DD is in year 5 and we are doing DIY 11+ prep. We are currently working through the Bond CEM books using the ten minute tests and practice papers. Can anyone with more experience advise whether Bond alone is decent preparation for the Birmingham exam? Or are we best to include resources from other publishers too? Thanks in advance - I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and don’t want DD to be underprepared for what to expect in the real exam.

My dds found it really helpful to use a variety of different publishers who have a slightly different style.

When dd1 came out of her VR exam many students around her were telling their parents that there had been new sections they had not encountered before.

Dd1 told me that there were no new sections, but there were sections that were asked in a slightly different way.

Because she had prepared using a variety of publishers who presented the material slightly differently she was able to recognize the section.

I would recommend you take a look at some of the CEM materials in the forum shop. The CGP ten minute tests and the First Past the Post materials are particularly good. DG

Thanks, that’s really helpful. I’ll introduce some variety for DD.

Hi we are also DIY combined with online practice. But we use books too - 10’min tests mainly - we started with bond but found they repeated questions. We’re now on cgp which I like better. It is worth having a variety so you can see range of questions. I found DIY hard at first re pressure of ensuring ds has right materials. There was a bit of trial and error. Good luck.

Thanks fishface, good luck to you too! Another 4 months and it will all be over

Hi JM40

My girls are now in Years 9 and 11 (eldest at non-selective/ youngest at Camp Hill Girls) - but both did DIY work with me at home to more or less good effect.

I relied on 10 minute bonds but also bought in some CLOZE books - if you enter 11+ Cloze on Amazon - a number will turn up - or try larger book stores.

Over the summer I started to do full practice papers (any publisher - just ensure they are more recent - either new or hand-me-downs).

I used a mixture of publishers for the practice papers -but largely because they were hand-me-downs from various friends with older children.

We also encouraged a lot of reading of proper children's fiction - just search on line or try the Book Trust or even major book shops. Classics - Robert Louis Stephenson's Kidnapped or Treasure Island/ CS Lewis - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe/ Mary Norton - The Borrowers. It can depend on the child - but regular reading and really discussing vocabulary/ meaning is a huge help.

There is a lot of advice at the top of the Birmingham etc... section under CEM Prep.

I think my main advice from this point forward would be to work hard on what goes wrong to ensure your child understands for next time. I never really worried too much about the score - in fact I made a real play of being happy we could discuss this or that when my DDs got questions wrong - because talking through what to do next time and making sure they get it - really does help.

Best of luck!

OT

Hi Fishface. What online tests do you use?

I think I’m not allowed to say re rules ?but could be wrong - here goes - *** Advertising Censored ***. Sorry in advance if broke a rule but we’ve posted about cgp and bond so may be ok. We do supplement with books - cgp at present.

I was right so you can mention books publishers but not online. Interesting. Shirley that should be ok?

Thanks for trying Fishface. I didn't realize it was against forum policy.