11 Plus Exams Forum

For those who are just coming to the end of the process, is there anything you wish you'd known before the exam?

I'm thinking more of the practicalities that you would know for DC2 but wouldn't have thought of first time round;eg how early to get there on the day, whether the children sitting the exam are all in one big hall or split into different classrooms, how easily your DC found where they should be, did they take enough pencils/ pens in with them, did they have enough time to go to the toilet, etc. I am interested in anything you think would be relevant.

We're aiming for WGHS for Sept 2014 entrance but this is our first time so looking for tips so that DD1 isn't wrong-footed on the day.

Have learnt so much over the last months from lurking on this site, thank you to all who have shared their experience.

Wish I'd known the questions in advance

My one tip would be to sign up to a tutor for mock tests who run them pretty much as they do for the actual exams. Get used to sitting in a room doing tests with others.

My other tip would be to not put too much pressure on the child - I saw one boy come out of FW in tears because the exam wasn't what was expected - this shouldn't happen to a 10 year old child.

My friends daughter has just left WGHS and loved every minute of it. Good luck.

Slightly off topic - make notes after each visit to a school. After a while they all merge into one which makes completing the CAF problematic

Thanks Happy Dad, I was feeling happier before I knew they'd brought the exam forward by 2 months. Oh well, all DC are in the same boat.

Can't do anything more than we're currently doing about the exam but was hoping that preparing for little things might help. Will look into mock exams- is that something I need to look at now (do they get booked up?) or closer to the time?

All advice gratefully received!

Read the exam content sticky. Then read it again. Then put together some questions that reflect what you've read. It seems they've started to repeat content from past years, os it's well worth using it as practice material.

I am afraid that it isn't easy to get the 'happy medium' of the 'right amount' of preparation and practice.

Of course, it is fair to say that some parents do not organise enough support or encourage enough practice, thereby possibly 'selling short' a bright child.

But equally I have seen children who have been placed under too much pressure and who have had too much work to do - sometimes from numerous tutors as well as home - and this is counter-productive.

The most useful tip I can offer to a child doing the test is carry on answering the questions unless the footer says you have come to the end of the section. I assume it was practical tips rather than philosophical thoughts.

I have known if several cases where children answer the two pages of questions and then stop without bothering to turn over. This has obvious consequences in some cases.

Also practice little but often prior to the test.

Thank you. It was more the practical tips I was looking for, but anything you deemed useful I'm grateful to know.

I think I'm more in danger of pressure overload than DD1 - trying to play it down whilst also encouraging her to work. Seem to spend a lot of time here lurking! (Not the done thing to talk about at school). She's as cool as a cucumber but I will watch for that as we get nearer and I get more anxious.

Thank you to all who have responded.

Hi Pinkmum,

My DD took the QM test this year and one of the things that i'm sure she found helpful was waiting in the queue outside along with some of her friends. She realised that she wasn't on her own and that others were also going through the same feelings and worries as her. I'm sure this helped to distract and de-stress just a little bit - does depend on the friends though. I don't know how WGHS do their test, but at QM the girls are divided up alphabetically within separate classrooms. They are allowed to take a drink/snack during a quick break, so a small biscuit/choc bar is ideal - nothing too heavy, just enough to give an energy boost or little treat. I put her pencils & erasers in a pencil case to make sure she didn't drop them all over the floor with nerves. These are all small things, but they each helped a little bit. Good luck with next year, I followed a lot of the advice from this forum and it worked out well for us

Bubble

DIY Mum wrote:Normally, KEF send out a specimen paper for all dps who have registered. And I do use these as a guide for dc's 11+ preparation.

Had I known that they would not have included their latest exercise of cloze and vr in the actual exam- I wouldn't have bothered making up lots of sheets for dd2. It was very misleading.

I wonder why they included it in the sample sheet but used the older format of cloze and vr instead for this year's exam? I know their sample paper does change each year and normally this is reflected in the content of that particular year's exam. But it wasn't the case for this year

DIY Mum,

I thought there was an exercise each on missing letters cloze and choice of 4 word cloze. With regards to VR there was something like finding the odd one out from group of words. Isn't that correct?

MSD