11 Plus Exams Forum

Dear all apologies to be pedantic,
and i hope you all have a good Bank Holiday.


Are the papers with the boxes marked by Humans or Computers?
And does the thickness of the pencil then matter?

In my childhood exams we all had to use HB pencils because they rubbed off neater and the computer could read it better.

Any pointers?TIA

I would use a “normal” pencil. They are read by computer. Mechanical pencils tend to be fainter and they break!

Are the pencils not provided by the testing centre?

You will be given instructions by the consortium on what to take (and not take). From memory you do need HB pencils.
The tests are marked by computer. You need to practice making the marks hard enough because the computer won’t pick them up if they are too light.
They do some manual checks but better safe than sorry!

Thank you all, most appreciated