Advice on CGP CEM tests - speed

[Omega250]

Hi, Can anyone provide some advice how my DD could improve her speed for CGP-CEM (10-11) tests. She has just started 11+ preparation for next year (Sep-2020 exam). Her overall accuracy is pretty good when not timed but she is taking >double the allocated time.

[scary mum]

Practice will improve speed. I would say at this stage - a year in advance, it is a little soon to be going full papers & could sent her confidence. I'm from a different area to you, & it's some years since my children took the 11 plus, but they had one hour tutoring from the start of year 5, focussing on the different types of question & then did papers from early July. They were very slow to start with but by September were finishing the practice papers easily.

[Omega250]

Hi Thanks for the quick reply. Should have mentioned, she's only trying short 10 minute tests, just a couple every now and then- nothing too demanding for her ( I hope). Of course, I understand the practice aspect. As I say, she's fairly strong but too slow. What else can we do to help her?

[poppety]

My child sat the Trafford CEM test last year (and passed). We started tutoring (1 hour a week) at the start of year 5. Before this we didn't do too much - some ten minute tests every now and again but we didn't worry too much about timings at that stage. As previous posters have said - speed comes with practice and it is more important to focus on accuracy and understanding to start with. We also found the Schofield and Simms mental arithmetic books quite good for doing a few minutes here and there. I would say focus on helping your daughter to familiarise herself with the type of questions that come up within CEM and encourage her to read a variety of books and broaden her vocab as much as possible. Synonyms seems to be a popular topic on the verbal reasoning section!

[Omega250]

Thanks again. It seems that everyone's suggesting getting a tutor in Y5, is it really necessary or is strictly parental tutoring (more closely than at usual times) sufficient? Obviously, we're getting all the relevant CEM books and exposing them to her step-by-step.

[poppety]

We know children who did it without a tutor - just lots of practice at home with their parents. I felt my child would respond better to a tutor at a set time once a week and with no interruptions from siblings! What I would say, if you decide to do the work yourself, is to make sure you book in one or two formal mock tests. Even the friends we had who didn't use a tutor did this and said that it really helped their child prepare for the test and got them used to being in a large room full of other children under exam conditions. I would suggest an early test (in the June prior to the test) and then one in the August the month before.

[Omega250]

Thanks. My daughter goes to a state school and her end of year report was 'Exceeding' (whatever that means) in all of the 11+ related subjects. So, as a parent we must be doing something right so far I think. But can we translate that to a competitive exam scenario? What I'm trying to understand is what's the real purpose of a tutor - is it learning exam techniques that otherwise may not be known? Answers from experienced users would be highly appreciated.

[poppety]

My child was 'exceeding' throughout primary school too but we still felt that a tutor would be a sensible option for 11+ prep for several reasons. Firstly, there are elements of the 11 + which are not taught in school until year 6 (Maths topics) and some which are not taught at all in state primaries (NVR) so we felt that a tutor could probably help in these areas better than we could - certainly with the NVR which can be pretty tricky (in my opinion).
The tutor used a real variety of materials too and I think that if it had been left to me I might have ended up unwittingly just using two or three different sources for practice which might not have been enough.
For us it worked better practically too. We had a set day when we went to the tutor for one hour. Then homework (probably an hour) was done on a sunday morning. In between it was just lots of reading (which was normal as I have a bookworm) and maybe some word games in the car etc. I think if we hadn't used a tutor we might not have been as structured and might have ended up actually spending more time on practice which I really didn't want.
But you know your child and I certainly think it is possible to do the work at home. Out of around 8 children we know who passed, I know of three who didn't have a formal tutor.
From what I know of the CEM test (both from our experience and form talking to others) the biggest challenge is the timing. I know of children who are really able and really smart but they didn't pass the test because they left too many questions out and couldn't work under that kind of pressure. Its not necessarily a fair test in that respect but that's how it is. Please feel free to ask questions - it was only last year that we went through it all so I appreciate where you are at!

[Daogroupie]

There is absolutely no requirement for a tutor.

Most tutors use material that is published so you can also use that material.

If you are prepared to put in the time you are able to do it yourself.

However some parents appear to find 11 plus material and working through it with their student really boring and would much rather pay someone else to do it for them.

DG

[poppety]

Yes I agree there is no requirement. I just felt for my family it worked best and my child was more focused in a classroom environment. And it certainly wasn't a case that we found it boring. I quite enjoyed the verbal reasoning work!
OP - there will always be people who are critical of those who use tutors but at the end of the day do what works best for your family and your child. We had a fairly smooth build up to the test doing it the way we did. My child went along on the day feeling confident and prepared and achieved high scores for all schools in the consortium.