11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi
As was recently discussed on a smilar subject the standard depends so much on which area you are in.
I would say it is never too late but I would have thought that your child should be working on papers at the level of the real exam by now.
Perhaps you should let her try & then work together through the areas she finds difficult.
Don't worry too much if she isn't working to time yet - virtually all children will speed up with practice.
I would say that you will need to keep going through the summer holiday though.
Sure you will get lots more opinions
Might be worth trying the forum for your area for advice on standard your daughter needs to be working at to be in with a shot.
Hope it goes well.

Handel - You need to think about which schools you are interested in - selective, super-selective or independent. If an ordinary selective/grammar, then I think you've allowed plenty time for preparation. I always found with mine we really got into gear a couple of months before the tests. Independents seem to vary hugely in terms of difficulty, so, again, you should find out what you're aiming for.

If, however, you are aiming for a super-selective (these are usually extremely popular and take children in order of scores) or a popular independent, you are probably best to post in the relevant area and ask what the tests are like for the schools you're interested in.

Have you checked Bond practice tests are appropriate? I've dipped into them myself in the past, but many people will say that aren't relevant if your child will sit tests set by NFER for example.

I do sympathise with your daughter's tears. My son sat the 11+ last year and was terribly anxious about it. However, passing gave him a much-needed confidence boost - fingers crossed the same will happen to your daughter!

Hi Handel

I just wanted to say that your DD should not be feeling so upset for not getting top marks every time and it may be worth asking if she could move to the next set set where she would probably feel less pressure. It wouldn't mean she wasn't worthy of GS as her class is obviously a very high achieving class so a second set is more then likely to also be the level expected for GS. If she is already feeling such pressure now she may panic when it comes to the test adn may doubt her abiltiy which will be detrimental where as if she feels better about herself and her results she will be more confident with the 11+.

As for your prep don't worry you still have over 4 months. If you are thinking of tutoring yourself perhasp allow two sessions of an hour each week. I started in Jan for an October test and currently do once a week leaving out the hols. We will carry on in the summer hosl becasue it's getting closer and I am sure if you do the same your dd will do fine.

Go for it

Mel

handel wrote:Should she really be on the 10-11 by now?

We only did 11+ during Year 5 and although we had bought the early papers we soon abandoned them as they were not relevant.

I would recommend only using the real papers or other material that was appropriate for the actual tests being taken.

Also.. it might be more important to be considering the question types that need to be covered rather than age ranges.

Which school/county are you applying for?

Regards
SVE

Hi Handel

I suggest that you start by searching "nonsuch"on this Forum (via the blue "Search" link at the bottom of this page). That will provide you with a long list of posts about the Nonsuch tests.

You can then work out which materials you need, and all of them are available from the bookshop on this site. Just go to the Book Shop tab at the top of the page.

Good luck

Sally-Anne