GL type Papers SPag or comprehension first

11 Plus English - Preparation and Information

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motion
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:54 am

GL type Papers SPag or comprehension first

Post by motion »

Hi All,

Some tutors are suggesting that candidates tackle the Spelling, punctuation Grammar section first and then do the comprehension in GL/MC type papers. Is this advisable? for DS with good SPAG skills?

All along we have been practising with doing comprehension section first... Is to late to change?

My concern with this approach is if DS is clumsy then he can easily mess up on the question number on the answer sheet (mark the wrong one) or skip a page all together.

Any experienced tutors can comment on this please (with QE in mind)?

Thanks and Regards

Motion
Ladymuck
Posts: 1240
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:04 pm

Re: GL type Papers SPag or comprehension first

Post by Ladymuck »

Can't help with QE, but would agree that in order to get the best timing for the comprehension, it would be best to do the SPaG first. DS rarely needed the full amount of time for the SPAG, and that was better used in reading and rereading the comprehension and the answers to the questions.

That said, when ds did sit his English paper it was in a different format, with the comprehension being a smaller part of the whole, so he just did it in order.

As far as the question "is it too late", that depends on your ds and how flexible he is. We made the decision with less than 48 hours to go, but I did have ds off school for the day before testing.
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: GL type Papers SPag or comprehension first

Post by Daogroupie »

Why would a tutor recommend doing the Spag first? Is this something he/she has been recommending for sometime? Do they have a good track record of getting people in? It would be really really interesting to find out which section the most marks are lost in but in my experience it is the comprehension that catches students out. I lost a few marks myself yesterday not reading the questions properly.! Now that Spag is being taught in state schools for the Spag paper in Year Six I would think it is won or lost on the Comprehension.

My advice to you is do the comprehension first. Not a great idea to be reading and trying to grasp the tiny details of the passage when you are getting tired. DG
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