Exam day timing, what about lunch?!

[Guest]

My son sat the 11+ last year at noon. I prepared a "brunch" for him mid morning and even though he doesn't tend to get nervous he just couldn't manage to eat! So he went into the exam on an empty stomach. During the break a friend gave him some chocolate, which I've no doubt gave him the energy to finish the exam. My advise... give your son a snack to take in with him. Good luck

[Guest]

Can I ask those who've received their letters from the CSSE, did you get a registration card as well as the letter?

[Karen]

Can I ask those who've received their letters from the CSSE, did you get a registration card as well as the letter?

No, we were just given the letter, setting out time, candidate number, etc., and asked to bring it along on the day. The only other correspondence received was a letter from the school outlining details for what will happen on the day, where to park, pick up times, etc.

Regards
K

[Guest]

Thanks Karen, glad its not just me! (the letter from the school states that a registration card should be enclosed)

[Karen]

My son's just done a "dress rehearsal" using last year's papers. He scored 76% for English (oops), 92.5% for Maths and 94% for VR (NFER 11C) Does anyone know, would this be good enough for KEGS if, on the day, his scores were similar? Though I appreciate there will be candidates scoring as well and better and that places are limited!

[Guest]

If he scored like that on the day, he may well get a place at KEGS. Although, in my experience, most children score higher in papers at home than they do on the day. Although the NFER papers are similar, in reality they are easier. English is the one paper than it is difficult to gauge. I have not found any test paper like the actual ones used on the day.

[Guest]

My son's just done a "dress rehearsal" using last year's papers. He scored 76% for English (oops), 92.5% for Maths and 94% for VR (NFER 11C) Does anyone know, would this be good enough for KEGS if, on the day, his scores were similar? Though I appreciate there will be candidates scoring as well and better and that places are limited!

Karen,

Those scores would easily get your son into Kegs. Equating to about 89%, my daughter took last years 11+, got a fraction less than that and came in the top 20 at CCHS. Your son could score a full 7% overall less than he has done and would still get Kegs. i.e believe it or not,becuase your son scored so highly in VR and Maths, he could have afforded a mark of 62% in Maths and still got in.

Most kids will score less in the 11+ but the vast majority of those only 2% - 5% less. So if I were you, I'd have a nice stress free week where you do small amounts of work on weak areas. Not whole papers, just the odd 10 or 15 minutes of sample questions. It's all about confidence and state-of-mind now. He looks to have got the VR nailed. That is the be all and end all. You have to take your foot off the pedal in the last week or your lads going to be a wreck come Satuday.

[Guest]

Karen,

Those scores would easily get your son into Kegs. Equating to about 89%, my daughter took last years 11+, got a fraction less than that and came in the top 20 at CCHS. Your son could score a full 7% overall less than he has done and would still get Kegs. i.e believe it or not,becuase your son scored so highly in VR and Maths, he could have afforded a mark of 62% in Maths and still got in.

Most kids will score less in the 11+ but the vast majority of those only 2% - 5% less. So if I were you, I'd have a nice stress free week where you do small amounts of work on weak areas. Not whole papers, just the odd 10 or 15 minutes of sample questions. It's all about confidence and state-of-mind now. He looks to have got the VR nailed. That is the be all and end all. You have to take your foot off the pedal in the last week or your lads going to be a wreck come Satuday.

Thanks, that's encouraging. He finishes the VR in about 30 minutes for 85 questions, which I give him 40 minutes to finish as opposed to the 50 it says on the paper because I know the actual test will be 90 questions in 45 minutes. Therefore, I hope, with nerves on the day, he'll use the 45 and still finish the paper. I was quite impressed with his English score, as it was last year's paper (Mill on the Floss) and I thought he did quite well with it, bearing in mind other posters to this site have commented on it being quite difficult. The maths paper was also last year's and he could have scored even better than he did, but made a couple of silly mistakes. Don't worry, though, I am not going to give him any more tests this week! He's worked well enough and so we are just going to take it easy.

[Guest]

Can I ask those who've received their letters from the CSSE, did you get a registration card as well as the letter?

Not all schools use a registration card. If the school's letter says you should have one then you should. The main thing though is to take the letters with you.

[Danger]

I would be very surprised if he didn't make KEGS with those scores, Karen