11 Plus Exams Forum

Did anyone else feel the organisation for the test on Saturday was appalling?

When we arrived the staff were still at sixes and sevens, running around sticking up signs and there was a long queue right down the drive.

Apparently the kids were moved back and forth between a classroom and a main hall. When it came to VR my son realised he had left his pencil case in the other room - he was not the only one. He asked the boy at the next desk for a pencil - before the test had started - and was told off for talking, then spent the rest of the time worried he would be thrown out.

If you moved a group of adults around like this without telling them what was going on then some of them would be bound to lose stuff. Apparently in public exams like GCSEs invigilators make sure everyone has the right equipment with them.

Also kids were told off for taking fruit, even though this was allowed in the letter - they were told they must have misread the instructions - NOT TRUE. Meanwhile other kids took a full packed lunch and were allowed to eat it!

I think the council should tell us why the children cannot take the test in their own school any more. Or if they must go to a test centre then it should be well organised, like the Kent test, which seemed to be run by proper teachers.

I am really sorry you have had this experience. My child was at Rainham Mark and it couldn't have been smoother. It is unfair to the children to have to undergo extra stress in an already stressful situation. All test centres should be run the same way as doing it at a central centre is supposed to make it the same for all. Let's hope it doesn't affect him too much.

Does anyone know how may test centers there were this year?Were any junior schools used?
The secondary we were at seemed OK,it was the actual test that was the problem !

When I emailed Medway Council to find out when we would get letters about venue I was told that they had been 'let down' by some venues and were trying to find alternative ones which was why delay in notification! Perhaps this is why they werent' run so smoothly. I think only secondary/grammar schools were used but don't know for sure.

nearlydone wrote:When I emailed Medway Council to find out when we would get letters about venue I was told that they had been 'let down' by some venues and were trying to find alternative ones which was why delay in notification! Perhaps this is why they werent' run so smoothly. I think only secondary/grammar schools were used but don't know for sure.

I wonder why some schools had 'let down' the council. Were they reluctant to organise the tests, or incapable?

What a shambles. I don't believe I was the only one in a panic about the letter arriving so late. With something like this you just want to know they have received the form and that everything is smoothly organised.

'We were let down with some venues and alternatives had to be found, hence the delay.'

This is the sentence in the email from Medway. No other explanation, maybe just an excuse for delay in notification letters going out. Who knows!!!!

My twins took their 11+ at Chatham Grammar and the only things they mentioned was that they had to leave their water on the stage and then couldn't find which one was theirs after each paper so didn't bother to drink and on one of the papers they were given each other's sheet by mistake - luckily they noticed before it started.

We didn't notice any problems registering. Although there were quite a few in our line, it moved quite quickly and smoothly.

The 'test centre checks' thread is interesting.