11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi All

No doubt everyone will be completely relaxed and keen to share experiences once Saturday's exam is over.

In view of the fact that the same exam paper will be used for the reserve exam in a few weeks time for pupils who were unable to take the test this time, can I suggest that everyone refrains for the time being from posting details of specific questions or question types on this forum to make to try to ensure there is no unfair advantage gained.

It is not uncommon for some parents to deliberately make sure their child is sick for the first exam in order to try to gain answers for some of the questions to give their child an additional boost. Sad but true!

Regards

Thanks for advice Ken R, my daughter probably won't be able to remember what she has done anyway!

I can sort of understanding where you are coming from..... however have you stepped back enough to actually think "am I just a LITTLE bit paranoid"???

Just really trying to be be consistent - other moderators have been trying to do the same in other forums (e.g Bucks)

It could be quite an advantage - for a couple of years running the Univ of Durham (who set the exams) set the synonyms part of the paper where all of the words started with the same letter of the alphabet (in one year it was P ). In this section there were 80 questions to answer in 10 mins.

Maybe I am being a bit paranoid - In fact I hope I am.

Any thoughts fm?? I recall last year we had some postings from someone who claimed the tutor they used insisted that pupils attend a post exam debrief so that they can all collectively write down all of the questions they remembered!

To KenR,

No, I'm afraid you aren't being paranoid. I always ask my pupils what was in the exam and you would be amazed how much some of them remember--one remembered 20 of the words once. Most would remember what the passage was and it would not be impossible to find it and ensure the child remembered all the salient points for the comprehenion; while that is only 6 marks, I suspect it may be given equally weighting with the other English sections because it reveals who absorbs what they read. T
Also, the ones interested in maths often tell me some of the trickier questions.
So, for the sake of fairness, I agree with Ken. Don't discuss specifics until the sick exam has been and gone.
I like to think I am a person with scruples but, if my child or any of my pupils were to be ill on Saturday, I'm not sure I'd resist logging onto this website to try to glean information. So don't put temptation in people's way.
Not that my child will be allowed to be sick. I can't wait for Saturday to come, go and be fogotten about!

KenR wrote:Hi All

No doubt everyone will be completely relaxed and keen to share experiences once Saturday's exam is over.

In view of the fact that the same exam paper will be used for the reserve exam in a few weeks time for pupils who were unable to take the test this time, can I suggest that everyone refrains for the time being from posting details of specific questions or question types on this forum to make to try to ensure there is no unfair advantage gained.

It is not uncommon for some parents to deliberately make sure their child is sick for the first exam in order to try to gain answers for some of the questions to give their child an additional boost. Sad but true!

Regards

Are you sure it is the same exam? I would have thought the school would realise people would talk about it in the playgrounds etc and give a different one for the second one.

Hi Stressed Mum

This question came up last year and I, like yourself, had initially assumed that the two papers would be different, but it appears this is not the case.

There were a couple of postings last year on the subject, one from David C I think:-

I am told by parents who contacted the foundation that the first and second tests are the same?

I think there was also a posting from one parent whose child sat the retest exam which also implied it was the same. The retest will be over in a couple of weeks so I would just suggest not divulging specifics until after that date.

KenR, how are you in a position to know that the same paper is used ? Are you an invigalator or part of the system. What are your facts to qualify your post, please share your thoughts and the facts.

Hi Guest

I don't have any inside information on this, only on historical heresay evidence from from previous posts who claim to have spoken to the KE Foundation Office on this subject. However this does appear to be common practice around the country.

You will note that I did specifically use the phase 'appears' in my post as they might have changed this practice. I can't be certain.

If you take a look at

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... c&start=30 you can see an example of some of the correspondence on the subject. You will see that some parents were wooried that there was some 'Fishing' going on after the 1st exam.

I do know though that's this is a historical fact for some other LEA authorities. (e.g Warwickshire) that they used to use the same paper. I have firm evidence about this.

On a related subject, it's a really good idea to register with the forum rather than post under Guest - I'm always happy to send any further information I obtained during my time as an 11+ parent via a PM or email. But I can only do this if you aren't registered!

Son found Saturdays KE test "Hard" and "Much harder than Bishop Vesey"
Especially the proof reading and maths. Verbal, matching words and non-verbal were apparently "OK" or "Easy-ish!"

Just got Handsworth to get through now!