11 Plus Exams Forum

I have been contacted by a parent, who informed me that his child was told not to write on the question paper.

I will check with my pupils and see what happened in the schools local to me.

Could you please add your own experiences with the name of the school where your child sat his/her paper so that we can see if this is consistent across schools and therefore a change from previous years.

Thank you

Hi moving,

DS sat at CRGS and was told that he could write on the question booklet or the scrap paper provided. He was also given a "special" pencil with which to complete the answer sheet. He said everyone was given one of these. He didn't bring it out of the exam hall so I have no idea just how "special" it was.

I have asked a boy who sat it at KEGS, definitely allowed to write on the question paper in VR.

Hi, my DD sat her 11+ at St Bernards and was also allowed to write on the question paper and was also given a pencil, it was a STAEDTLER 2HB the excact same pencils she had in her pencil case, but was told she couldn't use her own one, had to use the pencil they were all given to use!!

Hi moving

DD sat at Chelmsford. They were asked to check that their pencils were HB. She was also given spare paper and told that she could write on the question booklet if necessary.

Is there any problem if a different pencil was used? My DS didn't use the one provided but used his own one which is a Staedtler 3B (darker). Now I'm worried the computer won't pick up his answers! I thought my stress would be less once the exam was over but the stress is still there, just a different type of stress!

No problem with a darker pencil - thank you everyone for your replies.

Hi Moving,

Thank you for putting me at ease about the darker pencil DS used and for helping to alleviate some of my stress! I just had visions of his VR paper coming back with a big, fat 0% because of his pencil!

My DS sat in KEGS on 21-Nov. He says that there was two HB pencils put on his desk and he was allowed to use his own pencil. The invigilator also clarified that candidates were allowed to do rough on the VR booklet.

He also mentioned something new to me is that his name, candidate number, school number was all printed on the VR answer sheet. He did not have to fill this in. Was this the case with other centres?

Just checked with DS. The details were already filled in on the VR answer sheet at CRGS too.