what mark should you be getting in practise papers.

Advice on 11 Plus NVR papers and problems

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scooby1
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:49 am

what mark should you be getting in practise papers.

Post by scooby1 »

Hi could anybody tell me what percentage my son should be acheiving in his practice papers to stand a chance of passing the 11 plus. At the moment he is getting around 60 to 70% in all papers. I have heard you need to be getting in your 90's to stand a chance is this correct.
Bexley Mum 2
Posts: 851
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

scooby1 - much depends on which area you are in and also whether your son is sitting for an ordinary grammar (where you need a pass and to be within catchment) or a super-selective (which will take the top scorers, regardless of distance).

You've posted in the NVR section so I'm not sure if you mean your son is getting 60-70% in NVR papers, or in other papers too (VR/maths/English). You could try posting in the relevant area.

Generally I would guess you might need to be aiming for around 90% for super-selectives and high 70s/80% for ordinary grammars. But I know from experience that children often put more effort in for the real thing than they do when practising!
scooby1
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:49 am

Post by scooby1 »

THanks for the reply. he is getting high 70% in maths and verbal and a low 60 % in non verbal. we are outside the catchment area and i have been told he needs to have an extremley high score. Therefore i am reading into that he needs to be getting 90% or above. Am i right thinking that. In addition the exam he is sitting has more questions on the verbal and math papers than non verbal.
Bexley Mum 2
Posts: 851
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

Scooby - if you scroll down and post in the right geographical area on this site and say which school you are interested in, you might get some more concrete advice. I'm in Bexley (obviously!) and here, if you pass the eleven plus but are outside the normal distances for allocating places, the only way you can get a place is if you achieve one of the top 180 scores (out of around 3.5/4k children sitting the exam). I would imagine for that you would need to be capable of getting 90%+ in tests. Not sure if you are talking about a similar arrangement in your area but someone with more knowledge of your area might be able to advise.

You also need to consider how much effort your son is putting into the practice tests and if you feel his results are an accurate reflection of his ability. Sometimes children don't put much effort into practice because it is just "practice" but pull their fingers out for the real thing (I had one who did just this and another who put as much effort into practice as the real thing). You might also take into account what level he is at for maths at school.

Good luck
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