11 Plus Exams Forum

Ok, so we are self-tutoring our DD. We're using various books, and at some stage (maybe summer holidays?) I'm planning on getting DD to do some practice papers at home. Part of that is doing the tests myself. Yesterday, I took one of the papers under exam conditions. My time to complete the maths sections was significantly over that allowed. I didn't struggle with the questions, just couldn't complete them all in the time.
DD is faster than I at mental arithmetic, but I suspect that she's not fast enough. Are there any tips on how to improve on speed? I've pointed out the elimination of obviously incorrect answers, but does anyone have any shortcuts/exam techniques to get to correct answers faster?

TIA and good luck to all those waiting for the allocation for September.

2Socks

2Socks wrote:Are there any tips on how to improve on speed? I've pointed out the elimination of obviously incorrect answers, but does anyone have any shortcuts/exam techniques to get to correct answers faster?
2Socks

Assume from your post that you are referring to maths questions here? I think largely it's a matter of practice - my DD's tutor put her through the CGP based preparation, involving 16 test papers 4 papers x 4 packs - by the end of which any child will have encountered pretty much any style of question on at least one occasion, and more likely several occasions, so this alone will aid fluency and speed. I'd strongly recommend that you start rather earlier than the Summer though, as time flies by, and you would ideally want to pace the home tutoring process to minimise stress as the exam approaches? Obviously a lot depends on your DD's personality and ability to cope with a concerted period of tutoring without getting bored! Given we're nearly in March now, I'd get cracking pretty pronto, TBH.

In terms of tips and tricks, if you're not employing the services of a tutor, that will depend on your own maths ability and experience. I don't think I can give a URL here, but searching online for practical guides for parents should net you some useful info.

Thank you, we're going through work, and doing 10 minute tests at the moment, but I was thinking that the start of the summer would be ok for the first "full" practice papers. I'm now planning on bringing that forward a bit!
Yes, it is mostly the maths. She's very good at VR (always has loved reading) and she's got the idea of removing a couple of options from NVR questions and then just guessing if it takes a while... but not sure how to improve time whilst retaining accuracy. Practice, practice, practice!

If it makes you feel more at ease, DD1 (now in Year 7 at Pates) never, ever finished any of the Maths sections within the allotted time including in the actual test and also knows that she "double lozenged" one of the Maths questions which means it will have been marked incorrect.

Lesson - accuracy more important than speed. DDs 2 and 3 are (not very patiently!) learning this lesson now as we prepare them for September!

That's really good to hear. She's probably slightly quicker than I at the mental arithmetic, but I think I will have trouble with getting her to take on good exam techniques. She's far too thorough for her own good! Hopefully that will translate into accuracy though.