How many questions in each test.

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lincoln imp
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2011 3:48 pm

How many questions in each test.

Post by lincoln imp »

Hi i am a little confused as to the information i am getting regarding how many questions are on each type of test. It says on this forum that the VR test for Lincolnshire is 100 questions in 50 minutes, yet my son has completed practice papers at school with only 85 questions?
These papers are provided by the authority.

Also 60 questions on the NVR papers yet thsi forum states 65.

Can anyone else confirm which standard of test they will get in lincs.

I was told that IPS papers will cover everything that is on the tests or thereabouts. I have also purchased papers from GL assessment as i was informed that they have bought out NFER etc.

What concerns me is that the NFER 30 minute practice papers for VR (50 questions) seem to be much harder than the full GL assessment ones. My son struggles with the IPS ones for time but is okay with the GL assessment etc.

I am concerned as i am finding it hard to gauge my sons progress as there appears to be no common standard on how hard/easy the various papers are.

Can anyone enlighten me.

Many thanks in advance.

LI
Alex
Posts: 1097
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: How many questions in each test.

Post by Alex »

Both of the tests are commissioned from NfER specifically for Lincolnshire. The format they have followed for the last few years (since they changed from 2 VR papers to one VR and one NVR) has remained the same:

VR - 100 questions to be completed in 50 minutes - Standard format, that is you write the answers on the paper not on a separate computer read answer sheet. The bank of question types from which the test is drawn contains more than the 21 types which appear in IPS practice tests. However, the majority of the paper is drawn from those types. The other sorts of questions can be found in the Susan Daughtrey VR Technique and Practice books.

NVR - 65 questions which are grouped into 4 sections with 16 questions in three of them and 17 questions in one. Sections are timed separately with 8 minutes for each sextion. You cannot go back to answer questions in a previous section once you have moved onto the next. The types are drawn from the 5 types which appear in the NfER practice tests.

It is important to regard the official practice tests as familiarisation rather than as an exercise designed to exactly replicate what the children will meet in the real tests. They are administered rather differently from school to school and marked in a variety of ways as well.

IPS papers are useful for the timing for VR - it is more pressurised than in the NfER/GL test papers. My own children did not find IPS questions any more difficult than the NfER practice test ones and I didn't think they were harder overall. They have all said that they thought the real thing was a little easier than the practices they did but that some of them found it hard to finish in time. There are many children who do not finish the tests - if timing is still a big problem as you approach the tests have a strategy in place to complete as many as possible by leaving questions which take a lot of time till last - all questions are worth one mark so it is not worth spending too much time on any one question.
Alex
Posts: 1097
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: How many questions in each test.

Post by Alex »

lincoln imp wrote: my son has completed practice papers at school with only 85 questions?
These papers are provided by the authority.

Also 60 questions on the NVR papers yet thsi forum states 65.

LI
I read this again and wondered. I know that the practice tests certainly used to have the same number of questions as the real test, so I am a bit baffled. 85 questions would correspond with the published test papers by NfER and some other publishers; similarly 60 for NVR would correspond with the published test papers. There is only one official familiarisation paper for each of VR and NVR so if your son has done more than one they (or at least some of them) are not the offical practices. Could it be extra practice that the school are doing off their own bat?
lincoln imp
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2011 3:48 pm

Re: How many questions in each test.

Post by lincoln imp »

Alex, thanks for the reply, much appreciated

I can confirm that the practice tests my son has completed mirror the tests that i got him from GL assessment, 85 VR in 50 minutes and 60 NVR in 60 minutes in (5 sections) total.

He says the tests are exactly the same etc. This concerns me as he has been working (timewise) to these papers, but now i am finding that with VR he may not be quick enough if there are 100 questions etc.

We have been using IPS study material and AE Tuition. I believe there are 4 basiC Susan Daughtry books for VR.
Do i need to get all 4 of the work books to cover the questions that are not covered by IPS for VR?
I believe that IPS have 21 types yet Susan Daughtrey has 34, again I am concerned as he may not have practiced some types that may be in the exam. With 2 weeks left we have not got much time.
Which Susan Daughtrey books would you suggest.

Many thanks in advance

LI
Alex
Posts: 1097
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: How many questions in each test.

Post by Alex »

First to deal with the questions which are not covered by the 21 IPS types:

The ones which have definitely been known to come up before and which are in the Susan Daughtrey books 1-4 are as follows:

SD Type 9 - this is always question 1 on the paper - a very easy starter.

SD Type 25 - see this thread - http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 21&t=20766" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SD Type 33, which is same as IPS Type N, but we get the mixed number and letter codes in the practice paper (though I don't know if it has come up in the real thing)

I have been told that there is another type which does not appear in Susan Daughtrey either :?

This is an anagram type question where the letters in Capitals have to be rearranged to make a word which relates to two other given words
e.g. LOSE - only fish - answer: SOLE

My inclination would be to save money and not bother buying the books as there is just too much irrelevant material to make it worthwhile.

This is all I personally know about but there may well be gaps in my knowledge. Perhaps anyone who gets further information could post it for the benefit of future readers!

About the timings: if you have been doing IPS papers then you will have done 30 secs per question VR so that will mirror the real thing even though the length of the test is only a half of the real thing. The NfER NVR papers have different numbers of questions per section but the timings are the same, again 30 secs per question. AFN books for both VR and NVR are good for timing for Lincs tests but you may be a bit late for getting them now. Don't worry too much - a lot of the real thing is probably slightly easier than the NfER practice tests so although the time is more pressured the two balance out a bit. The important thing in VR is to move on rather than become stuck on one question which is difficult - all questions are worth 1 mark whether easy or fiendishly difficult...
lincoln imp
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2011 3:48 pm

Re: How many questions in each test.

Post by lincoln imp »

Alex, that makes great sense, I will bear it in mind, thanks
LI
Jetster
Posts: 113
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 11:54 am

Re: How many questions in each test.

Post by Jetster »

Great information Alex, you have really helped - thank you! :)
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