Hampton , Haberdashers 11+ Entrance exams

[sp12]

Hi, We are using Bond materials to prepare for the entrance exams.. but when I check the sample Habs papers the bond books are too easy .. can anyone please suggest me some other brands that have Habs standard comprehension practise papers.. Thanks in advance.

[Daogroupie]

Glad you noticed. I would not touch Bond with a bargepole for any North London Selective.

Use the North London Consortium papers and Manchester Grammar. DG

[Barnetmamma]

Glad you noticed. I would not touch Bond with a bargepole for any North London Selective.

Use the North London Consortium papers and Manchester Grammar. DG

DAOgroupie, do you mean Bond books are not good for the independent schools like Habs or the grammar schools too. I have my elder DD in Y5 and we are working through Bond for english comprehension and maths and CGP Verbal reasoning (Not yet looked at many NVR). Hoping to sit DAO, Latymer and HBS.

Any advice would be welcome.

[Daogroupie]

The OP was asking about English comprehension papers. Bond is nowhere near the standard required for DAO, HBS, Habs and NLCS.

You should be using CEM papers for DAO, Latymer and HBS and ironically there Bond has the hardest papers.

So I do use Bond for CEM but not anything else. They are really for Bucks and Kent where everyone can take the 11 plus in their school.

They are not suitable for the level required for the North London selectives.

Which is your first choice? You need to focus on one format or else could end up being Jack of all trades and master of one. DG

[Barnetmamma]

I (or should I say "we" ) really like DAO, so are hoping to focus there. I've been noticing posts regarding the DAO English paper being based on classics, in recent years. Not sure how best to prepare at this stage apart from going through the revision books. I have received my pack of the DAO past papers last week. I wonder if it is too early to go through the test papers at present (or should I?).

[Daogroupie]

Sit them under proper timed conditions and then you will be able to see for yourself the difference from the Bond papers.

DAO have been using classic text for the past 25 years so it is nothing new. DG

[Stokers]

Barnetmama, that was me, talking about DAO papers. When I mentioned classic texts, what I meant was Dickens, Bronte and (can I mention this year's paper, yet?) ........, rather than Wind in the Willows, Tom's Midnight Garden, etc. It's a different level of book, unlikely to have been read in the ordinary course of events by the typical 10 year old.

[AML]

Hi DG

Are DAO English papers worth purchasing for help with habs English?

Thanks.

[Daogroupie]

They are much harder, much longer for a start but if you are short of material they would be worth considering. I am always on the lookout for material swop so if you think you might have anything please pm.

On the issue of classic texts, The Wind in the Willows is without question a classic text, the amount of schools that use it is staggering, DAO has used it twice, City boys and Westminster have both used it.

DAO has certainly been focusing on a certain type of angst classic fiction recently. This year and last year particularly. The only ones that comes anyone near it is CSSE though City has The Woman in White Wilkie Collins. DG

[J50]

For Hampton the exam is one of the harder ones around here. DS also sat Reeds, KGS, CLFS. The English comprehension was all inference and well above Bond. The other 'English' paper is a mixed oddity with a bit of VR and maybe NVR and primarily requires a great vocab to do well. The maths was hard, DS just about completed it and I know of many that could barely do half. It was short questions (maybe 40 in 50mins) and they were hard from the start - some of the easier ones he found towards the end. Kinda similar to the FPTP papers.