11 Plus Exams Forum

Dd sat some Moray House style mocks today and did not do as well as we'd hoped.

In the VR she did very well, scoring 93% ranking 17 out of 75.

But in the Maths she scored 62% and ranked 41 out of 74.

She skipped 8 questions in the Maths paper but afterwards realised they weren't as difficult as she thought!

As we are in the outer catchment, these results don't look too promising for a place at WGGS do they?

Is it true that for outer catchment they have to get exceptional marks (90%+) to be in with a chance of a place?

Is there anything we can do in the next few weeks?

I am sure she can get those marks up, what type of questions is she getting wrong? Were there questions that she could not understand? DG

The verbal reasonong score is great. The maths will be based on GL papers for the real thing. Have you done any of those? The other thing to check is has she got any gaps in her maths. Something like the Bond "How to do 11+ Maths" is great as it covers all the topics briefly with exercises so you can quickly see if there are any major gaps. The maths paper is actually very straightforward, however this means that each mistake will cost you dearly. It is all about accuracy, not really speed or complicated concepts.

We've been doing a lot of preparation already. Private tuition from a great tutor and doing lots of different types of papers, Bond books etc. Her Maths isn't as strong as English/VR which is fine, but some of the Maths questions were quite straightforward and I think she realised this afterwards.

It could have been just an off-day but I'm worrying that that may happen in the real exam! That's the thing with selective state schools - they only get ONE chance.

It would seem our DD sat the same exams yesterday. 91% in VR and 70% in Maths. The Maths worried us a bit as she is consistent with mid eighties and has moved to mid nineties in other papers. 15 errors out of 50 so that hurts the %. I think it was an off day. There wasn't anything in the 15 that we haven't covered.

Is any body knows any maths practice paper which is similar standard to Nfer?

Lots, Learning Together, IPS, First Past the Post, DAO Maths papers, Athey. DG

In the consortium test there is plenty of time given for the Maths paper, so after your child has finished, encourage her to go back and attempt any questions she omitted. Then train her to go through the paper again, checking she has read the question properly and given a feasible answer. DS1 found the Maths paper easier than the GL ones I'd been giving him for practice. I think that most marks are lost from silly mistakes or misreading the question.

The following statements are my assumptions, inferred from the raw scores and standardised scores that people have shared on here.

The mean raw score in Maths is significantly higher than the mean raw score in VR.

A raw score of 90/100 in VR would lead to a much higher standardised score than a raw score of 45/50 in Maths.

Within the range of the cut-offs for WBGS/WGGS/Parmiter's, each missed question or incorrect answer in VR would drop your standardised score by 1. Each missed question or incorrect answer in Maths would drop your standardised score by 3 or 4.

Having said all of the above, the Maths is not difficult. A mathematically able child who can learn to read the question carefully and check her answers will have a good chance.

Both dd's and some of my students have sat this exam. Based on their feedback I would recommend the following:

1. Work through the paper slowly and methodically. Underline key words and write what they mean over them. Read the question to yourself in your head, paraphrase it to yourself.

2, You have plenty of time so SLOW down.

3. Write down every stage of your working out.

4. At the end if you have time to spare go back and do inverse operations on all your sums.

5. As has been said EVERY wrong answer is 4 marks gone and a big slide down the rankings table.

6.This paper is not hard, it is easier than a Sats paper but you will do badly if you rush it as the questions are designed to catch you out.

7. It is yours to lose, you know the answers , just make sure you answer the question on the paper not the one you see as you scan quickly through the question.

DG