of the vocab that came up could make a difference. Also if they spouted out some of the z questions then okay it only means a point but the timing saved could be crucial.

The difference between a pass and a fail for many comes down to just one point, scary.

[EmeraldE]

I think that the best advice would be to tell your kids to watch out for small changes to known formats. For example, instead of pick the odd 2 out of 5 (as is usual on a lot of practice papers) it might be pick the odd 1 out. This can fool some kids.

Also to not panic IF they happen upon something different. Apparently there was some maths on the paper which DS did not recognise as a normal 21 type VR. It was nothing they would not have seen in school and so likely not an issue for most. However, do not fall into the trap of telling them 'there will only be these question types' much better to advise that if something 'unusual' appears to take a moment to read the question and look at the example (often more helpful).

I armed my son with a few 'quick quotes' in case panic struck. E.g "Keep Calm and Carry On" also an old diving saying "A Panicked Diver is a Dead Diver" (plus a little story of when I was on a wreck dive and became distressed on the LONGGGGG choppy ascent and how I remembered that saying and subsequently calmed myself down . It did work very well as he said he recalled it when he was having a panic moment over the 'opposites' and was thinking he knew none of the words (clearly death would not ensue, but you get the gist). Remind them often of the 'catchphrase' throughout the period of practice so that it is almost second nature on the day. ALso reminded DC to 'get his game face on'....'eyes on the prize' was another which featured often! Little deep breathing and focusing on the task just before the exam etc.

These coping strategies are vital in the battle against nerves which can overwhelm some otherwise well prepared kids. Think I am nuts?? Overlook the psychological element of this vile process at your peril

[nearlythere]

EE. I think you are right. Our son was very well prepared and scoring such high marks that it has come as a complete blow that he didn't make it. Not that we ever presumed as I believe "only the paranoid survive". I think the exam is there to sort out those who should be at Pates and those who shouldn't and we are coming to terms that it wasn't meant to be. Whilst he said it was fine on the day, some thing/things must have thrown him. Maybe the opposites section he said was 12 marks. I'm not sure whether to go to appeal or not. I suppose it would give us his raw scores. Congrats on your result though. We have bought him some lego and he is totally happy making it at this moment.

[muminTewkes]

EE-youre right...their mindset is imperative..nerves of steel required for ones so young!As you said,overlook the psychological aspect at your peril !sad..but true.
I think this may be why many bright,capable children dont quite cut it sadly.
DS1 had had all the little pep talks and quotes and certainly had got his "game face"sorted.
We had done a fairly scary mock and I think this was why he didnt crumble and just did what he can do.
ATEOTD thats all I hoped for-that his true ability was shown-in our case,I believe it was.

[livviloo]

I agree with EE.

I tutored my son at home. Well, when I say tutored it was all a bit last minute over the summer but what I concentrated on was giving him a system for dealing with anything novel, like concentrating on reading the instructions carefully. When he did a paper and got some wrong I got him to look through the paper to find the mistakes. This was really good practice for picking out the "silly" mistakes like shading 2 answers instead of one etc

In the exam he did have a wobble in the both papers (so he tells me). In the first one he talked himself back down, much like EE has suggested. In the second he couldn't and then because he had such a big drink in the break he couldn't think of anything apart from his bladder so had to leave to go to the loo. When he had sorted his ablutions he tells me he was calm and ready to go again. Obviously both these lost him some time but we had practised lots of speeding up exercises so in the end he was ok, had plenty of checking time and passed in the top 120.

Livviloo

[Parismum]

Nearlythere, are you considering appealing for Pates? Think we are in a similar position, my DS had 239 from Pates - very close, I know, but still would only have been waiting list. We didn't assume for a minute Pates would be a breeze, but his VRQ was 141 last year, 134 this year (bizarrely, after tutoring!) and he felt the test went well so it's hard to know whether he did his best and that's that, or whether he under performed. Very interested in the anecdotes of this year's test being vocab-heavy - mine is very maths-orientated and is also a September birthday. Do seem to be hearing of more girls than boys being successful this year.

[capers123]

I've posted the Pates actual intake figures to the 'Factual Information' sticky so you can see the chance of successful appeal.

[mitasol]

but his VRQ was 141 last year, 134 this year (bizarrely, after tutoring!)

I think that the previous score was likely to have been plotted against the national average whereas this year, his score has been standardised against the children who sat the Pates test.

This cohort would almost certainly be considerably stronger than the national cohort and the standardised score is a reflection of how your DC compared against this specific group of more able children.

[nearlythere]

Hi Parismum, i think you are in more of a frustrating place than us. Whilst DC1 scores were so much lower on the day than in practise, we ended up with 131 (when I think "only" that is funny) but our son's advantage was that he is really good at vocab. Almost feel it is better when we weren't close as it clearly wasn't meant to be. Also in hindsight, our son is a "does the bare minimum" B grade so we now need to work on the motivational side of things and I know you need to be self motivated at Pates. So we aren't going to appeal. How far off the mark were you - must have been really close and as you say Sept birthday and maths orientated. What does VR score of 141 equate to? Sounds pretty high. May well be worth appealing, and what about Tommies. It is a great grammar. Do understand how you feel though. We are just coming through the other side.