Exam board & books

Eleven Plus (11+) in Dorset

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Charminster1
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2016 10:33 am

Exam board & books

Post by Charminster1 »

We are hoping to put our daughter in for 11+ for BSG next September. Looking at the choice of books etc available is a bit daunting. Can anyone advise the correct ones for BSG & any advice. Thanks
guest400
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 4:21 pm

Re: Exam board & books

Post by guest400 »

Our son sat the exam last month and when we first started prep it all seemed daunting. The tests are the same for the boys and girls grammar schools. There will be lots of opinions offered and each child will be different when it comes to the best way to support them through it. In my opinion, you cant beat working through practice papers time and time again to get used to the different question types and then working on areas of weakness and the earlier you start the better.

In terms of books, we worked through the GL Assessment Multiple Choice packs. You can either buy a variety pack with 1 copy of each practice paper or buy a pack each of Maths, English and Verbal Reasoning to start with as these are the subjects they will be tested on. Then buy further packs when you think they are getting familiar with the questions. The tests they will be undertaking are GL Assessment ones so get your daughter to become familiar with these. You can buy direct from the GL website or through places like Amazon.

There are other websites which i found during prep which were useful in giving techniques to answer questions too.

We didn't go down the personal tutoring route and there were times when we spoke to other parents who decided to do so that we thought that our son wasn't going to be as prepared as other children. However, if your daughter is keen to practice then that's half the battle won and i genuinely think if you keep practising the GL question types then she will be in a good position come next year.

Good Luck!
Charminster1
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2016 10:33 am

Re: Exam board & books

Post by Charminster1 »

Thank you. We are actively looking for a tutor bit think we have come to it a bit late. Have been let down once & finding it hard to find someone available. Worried about the essay question without having had any practise. Also think she could do with a little help with her maths. Don't want to put her under any pressure but also don't want to leave her unprepared. We have been told by her school that she should go for it but know that state schools don't cover everything which is in the test.
Ripcurlrana
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 3:55 pm

Re: Exam board & books

Post by Ripcurlrana »

Charminster1 wrote:We are hoping to put our daughter in for 11+ for BSG next September. Looking at the choice of books etc available is a bit daunting. Can anyone advise the correct ones for BSG & any advice. Thanks

Hi. My son used the BOND books and papers and started a year before he sat the exam in Sept 2015. We used age group 11/12. This helps them cover the syllabus year 5 will not for the exam. BOND online also do tests that your daughter can do. Nearer to the exam we moved to GL (more of the format for the exam). BSG website should be able to give you information on what past papers to look at. Its hard work for a year but hopefully will pay off for you.

Helping them learn exam technique is key - so they know how to use the time of each exam well.

Good Luck!
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