11 Plus Exams Forum

My son is not that wonderful at writing and probably just outside the top third for reading and maths.
The 11+ for our area uses NFER Nelson NVR and VR tests only-no maths or english.I bought a pack to see how he got on.He got all but a couple of questions right on each paper (but untimed).My questions are

1) do VR and NVR really translate to academic potential?My son is not exactly setting the world alight now with his academic work and at the end of the day it is maths writing etc that he will have to do should he get to grammar school.I do not want to set him up to fail but on the other hand I scraped through the 11+ then blossomed academically at the age of about 12 or 13
2.how do I get from the scores on the off-the-shelf-papers to the 11+ scores (the cut off is usually around 212)So i want to know what score would equate to this ?

Interesting questions.

1. If the local grammar school only requires ability in VR & NVR, and your son meets their criteria then you should attempt the eleven plus examinations. These tests were created solely as a test of intelligence, more so than English and mathematics, and were seen as a fairer test. The VR papers though do tend to have around 70% of it geared towards a strong vocabulary, whilst the NVR is has minimal mathematical content.

2. For off the shelf papers there is no standardised score guide available.