11 Plus Exams Forum

This seems like a silly question....

We are in South Bucks, and I am considering putting my daughter in for both the Slough and Bucks 11+, to optimize her choices and chances of succeeding. Firstly, Is tis possible to do?

Bucks only do VR. Am I correct in saying Slough does VR and NVR only? How is the paper than marked? For example say VR was 120, and NVR was 100...would the average score be 110? Or do they have to achieve over 111 in both areas to qualify?

Sorry if this does not make much sense! Any clarification would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

Hi,
For Bucks you need to achieve 121, the higher mark counts out of both, but to gain a place 121 is the qualifying score. Then distance criteria etc.

You can take as many exams as you wish. ie Bucks and Slough.

For Slough their system is different, you are correct, the average is taken from both papers and 111 is qualifying score BUT the schools have their own cut off score due to huge competition for places.

Langley take 140 or so all in rank order of score. Their cut off is around 118/120.
Slough Grammer take 100 in rank order then rest are catchment, their cut of is around 114/115 (look under slough GS historical offers in Berkshire section).
Herschel Grammar take top 70 in rank score order and rest to catchment and cut off is around 116. Each year it varies depending on cohort.

If you ar OOC like us then you need to get a higher score, refer to the previous years scores to get an idea.

Hope this helps, we took both exams and gained place in Herschel.

Thank you for your reply,

Just trying to work out a few different game plans so we know exactly what we are doing. By looking at the pass marks, Slough would appear easier as their pass mark is lower? My daughter is doing tuition in VR for Bucks, however I dont want to cram her head too much and throw some NVR papers at her too! I am hoping her VR score will pull up the final grade should she not do so well in NVR (although she done this in a CAT test, and done ok!)

Oh the stress!!

I wouldn't rely on the VR score bringing up the non-VR without doing any preparation - the non-VR papers have been quite challenging over the last few years - particularly as they only have 10 minutes to do each 20 question section. It probably doesn't need as much preparation as VR as there are less question types, but it definitely needs some practice. We didn't go down the tuition route and did what we considered just enough to prepare my daughter for both papers, so we split the practice time fairly evenly. We never did more than 2 full practice papers a week - usually one of each - and other bits and pieces in between. The "low intensity" approach worked for us - good luck!

The lower pass mark for Slough consortium is a red herring. The scores are just standardised around 100, with a pass mark of 111, whereas Bucks, I believe is standardised around 110/111 with a required score of 121.

There will be many stories of those who have sailed through Slough, but not Bucks and vice versa. NVR tests different skills to VR, and you never know.

Thank you all for your advice!

I think it may be worth getting some NVR papers for her to go through, although I am still going to work more on Bucks (we live here and are in catchment being the main reason!)

That's a pretty good reason! As you have plenty of good grammar schools near to where you live, it makes sense to make them your priority. Easier for staying on after school for extra-curricular activities and less of a strain on Mum and Dad's taxi services! Good luck!