11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi, I have 2 questions about the exam itself, I'm hoping some here will no the answer to these.


1. If you finish a section before the time is up can you go back to previous sections?

2. If there is a maths section where you have to write the answer down as well as mark in the numbers then what happens if what has been written down is different to what has been marked on the paper, will it be marked wrong even if one of the answers is correct?

Thanks.

Thanks for asking this - watching with interest.

Hi

Most comments are around how time pressured the CEM 11+ is so I think it is more likely that your DC won't finish the section in the time, but I think if there is time available you can go back & check.

Re your second question -the exam is marked by computer so it is what counts on the mark sheet boxes. I think it's only in appeal & then in rare cases do the papers get looked by a human.

HTH

Thank you! Really helpful info.

1. Quote from the familarisation booklet:
"If there is time left at the end of a section, candidates should go back and answer any questions they have missed, but within that section only". I'm not sure how easy it would be to sneak back to a previous section in practice.

2. It is the answer grid that is marked, not the numbers written next to it. If the grid answer is right, you get the mark. I guess the numbers might be taken into account if the machine was having trouble reading the answers and it had to be checked manually.

To answer your first question - they definitely can't go back to previous sections. Each one is done as a discreet segment, with intro and examples. (So my two daughter's who have done the test, tell me anyway).

And in terms of the Maths, I know some places advise the kids not to bother writing in the numbers to save time - I think that is a dangerous strategy as although the boxes are the important bit, they must ask for the numbers for a reason! (Doing both also focuses my son's mind, as he has made mistakes just filling in the boxes - if he's written the number first there's something to reference and check.)