Does anyone have any inofrmation about or any idea what the overall feeling is about the NVR test at Latymer, Enfield this week?

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Demetri

My daughter found it tough and did not manage to answer all the questions (perhaps it's the local comp for us). 3 of her friends also took the test, 2 felt it was ok, the other felt it was doable. She expected it to be in the Athey format as these were the practice papers sold by the school. It was heartbreaking to see her face coming out of the hall. Seems a bit unfair to me. Does this mean that if she gets called back for VR it too will be NFER format.


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Anyone know how many get called back for round 2

Yes, VR is in NFER format too. I agree that it is not fair for our kinds to be subjected to this at such a young age... Unfortunately, that's the worls they are growing in... My son seems confused and I can't make sense of how well he's done. That is the reason I asked the question. I suppose the best thing is wait and see.

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Demetri

My son also did the test and it was very much as he expected. They used the four types of questions they said they would but the matrices were hard. He finished all the sections in time and said that he thought that most of the questions weren't as hard as the practice papers although the hard ones on each paper were complicated. In the letter from the school they advised that the papers had been set by NFER, we were practicing these papers for entry into another school anyway. About the top 500 are invited to the second round. At the open evening the school advised that the cut-off point was 65/80.
hth
m

My son also took the test and found it average. other kids also found it not hard as expexted. However wonder if this means they will be looking for < 5 mistakes :

Hi NL3

I also went to the open evening - as a nosy year 5 parent- and I had a slightly different take on things. I thought that the top 500 from the first round automatically went through to the second round which last year gave a cut of of around 65. I therefore would assume if the paper was easier the cut off mark would rise as candidates are in direct comptition with each other. Have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Also interested as to papers being set by NFER. I presume from what you said that they incorporated the Athey style of questions into an NFER format otherwise it would make the sale of Athey papers a farce!

Have you any idea how many sat for the first round this year as I understand last year only 1 in 10 got a place?

Good luck to all your children and let us know how they get on. As a parent who is probably going to be following in your footsteps next year any further useful information will be very much appreciarted.

Hi Guest

Yes, your understanding is my understanding, IYKWIM. Around 500 children are invited back as a result of getting around 65 or above out of 80 on the NVR test. The tests were definitely set by NFER, the school tells you this in the invitation letter so why they suggest Athey for practice is a bit of a mystery although there is a commonly held perception that the shop-bought Athey are harder than the shop-bought NFER papers. How hard the paper actually is is anybody's guess as I've never seen an actual paper used in an 11+ exam.

Only 4 types of questions on the Athey papers are used - analogies, series, isomorphic and matrices so the rest of the practice papers are effectively redundant. On the Athey isomorphic papers they ask for two shapes with similarities rather than the one shape asked for on NFER and I think the timing on the NFER papers is more generous - although again this depends on how hard the actual question is.

I heard that around 1800 had applied, this may not be accurate but there was about 200 children at my sons test and this only covered surnames starting with A and B.


hth
m

I was really interested in your comments re NFER vs Athey papers.

Our daughter has just taken the test in Lincolnshire and the interesting thing was that the actual NVR test was made up of the 4 sections that you described above (16 questions in each + 1 extra giving 65) which are present in the Athey papers, even though the paper was set by NFER.

The schools used NFER practice papers which were similar but contained a CODE section (as usual in NFER) which was then nowhere to be seen in the actual test.

It seems as if perhaps the actual exam was set by NFER in the style of Athey. If this was the case, then the advice to use the Athey test papers was smart indeed!

My son did the test two years ago and my daughter will be taking it next year (she's currently in Year 5). Son got through Round 1 but didn't get a place. He found the matrices in the NVR very difficult and seemed to think they were different to the kind he had practised. The ratio was 1 in 10 then and I think this is how it pans out each year. I have friends with children at the school and the general impression is that life is much easier academically once you're in - ie the hardest bit is getting there!

I know that some schools ask NFER to set test papers for them. I believe QE boys to be one of those schools although I have nothing but playground gossip to back that up. Am I correct?

If thats the case presumably the school can ask for specific types of question to be put into the papers (such as those from the athey papers) but in an NFER format. Is that what you encountered 'guest from Lincolnshire' or did I misread your post? Does this mean practising NFER test papers only helps you understand the layout of the schools paper rather than its potential content? Would the advice, therefore, be practice both Athey and NFER for Latymers first round test?