11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi, i have twins (one of each sex) who will be taking the 11plus in september for the Wirral Grammar schools. We are currently doing Bonds 50minute papers in Verbal reasoning- 85 questions. I wondered, as a rough guide, what kind of mark they should be getting to be on target for a pass? Currently the papers are taking about an hour to complete (I figure we can work on speed with more practice) and they are scoring high 70's each time. An idea on approx percentage/ score will be much appreciated!!
Hope your children got the schools they wanted, and you can enjoy a large glass- no- bottle of wine this evening, now the wait is over!

Hi, my daughter has just past the 11+ to get into Wirral Grammar for girls. I'm a pessimist, and doubted her ability (I knew she was clever, but she's so laid back and complacent that I thought it was going to be her downfall), but she proved me wrong and passed easily. You need 236 to pass and I think the top score is 280 (I don't know how they work out). I bought every test I could get my hands on. I don't envy you, because the amount of tears we've had in the last 12 months could fill a bath,but it's well worth it if they pass. Good luck

The pass score of 236 is a standardised score (the sum of the questions on the 2 papers being 160). The child needs to score a minimum of 82% for a pass (generally 65/80), but we always aimed for over 90% on our practice papers to try and ensure a comfortable pass. To reiterate what Pablobrown said, it is a tough journey, but soo worth it if they are successful. Wishing you lots of luck!!

Thank you both very much. I'm trying to appear relaxed about the whole thing for the sake of the kids, as every week one of them gets upset about something to do with the papers. I feel a bit better knowing that their scores appear to be fine for this stage of the game, as neither have had less than 85%. I will however encourage them to strive for 90% as good practice. Just need to get my daughter to stop checking all the time and have faith in her answers, as this is really slowing her down (she hates to get anything wrong). On the other hand I need to slow my son down, as he just panicks when trying to do the papers within a time limit and races through making careless mistakes. They may be twins but are sooooo different!!!

miggi

If your kids can score over 85% on the bond papers,then they should breeze through the 11+,as my daughter reckons the 11+ was easier. Do you do repeat the tests? My daughter used to remember the answers, even though she'd done well over a 100 different papers (I bought every type I could get my hands on),so her score got better,and she was quicker,but it was only because she didn't have to work the questions out. I did put this in my last post, but the admin edited it,so forgive me for repeating myself if you've already read it. Good look

My DD also was able to remember lots of the answers when we repeated tests. IMO this is not a bad thing as I reckon there's a lot of repetition in the 11+ papers anyway (esp in those questions where you have to find hidden words in the sentance!). It also builds confidence and I think confidence is the key to speeding up.

Hope this helps. Good luck!