Hi new here, had a quick read through a few posts and noticed a post where a few people replied saying the 11+ test on Saturday was quite easy... my son found it quite hard... did anybody else's children find it hard or just mine?! Worrying now

Don't worry Shauny, you're not alone. My ds said it was 'ok' but didn't finish every section and said there were tricky bits. I think different children have different expectations as to how hard it will be -
depending on what preparation (if any!) they've had. I think you will probably get a skewed impression on this forum (lots of motivated parents!) Some children are naturally more circumspect than others too!

If you look back through previous years' posts (yes I'm that sad) you'll find similar comments and worries that the test was 'too easy' yet the raw marks to standardised marks don't seem to vary an enormous amount. My feeling (in my sane moments) is that they've been running this exam for years and though the difficulty must vary a bit they're unlikely to make radical changes as long as it's working for them ok.

We can only wait and see but don't let a few comments worry you!

My daughter didn't find it "easy" per se, but she did think it was easier than I had led her to believe.

She did say some parts were trickier than others.

Personally I think the test was harder than last year.

You will always get children (especially when in a group) putting on the bravado about how easy it was!

My daughter didn't find it that easy either. We are all in the same boat!

I think whether the child says "easy" or "hard" is dependent on their disposition and not correlated to their performance!
My DC always said the practice mocks were "easy" but this was not reflected in scores - accuracy or speed!
Saturday's test was "easy" too apparently

I am so relieved that there are actually some well prepared children who found it hard. I have been worrying since Saturday since it seems most children found it easy . ( See other thread entitled ' Yesterday's 11+ test ' ).

My twins were , I felt , reasonably prepared . They did all the Shirley Mocks and got atleast 10-15% above the Mock's cut offs ( from historical marks ) and the CGP practice test papers ( Pack 1-4 ) where they were mostly scoring >75%.

They came out in tears , saying they felt that there were certain sections which they found as hard if not harder than the CGP papers . This included ( without giving out the actual content ) description removed by moderator. Please do not reveal any details about the test that could give an advantage to late sitters

They actually found Maths 1 and 2 and NVR 1 easy.

They have given themselves predicted raw scores of between 57-67% . They are usually pessimistic but even if I add on another 5-10% to this - it would only give them a raw score of 60-70% ( they are January born so will not benefit much from age standardisation ).

I am not sure whether this would be sufficient to get a place though I appreciate it would depend on how well other children do ...

I feel the same as you Tiya.

I felt my DC had gone into the exam well prepared. He scored on average around 78% on the CGP papers and got over 80% in the shirley mocks.

He was a bit nervous on the day but I told him not to worry and that he would be fine and just to think of it as another mock.

He came out looking shattered and said it was hard. He later on told me that he doesn't think he has passed.

The next day I heard from other parents saying their children found it really easy.

Hi inspired

I'm from the Bucks section but when I saw your post I thought I would say hello and point out a thread I started called "Help!"-you might find it a comfort.

All the best

2 little boys

From my experience it is impossible to second guess anything until you get the letter.

Children respond so differently and there can be some playground bravado we found. So don't worry.

Good luck