Free GL Familiarisation papers levels

[sookipixeldust]

Does anyone know whether the difficulty level for the free GL Familiarisation papers (https://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/product ... materials/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) reflects the difficulty levels of the real GL 11+ test? My child is finding these sample papers easier that the CGP 10 minute test books and the CGP sample tests that they've done (https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/info/prepari ... tice-tests" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), and I'm just worried that doing well on the GL papers will give my child a false sense of confidence, which will be destroyed if the real test is much, much harder.

Thanks

[Deb70]

Yes, the real test is harder than the practice questions, but it's more the timing that they need to be careful with I think.

[sparklies]

It's like you read my mind, as this was exactly what I was wondering as my daughter tried a couple of them today for the first time. She's been finding them a lot easier than the mocks she's sat and the CGP tests. With Deb70's reply, I'm guessing it's more familiarisation with the format and types of questions rather than it being an actual paper reflective of the level of what they'll face in a few weeks. Which is a shame, as otherwise we could stop practising now!!

[patricia]

The familiarisation papers on the GL website are representative of the standard, if any thing some questions may be a tad harder. They are aimed at children across the country, not specifically Bucks.

GL state in their free tests

The papers may not be exactly the same difficulty level as the real tests, as the
difficulty level varies between schools.

Bucks have made it quite clear

Is the test age appropriate?

The Buckinghamshire STT is designed to be taken at the beginning of the Autumn term when children move in to Year 6. Literacy levels in the test are kept as low as possiblee to ensure that the test assesses reasoning ability rather than levels of literacy. Additionally maths or English content in the test does not go beyond what the national curriculum expects children to know and be able to do by the end of Year 5.

The GL familiarisation paper given to children in the summer term, written specifically for Bucks, may be a tad easier as it is aimed at all levels (all Bucks children take the test unless specifically withdrawn)

CGP only produce one set of papers for the Bucks transfer test, these are a good buy. All their other papers/tests are aimed at children taking the test across the country and therefore will be a tad harder, but still good practice.

Patricia

[Deb70]

When we were doing them last year I had a GL book called the parent's guide to 11+.
In there it said that their practice tests contain a higher proportion of easier questions than the real test. They said it was done this way to build up children's confidence.
I wasn't keen on that philosophy and I preferred the CEM exam, where we used the Ten Minute Tests which are more difficult than the real test.
I would personally prefer to find the real test a bit easier than I was used to, rather than finding it harder. It's already difficult to answer them all in the time without suddenly finding them harder!

[patricia]

Hi Deb70

GL no longer stock that particular book on their website, although you can pick up used ones for as little as 15p. A good find.

Could I ask whether they were referring to questions in the book, their free familiarisation tests or the paid for tests?

The standard of the GL free papers is mostly in line with the Bucks test. The disadvantage of these and their paid for tests are that they do not include Spatial Reasoning, which needs to be sourced from other publishers like CGP. GL also state that the 21 types of VR are always evolving so it may be good idea to broaden the types of VR as GL free and paid for tests only use the 21 types

Patricia

[sookipixeldust]

Thanks for all the replies.

Patricia - I'm especially grateful for your advice (possibly because it was what I was hoping to hear!). Incidentally, I've already purchased the CGP Bucks transfer test paper (thanks to your recommendation on the DIY thread), which we'll be doing shortly. We've also done some CGP spatial reasoning 10 min tests too, as advised by yourself.

It appears that I spoke too soon about my child finding the free GL papers easier than CGP - my child found the NVR portion of the GL familiarisation very difficult. While they could do the 'puzzles' (for want of a better word), each one took far too long to complete, and there is no way that they could do 80 questions in an hour. Ah well...!

Deb70 - I understand why you prefer the real test to be easier that the practice ones, but I'd rather that the tests/practices were pitched at a similar level. A few years ago, my eldest did a Bond practice paper that was much too hard (they could barely do any of the questions), which was very disheartening. It was especially annoying because most of the questions hadn't been attempted, so it didn't even serve as a practice/refresher. I gave up hope of grammar school that day, and I was surprised when they finally scraped through.

Thanks again.

[Deb70]

Hi!

The GL parents book I mentioned was bought last year but I have since given it away so can't check back. But I think they were referring to the paid for test packs. They said that there were three levels of questions and that the practice test packs contained more of the easier level and less of the hard, whereas in the actual tests there would be a higher proportion of the more difficult questions.

Yes, I wouldn't want any practice questions to be so hard that the child gives up altogether. But I would prefer them to be a bit above the required level.

[sparklies]

Very helpful thread, thank you all!

We are OOC (just!) but with an older sibling already at a Bucks Grammar so the shrinking distances are thankfully not an issue this time around; we've just got to get her through the 11+! As previously mentioned, we've done the GL Familiarisation papers. However, there's mention in this thread of Y5 pupils getting a Bucks-specific version from GL in the summer term. Is there any way we can get this even though we are out of county, or are we not missing out on much?

We have been doing the CGP Bucks-specific tests which seem to be pretty good; are these around a similar level as the actual test then?

[patricia]

Hi

Follow the link for details of Bucks Familiarisation, section 9

https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/services/edu ... g-process/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Patricia