Nfer % marks query

Eleven Plus (11+) in Kent

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

dottie1974
Posts: 192
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:36 pm
Location: East Kent

Nfer % marks query

Post by dottie1974 »

Hi there

Does anyone know roughly what % on the Nfer practice papers would equate to a Kent Test pass. From what I understand the pass marks vary year on year but a rough idea would be good!

Many thanks
PW Mum
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:29 pm

Post by PW Mum »

I was told 75% but aim for 80%
PW MUM
sherry_d
Posts: 2083
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Post by sherry_d »

To achieve 140, a child with a September birthday would need the following raw scores

VR: 60 – out of 80 questions – 75%
NVR: 54 – out of 72 questions – 75%
Maths: 42 – out of 50 questions – 84%

To achieve 120, a child with a September birthday would need to achieve the following raw scores

VR: 43 = 54%
NVR: 39 = 54%
Maths: 28 = 56%
Impossible is Nothing.
dottie1974
Posts: 192
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:36 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by dottie1974 »

That's most helpful, many thanks.

DD is a November birthday so I would guess that this won't be much different to a September born child for the scores needed to aim for.

Dottie
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Post by mystery »

Sherry's answer is v. useful rule of thumb, and also to see that you do not need to get all the questions right! Worth bearing in mind that these percentages do vary from year to year depending on the cohort sitting and the difficulty of the paper.

I think the most useful thing that it shows is that it's important to guess the questions you don't know the answer to, and to remain cool when there are quite a few questions you can't answer as you can still pass!

I think because some children practice on easy papers all the time and get close to 100% at home they can become flustered in a more difficult exam and not perform to their capabilities.
T12ACY
Posts: 800
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:12 pm
Location: Kent

Post by T12ACY »

I can briefly add that for the 2010 intake in the VR test a raw score of 48 was 126 and 49 was 128. I know this because of an error found in hand marking bringing it up. Not much help perhaps but if it is out of 80 questions there is a large scope for high scoring.

Interesting to see you only need to achieve around 55% to get 120. In DS practice papers he was regularly achieving around 85 - 90% in his Maths but went on to score just 113, (I am getting more bitter by the day!!!!) compare that to scores of around 60% in VR, but in KT 128 (probably quite accurate then).

My point is this. Practice as much as you feel DD needs to, you should hope to see some consistency in the scores and if there is a problem speak with the school first. You can't leave this to chance, we know the alternatives! Having said that please don't pile on the pressure, we all know where that gets us......

Good luck :)
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Post by mystery »

I have this theory about the Kent maths, which could be completely wrong of course. I don't apply it to the other two papers as I'm not sure in VR or NVR that children are so aware in the actual test whether they understand / can do / have got the question right or not.

I think in the maths paper it is clearer to some children if there are questions that they cannot tackle. Then if they come across several they can't do (which they must do as the raw score to pass is around 50%) those children with a tendency to worry in exams if they can't do something start to panic and perform worse than their best, especially if their prep beforehand has been aimed at always having papers they could score highly on.

Part of the maths preparation beforehand needs to be about remaining cool about questions you can't do, guessing, and moving on to questions you can do, and coming back at the end if you have time to those you have guessed.

This might be what happened to your son. I know someone who failed Kent 11+ maths who is going to do a maths degree. When asked what they remember about the Kent maths test they say "coming across more and more questions I couldn't do which were nothing like the ones I had practised beforehand"
T12ACY
Posts: 800
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:12 pm
Location: Kent

Post by T12ACY »

mystery, what you have said tryly stikes a chord with us. DS started off well but as the test went on he fell apart, which to a large extent is down to a 'situation' which reared it's ugly head on the morning of the test (after I had dropped him off so had no idea about it until afterwards!).

Dottie mystery has offered some excellent advice, if you can get DD to remain calm and move on then she is likely to do well. The test is split in to sections which get harder as they go through the paper, but what is hard to one student will have been taught and learned well to another. What I am trying to say is she may find section 3 out of 6 for example stupidly hard but section 6 out of 6 was a doddle. Do the section, guess if you can see it is obvious you won't get it and move on. The next section will be on a different topic.

So for maths in particular if you can practice being level headed and remaining calm you stand a far better chance. 8)
committed
Posts: 139
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:46 pm

Post by committed »

I am sorry that things didn't go well for your son on the day and it is a reflection of how the Kent test is as much about exam technique as well as ability. :?

I did want to just clarify that I think whilst the NVR paper is in timed sections, I was under the impression that for maths and VR it is not split in the same way. So for Maths you just have 50 questions to do in an hour. I think the Maths is graduated, so that the earlier questions are typically easier but that there is no sections and splitting...

Perhaps someone will correct me if I'm wrong, because that's certainly what all the practice papers imply.

C.
T12ACY
Posts: 800
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:12 pm
Location: Kent

Post by T12ACY »

committed wrote:I am sorry that things didn't go well for your son on the day and it is a reflection of how the Kent test is as much about exam technique as well as ability. :?

I did want to just clarify that I think whilst the NVR paper is in timed sections, I was under the impression that for maths and VR it is not split in the same way. So for Maths you just have 50 questions to do in an hour. I think the Maths is graduated, so that the earlier questions are typically easier but that there is no sections and splitting...

Perhaps someone will correct me if I'm wrong, because that's certainly what all the practice papers imply.

C.
Sorry, you could be right. I just know that when I went to check the papers in person the answers were clearly within sectioned boxes and of around 6 questions each part. The paper did not have 'sections' but from the answer sheet it is obvious where the 'section' starts and ends. They do start easier and get gradually harder. The LA person explained that while there appears to be no splitting because of the layout of the paper it will cover topics in groups of questions. May not have said that very clearly..... Have just been to allocated secondary school and been putting on a very brave face!
Post Reply