scrap paper in tests

shuff · Post by **shuff** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:30 pm

Just an observation, my son did his practice test yesterday and was given one piece of paper to do all his working outs on, they were reluctant to give out any more than that. He ended up rubbing out work that he had done to make more room. Anyone know why they are so mean with their paper?

twellsmum · Post by **twellsmum** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:22 pm

My DD did her practices at school on Thursday and Friday. She says that they were only given one piece of scrap paper too but were told that they could write on teh question sheet so that is what she did for some of the questions, only using the scrap paper where there was not enough room on the answer sheet.

medwaymum · Post by **medwaymum** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:46 am

my dd did her Kent test in Jan this year and was told by the invigilator mid-way into the test to stop writing on the exam paper. She was doing a vr paper and eliminating the wrong answers by crossing them out before entering the correct answer on the multiple choice sheet.
luckily this didn't put her off but it could have.
it seems some schools allow this and others don't, so have a word with your child to prepare them that they may not be allowed to write on the test at all and just use the scrap paper.

yoyo123 · Post by **yoyo123** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:03 am

I think that they should be allowed to write on the paper, it really helps for some of the maths and nvr questions. It seems to vary from school to school, I think I may e-mail KCC and ask what the policy is

perplexed · Post by **perplexed** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:51 am

It sounds so silly that some schools seem to be making life harder for some Kent 11+ candidates by telling them not to write on the answer paper and / or limiting the amount of paper allowed for writing out workings etc.

I seem to think from reading other threads on the Kent forum that neither of these are Kent policies. It will be good to read Yoyo's e-mail response from Kent.

I think if I had a child sitting the 11+ this year I would write to the LEA in advance and get written confirmation of the rules. I would then discuss these with whoever is responsible for administering the exam at the primary school, and then get written confirmation from the school that they will be following the Kent rules!

I guess this could be done in a more subtle fashion by explaining to the school that a letter to parents in advance about scrap paper, writing on the paper etc would be extremely useful and save hassle during the exam.

This is supposed to be a standardised test. It makes a mockery of the test if some children virtually have to do everything in their heads, and others have as much paper and writing on the questions as they wish.

yoyo123 · Post by **yoyo123** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:42 am

just sent e-mail number 2!

I asked if they could confirm whether all schools did the same and were old papers used. I may have to start sending under a false name soon as I must be getting on their nerves!

WesterhamMum · Post by **WesterhamMum** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:22 pm

Hi I have not had a chance to look on this site for ages otherwise I would have shared this information soonerâ€¦.sorry!

I telephoned and emailed KCC about writing on the question sheets as DD was also told at school that this is not allowed. I was told that although the invigilator will ask the children not to mark the question sheets, it is not a problem if they do. Here is the reply I got to my email:

â€˜The printed instructions on the tests tell children to write their answers on the answersheet and to do any working out on a piece of paper (they will be supplied with a blank sheet of paper as well as the answersheet). However a child will not be penalised if they do write on the question paper. The invigilators are asked to check discreetly that children are marking their answers in the correct way on the answersheet and not on the question booklet.â€™

I like many others have told my daughter to ignore the invigilator and carry on using the method she has practiced which is crossing off the answers on the question sheet as she eliminates them.

Good luck to all of youâ€¦.it is nice to know there are plenty of us in the same boat!

yoyo123 · Post by **yoyo123** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:49 pm

now that makes sense, if they are trying to ensure that the children write the answers in the correct place as some children won't have seen any paper except the practice.

Schoolbaglady · Post by **Schoolbaglady** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:26 pm

Just a little interjection here. May be useful. When dd was sitting entrance exams earlier this year, an invigilator looked over her shoulder and told her to make her pencil marks stronger on the multiple choice answer sheet. Presumably he/she thought this could be significant in terms of the computer being able to 'read' the answers (or however the answers are recorded)....a simple thing but could make the difference!

Good luck to all.

Snowdrops · Post by **Snowdrops** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:54 pm

Good point!!!

My DD's marks were very faint, I made a point of telling her to make her marks harder/darker, explaining it was a computer which would be 'reading' her answers and might not 'see' her light marks.

She now marks heavily