NFER Papers

Eleven Plus (11+) in Trafford

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Dougal

NFER Papers

Post by Dougal »

Hi
my daughter is taking the eleven plus in November. I have been told to use the NFER papers. Are there any other papers I could use for practice that would be similar to the Trafford 11+
Fairy
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:24 pm
Location: Sale, Cheshire

11+ in Trafford

Post by Fairy »

The NFER papers are excellent practice for the 11+ exams in Trafford as the actual papers are prepared by NFERNelson, however, I would advise not using these too soon in your daughter's preparation. With most of my pupils, I give them one of these papers as an initial introduction to timed practicing and then use other material to practice and perhaps use a second NFER paper after a few weeks to check on progress, but then keep the last two papers until September/October time.

There are many excellent publications, most of which are available to buy from this website, as well as the downloadable papers. The IPS papers are the closest that I have found to the NFER papers, especially for the Non-Verbal Reasoning, but AFN and Bond are also very similar. With all publications you must be careful to pick out the question types used by NFER - an area that has been explored in other threads. It may be worth also investing in one of the Method and Technique books - just in case you find some questions that you're not sure of.

Don't forget to always buy the Multiple Choice format if there is one available as the Trafford 11+ and Altrincham schools both use this format.

If you require any more help please don't hesitate to come back.


Good luck with your preparation.
Dougal

Post by Dougal »

Thanks for your advice. I feel as if I am feeling around in the dark trying to find any sort of information. I have been told by other Mums at school that you don't get in if you don't put in a lot of work, or get a tutor. I will order some of the books off the website and get to work!
:)
Fairy
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:24 pm
Location: Sale, Cheshire

Urban legends

Post by Fairy »

Having tutored 11+ work for a considerable number of years now, I can totally understand you feeling like a ship lost at sea. A lot of panic has cropped up over the last few years, since the Altrincham Schools started their own entrance exams and Trafford has changed the format of the 11+ exam time after time.

Please can I reassure you that, if your child has a good academic level of achievement, then she should be OK. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that your daughter will get a grammar school place, but it is certainly not the case that your daughter will not get in if she doesn't put in lots of work or get a tutor. Many children pass every year who have not been prepared for the exam.

The 11+ exam is unlike any other exam taken at school, when children are prepared extensively for what they might meet on the exam paper. This is why I think it not necessary, but definitely advisable, to familiarise your child with the type of work she is about to encounter. Depending on your daughter's school, there may even be varying degrees of assistance there. Obviously, I cannot discuss this on an open forum, but if you wish to send me a private message, I will clarify this as much as I can.

Unfortunately, because of the pressure put upon the children both by themselves, their peers and adults, their confidence in approaching the exam can be very low. If you give your daughter lots of practice and encouragement, then she should become much more confident in her approach to the exam. Also reassure her that all her friends are in the same position and that, as long as she does her best, then things should be OK. Some tutors now offer a 'mock' 11+ exam which may be of some use for both your daughter and yourself.

Interestingly, this year many children who did not obtain an 11+ pass mark have succeeded in their Appeal for a grammar school place.
Dave E Hulme

Raw score and raw nerves

Post by Dave E Hulme »

Fairy, you seem to know your way around the system in Trafford, wondered if you could help. I noticed that the required standardised score for Urmston was 353, I can't see how it can be so high since there are 3 tests and only 200 (?) questions in total.
I might be thick, but forgive me - how does it work?
Fairy
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:24 pm
Location: Sale, Cheshire

11+ scores

Post by Fairy »

Hi Dave. The standardised score of 353 is an accumulated score - each paper being awarded either 117 or 118 as its standardised score. The method that NFER use to work this out is unknown (by myself anyway) as it takes into account variables such as age.

The verbal paper is usually out of 80 and the maths paper out of 50, but the non-verbal varies greatly - it may be 4 sections of 20 questions, 4 sections of 17 questions (as last year) or even 5 sections of 12 questions. These numbers can, however, change and it is advisable to let your child know this as any changes on the day can be quite upsetting. If they are aware that each question for the verbal and non-verbal should take about 30 seconds and those on the maths paper about 1 minute, then they can try to work at this pace when doing practice papers.

If your child is scoring around 75%-80% on the papers, then this is a good indicator that they are of the level required to pass the exam. Of course, many other factors come into account on the day especially fatigue now that all three exams are sat on one day.

Hope this is of use to you. Regards, Fairy
pup

trafford 11 plus query

Post by pup »

Hello, my daughter has only just decided to take the entrance test for Altincham. Which multiple choice NFER pack do you recommend that she practices....or do you think we buy all 4 multiple packs?

Has anyone experrience of the downloadable CD's? What do you recommend on the basis that time is very short?

Any other tips for Altrincham re entrance exam? Do you know any tutors in the AuL Tameside area?

thanks in advance, Pup :D
Fairy
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:24 pm
Location: Sale, Cheshire

Altrincham entrance exams

Post by Fairy »

The Altrincham exam is set by NFER, so the NFER packs are some of the best you can get - the only problem is that the English paper in the multiple packs is redundant as there is no paper of this type. The only English is a piece of creative writing. The separate packs contain 4 papers of verbal, non-verbal and maths and if you feel that your daughter has time to do all these, then this is the most cost-effective way of buying the practice papers. Don't forget to buy the multiple-choice answer packs.

However, the downloadable papers on this website are very good, particularly the verbal ones by The Tutors and the non-verbal by Eleven Plus Exams. Some of the verbal questions are not included in the Altrincham exam, but most of them are. If you decide to purchase these, then I can advise you as to which questions not to bother with and the timing for each paper.

Good luck with your preparation.
clevercat

NFER papers

Post by clevercat »

Can somebody please confirm that the Trafford 11+ is verbal/ non verbal and maths only and not English? also when buying practice papers I have looked on the NFER website and it says you can buy multiple choice with pink labels/ yellow labels/ red labels, which one do I buy?
Fairy
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:24 pm
Location: Sale, Cheshire

Trafford 11+

Post by Fairy »

Hi clevercat

You are correct in your understanding that the Trafford 11+ is made up of three papers - Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning & Maths.

The NFER papers that you need are the individual packs (not the variety ones) for each subject, available on this website at a discounted rate. You can also get some excellent download papers on this site and I would also recommend the IPS papers, but be careful to stick to only the types of questions covered by NFER in the Verbal papers as some of the question types are not used in the Trafford exams.
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