Hello!
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Hello!
Hi
I am new on here. I have 2 boy at AGSB in year 9 and 11 and a boy in primary in year 5.
We want him to go AGSB with his brothers but he will sit AGSB, Sale, Stretford and Manchester Grammar. The nearest schools are Stretford and Manchester but my son's have done well at AGSB.
I can't believe how fast it's come round and I worry because it sounds like the exams have changed a lot and there are a lot more kids that do the exam now.
He has a tutor twice a week and does alot of study but not sure about the CEM test for Sale as the tutor says it is very difficult to prepare for. Does anyone now any good books?
I am new on here. I have 2 boy at AGSB in year 9 and 11 and a boy in primary in year 5.
We want him to go AGSB with his brothers but he will sit AGSB, Sale, Stretford and Manchester Grammar. The nearest schools are Stretford and Manchester but my son's have done well at AGSB.
I can't believe how fast it's come round and I worry because it sounds like the exams have changed a lot and there are a lot more kids that do the exam now.
He has a tutor twice a week and does alot of study but not sure about the CEM test for Sale as the tutor says it is very difficult to prepare for. Does anyone now any good books?
Re: Hello!
Rahmanmum wrote:Hi
I am new on here. I have 2 boy at AGSB in year 9 and 11 and a boy in primary in year 5.
We want him to go AGSB with his brothers but he will sit AGSB, Sale, Stretford and Manchester Grammar. The nearest schools are Stretford and Manchester but my son's have done well at AGSB.
I can't believe how fast it's come round and I worry because it sounds like the exams have changed a lot and there are a lot more kids that do the exam now.
He has a tutor twice a week and does alot of study but not sure about the CEM test for Sale as the tutor says it is very difficult to prepare for. Does anyone now any good books?
Hi
My son had studied for CEM and passed it this year. He had sat for the Berkshire/ Slough school. He did take tuitions. But from what I have experienced is, for CEM preparation your child will have to work on his vocabulary. He can read classic novels, or any good fiction / non fiction books and make his own word bank. CEM papers are challenging in terms of time as well. Also doing Bond and CGP books of Verbal / Non verbal, English & Maths will help. A very good vocab has helped a lot.
Re: Hello!
My son sat the exams this year - I don't have any experience of previous years but the format of the AGSB exam hasn't changed. All the preparation that your older sons did will still be good prep for Alty Boys.
I agree that the CEM is very difficult to prepare for (other than what your child would ordinarily be doing at school - although opinion differs, it is thought to be more tutor-proof than the GL format and therefore more likely to identify the genuinely bright children). It is much heavier on English than the Alty Boys exam - so it has a couple of comprehensions in it, lots of picking words with similar meanings and words with opposite meanings. There are also CLOZE tests (if you google this you can get some examples), where you have to fill in a missing word to make sense of the passage. There are exam packs (similar to the GL / Bond papers) for CEM - try those - but I agree with the previous poster that an extensive vocabulary is key. Read, read and read. Discuss passages, write down words your son doesn't know, revisit them regularly. The timing is also different (you get a set period of time to do each particular section - 6 mins, 3 mins, 8 mins whatever - and you can't go back to individual sections once the time is up - its therefore probably useful to get him used to timed tests).
I agree that the CEM is very difficult to prepare for (other than what your child would ordinarily be doing at school - although opinion differs, it is thought to be more tutor-proof than the GL format and therefore more likely to identify the genuinely bright children). It is much heavier on English than the Alty Boys exam - so it has a couple of comprehensions in it, lots of picking words with similar meanings and words with opposite meanings. There are also CLOZE tests (if you google this you can get some examples), where you have to fill in a missing word to make sense of the passage. There are exam packs (similar to the GL / Bond papers) for CEM - try those - but I agree with the previous poster that an extensive vocabulary is key. Read, read and read. Discuss passages, write down words your son doesn't know, revisit them regularly. The timing is also different (you get a set period of time to do each particular section - 6 mins, 3 mins, 8 mins whatever - and you can't go back to individual sections once the time is up - its therefore probably useful to get him used to timed tests).
Re: Hello!
Hello, 'is it me you're looking for?'
There is whole section on CEM on this forum, what would be useful would be to know what were the weightings of VR/NVR etc at this years Sale and AGGS CEM 11+,does anyone know? I think this kind of insider local info would most useful to the OP.
There is whole section on CEM on this forum, what would be useful would be to know what were the weightings of VR/NVR etc at this years Sale and AGGS CEM 11+,does anyone know? I think this kind of insider local info would most useful to the OP.
Re: Hello!
I stand to be corrected, Catseye, but I'm not sure the weightings are ever published - and past papers are never published as far as I'm aware, so its very difficult for anyone to analyse them to get that information.
When the results come through, there is just one single total on the letter for the overall score - it's not broken down (into individual scores for Maths/VR/NVR) like AGSB is.
When the results come through, there is just one single total on the letter for the overall score - it's not broken down (into individual scores for Maths/VR/NVR) like AGSB is.
Re: Hello!
Could use the Freedom of Information Act 2000?Mandy21 wrote: but I'm not sure the weightings are ever published -
Re: Hello!
Thank you for your help, they still don't seem to decide if it will be CEM at AGSB yet- we will have to see.
