11 Plus Exams Forum

When I ask my DD to do the practice papers I normally adjust the time to match the question rate of the actual test she will sit. In my area of Redbridge the VR test has 90 questions to be done in 50 mins i.e. approximately 33.3 secs a question. I multiply the number of questions by 33,3 secs and use that as my test time rather than the time suggested by the publisher and this usually results in a different test time. For example, for Nfer VR papers the time drops from 50 mins to 47 mins and for Walsh papers it drops from 50 mins to 45 mins. Given that time is at a premium when doing the test, i feel that this method best helps my DD to understand the speed she needs to work at for the actual test. Does any one else do this or does everyone stick to the publishers stated time?

P.S. This is my first post so I want to first say a big thank you to all previous posters for the wealth of information that I have found on this site, I have found it very helpful.

I am copying this to the Redbridge section in the hope that someone with the same preparation regime will be able to help.

Hi sparrow

Until now with VR and NVR I have just followed the time on the paper, but your suggestion of trying to match the pace of the Redbridge exams is a very good one. I'll give it a try, though maybe not yet as DS is finding it difficult at the moment to finish the NVR papers even the the publisher's recommended time.

Edit: Sorry, have now put this reply in Redbridge thread as well.

When my dd did the 11+, I too adjusted things. It worked great and gave her a really good feel for the speed needed on the day.

Yes, we did that too, but only when I thought DD was ready for this, and not always, as for some papers it reduced the time available per question and made the paper harder, so we took the decision for each paper (also depending on how tired DD was, mood etc).