11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi

Good luck to all of our children taking the Kent Tests today and tomorrow.

My question is....... is it normal for the non verbal test to be sectioned and timed.....what I mean is that my daughter's group were told to stop each section after a certain time. If they had finished the section before they were told to stop they were not allowed to move onto next section until told....ie my daughter sat there wasting time which could have been better spent on other sections which she is weaker on!

thanks for reading

I feel the same as you i didnt think they timed them like that either. Do you know if they are marked as indivisual tests NV and VB reasoning as someones told me at a Grammar school the Maths matters more! I really do not understand these tests!

This seems to be the usual way, my daughter took the Bexley Test as well and the NVR was the same. How did your children find the test, my daughter said not many finished the vr, although they put answers, if you know what I mean, guessed quickly...

It is common practise to split NVR tests into small sections. eg. 60q split up into 5 sections of 12q each. An overall score out of 60 would then normally be the attainment mark for this test.

HTH

BW

The NVR tests are, as far as I am aware, carried out as per the suggested routine in the NFER practice tests. These are divided into 5 sections of 12 questions.Each section is a separate test with instructions, and practice questions, after which timing for the 12 questions then commences.Examinees are not allowed to return to a previous section, or proceed to a subsequent section. I have always thought this unfair to children such as my DS who in practice has been able to complete a couple of sections in 3 mins, but has then been unable to complete other sections in the alloted 6mins. This means he has wasted 3mins twiddling his thumbs in 2 sections,whereas other examinees have been able to use all their time usefully. I have suggested he "cheats" and puts any old answers down for the practice questions and uses the spare time until the section is officially started to look at the subsequent questions. Of course he would not have done this in the actual exam

Also, I understand from feedback from DS that todays NVR was actually 4 sections of 18 questions. He also said that the time for each section was still only 6 mins.

Thank you for your replies

I was just very surprised that the staff prevented the children going on to next section within the non verbal reasoning test if they had finished one section before the 'time'

My daughter has certain questions she needs more time with and therefore could have made use of the minutes in between sections where she was waiting to be allowed to carry on to next section.

Hope this makes sense, I do understand the time allowed for each test but just was not aware that within the non verbal test they would stopped and started by section!

thanks

thanks dadofkent.......very useful answer .....if only I had asked the question last week!

I am just glad I dont have to sit the test!

hugs to all

[quote="Bewildered"]It is common practise to split NVR tests into small sections. eg. 60q split up into 5 sections of 12q each. An overall score out of 60 would then normally be the attainment mark for this test.

For further info, you can take a look here....
[url]http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/11-plus-kent.php[/url]

HTH

BW[/quote]

People should not take too much notice of this link as it is grossly out of date. There is a thread further down the Kent site which points this out as well (including an offer from Peter to provide updated text). All state schools in Kent now do the same tests. The VR is no longer "dual format" it is multiple choice. I understand that this year's VR was 80 questions in 50 minutes; NVR is definitely one of the tests; and the claim that, for the maths paper, students need a good understanding of algebra which "seems to be the way forward" is incorrect (if my son is to be believed there was no algebra in this year's test). I hope whoever is responsible for this link updates it soon to avoid any misunderstanding in the future.

Bexley mum, we talked about the out of date information recently. As far as i am aware an update is in hand

I'm pleased to hear it! Thanks for letting me know.