Bexley 11+ - how did they find it?

[vaani2003]

Great to see people coming up with complaints
Is there anyone who knows the complaint procedure for the bexley authorities ? Moderators can you help here ? I really want to complain as me and my daughter been through bad times with this exam.
Also correct on the point for non native speakers like us, this exam had the discrimination angle to it. And how dare the invigilators were shouting at the kids !
Bexley organizers have to do a written apologies to all the parents and they have to make sure not to repeat there crappy style of exam ever !

[ams2900]

me again, vaani2003 i have sent an email to selection tests@bexley.gov.uk..... i did get a reply to say this is where to complain to!

[nikki_L]

NowI got a question. what does it exactly mean CEM style exams? Are they speed tests as well? Probably they will evaluate child's perfomance based on the following equation

how many correct answers/how many questions answered x 100 or something similar

Otherwise how do they compare 4 test results. (Tuesday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon?

[mystery]

From the research I did before, I knew that this test was going to be harder than previous years. I felt the familiarisation test was quite a bit easier than I had expected it to be.

My DC was under strict instructions not to panic - it was going to be harder than the GL & Letts papers we'd been using. Also I think the other forums have detailed that the CEM papers are always really tight on time - and I'd explained this to my DC.

Also, why shouldn't Bexley kids have the advantage of doing the tests in the morning and out of borough kids doing it in the afternoon? Kent kids have the advantage of splitting the test papers over two days and out of borough kids have all four in one go.

The 11+ is about finding out who will cope at Grammar school, and allegedly the heads of the grammar schools were in discussion with CEM in devising the papers.

Can you tutor a child to answer that many questions that quickly? Or does the child have to have a natural ability? Wasn't this what they were aiming for???

Right from the start there has been a big focus on reading, and it's importance in this test.

From what I have heard, I personally don't think it was that bad.

If they were looking for natural ability why would they wish to give Bexley kids an advantage as you so bluntly put it? Bexley schools for Bexley children - sounds a bit like the "Kent Schools for Kent children" lobby. A bit of a dim idea in my opinion. Education is mostly funded by central government. Some of the money is given to local authorities to dish out. Do you allow people from other local authority areas to drive along your roads, benefit from your streetlights, throw rubbish in your wastebins?

[mystery]

NowI got a question. what does it exactly mean CEM style exams? Are they speed tests as well? Probably they will evaluate child's perfomance based on the following equation

how many correct answers/how many questions answered x 100 or something similar

Otherwise how do they compare 4 test results. (Tuesday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon?

I suppose the test conditions are out of C E M's control. Who knows if they advised Bexley to try and test all children under similar conditions. They can't make Bexley do it the ideal way in the real world. In the same way, Bexley can't make schools follow rules to the letter. And the schools can't make the children follow the rules to the letter either. It's a lottery I'm afraid.

[vaani2003]

Thanks Ams
Do you mean that this forum is where to complain to ? Or the email that you have sent to ?
excuse may be i misunderstood

[Dande]

If they were looking for natural ability why would they wish to give Bexley kids an advantage as you so bluntly put it? Bexley schools for Bexley children - sounds a bit like the "Kent Schools for Kent children" lobby. A bit of a dim idea in my opinion. Education is mostly funded by central government. Some of the money is given to local authorities to dish out. Do you allow people from other local authority areas to drive along your roads, benefit from your streetlights, throw rubbish in your wastebins?

The test wasn't designed to give Bexley kids the advantage. The Bexley kids had the advantage of sitting the test in the morning as did 50% of out of borough kids sitting the test on Tuesday and Wednesday morning - the other 50% sat it in the afternoon. I agree it was harsh for the 50% that sat it in the afternoon.

How the test centres ran the tests for the out of borough kids (or the Bexley kids) was not a consideration for CEM I am sure.

I don't think its right to play the discrimination card, when dyslexic kids and other kids with SENs, were also at a disadvantage.

This is the harsh nature of the 11+.

So many other factors come into play that could otherwise affect really really bright kids' results - not least the stress the parents lay on them.

It's not fair. But we've all signed up for it. We all had the option not to opt in!

[vaani2003]

We all had the option not to opt in!

Dande i am now getting to believe that you might be on the board of the exam setters ?

I don't think its right to play the discrimination card, when dyslexic kids and other kids with SENs, were also at a disadvantage

nobody is playing the discrimination card, but to be honest you are being rude

This is the harsh nature of the 11+

really really bright kids' results

can't believe that you can write this ? I am wondering what will you do, when your kids will sit for A levels ?

[tammysure]

Thanks everyone, glad to know that I am not the only one having a panic attack re-Bexley 11+ exams. My DC said the timing was really tough and many kids could not cope with the speed of time in his exam all. This is really unfair on the innocent children after all the hard work. This new process need to be revisited, otherwise this is not a fair judgement for the kids at all.

[mystery]

The bexley 11+ organisers are jokers. How can a 10yr old answer 28 questions within 6 mins. I am sure the organisers themselves can'n do in 6 mins if they are not familiar with the questions. The questions aren't that cheap to do in 6mins.
We are all waiting to see when the results comes to see whether the CEM exams is successful or not.

Are these timings correct or hearsay? 28 seconds in 6 mins would be 13 seconds per question. This must be matching words maybe - finding words which mean the same or opposite in a group of words? It's quite a quick procedure if you know what the words mean, but you have to read all the words, make a decision, and then move over to the answer sheet.


I calculated the response time per question in the various sections of the Bexley practice paper which was available online.

It was:
Comprehension 52s
missing words 38s.
Matching words 15 s.
nvr 24 s.
numerical a 52s
numerical b 45s
Numerical b require numbers to be marked off on the multichoice answer sheet and digits written on another sheet

So were matching words required to be done faster in the real thing than the practice papers? Or were they just putting more in to give children more of a chance with finding some they might know better I wonder?

If CEM papers are this fast, it might be fairer to make it clear in the bumph that it is possible to pass without having had the time to think about each and every question! That would be better preparation. When you sit an IQ test either face to face with an Ed Psych, or a written one, it is made very clear to you that you are not expected to get to the end of every test and not to let this put you off.

Most level 5 children are used to sitting tests at school that they find easy and have spare time in. This test is clearly intended to be different so why not just make this clear?