Message for 'Local Tutor'

Eleven Plus (11+) in Surrey (Sutton, Kingston and Wandsworth)

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Jess
Posts: 163
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:48 pm

Message for 'Local Tutor'

Post by Jess »

Hi

Saw your post in the Tips section where you mentioned Tiffin. Other areas have helpful local tutors (e.g. Patricia in Bucks and Mike in Wirral) who offer great help and advice, particularly to parents who have taken the DIY tuition route. Although much of what they say re VR is applicable to Tiffin too, their areas don't test in NVR so advice on preparing for this is somewhat thin on the ground. It would also be great to get some more general advice and info re Tiffin.

So as a starter for 10
-What practice papers would you recommend for the NVR element of the Tiffin test?
-What is the approximate percentage in each paper required to reach the pass mark (234 for Tiffin Girls, 230 for Tiffin Boys last year as I understand it)? I have been told that dropping one mark can mean dropping 50 places-is this true?!
-Any other tips for parents who are DIY tutoring their children?

I (and I'm sure other parents) would be really grateful for any advice

Jess
usa
Posts: 141
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:36 am

Post by usa »

Dear Jess
I so feel for you - anyone mentions Tiffin and your name pops up! Unfortunately this particular site is so quiet - in fact the whole borough has their mouths tightly zipped; for whatever reason. You only have to look at the posts to see that...........you are going to be lucky to get a decent reply.
I do know that for about every boy scoring (for example) 240 there will be about another 10 scoring the same. So yes, every point here does matter - there will be a whole bunch of boys around the cut off mark, so say if your son scores 2 points less than cut off, he might well have around 18 ahead of him on the W/L. I hope this makes sense - I follow this area because I used to live nearby when I was younger. I do wish you the best of luck and I know how desparate you are for some info - I just don't think you will find it here. Wishing you all the best for you and your child
USA
Milly

Post by Milly »

Dear Jess

I have to agree with USA. This site is exceptionally tight lipped when it comes to Tiffin. I often log on to see if there is any helpful advice re: Tiffin exam but this is the first time I've written. My son is due to take the Tiffin exam on Tuesday and I feel he is under prepared for it. For the past few months we have been doing practice papers (NFER, Bond, etc.) but I have a veryy uneasy feeling that we're missing something. I have spoken to quite a few parents of boys already attending Tiffin and they are just not prepared to divulge any information whatsoever. I even phoned around a few local tutors to get some advice about what to study but not much help there either. At the opening evening last month - same thing! 1023 boys took the test last year, competing for one of only 140 available places so I can appreciate that the school does not want anyone having an unfair advantage but its very frustrating nevertheless. I shall be happy to log on next week and pass on any information that we may have gained once my son has sat the exam - It might just help someone next year!

Milly
Louise

Post by Louise »

Jess

I know what you mean about Tiffin my child will be sitting the exam on Tuesday. I didn't DIY tutor because of the NVR I didn't feel confident. The practise papers we used were AFN, Bond and NFER. Like VR there are certain types of questions you will need to have covered this is where a tutor comes in. I know you are DIYing (a friend's son got a place this year and he didn't have a tutor and only did a handful of practice papers) so not everyone has tutors. Can you speak to a local tutor or your child's school re question types. There isn't as much out there for NVR as there is for VR. As for the numbers for this year what USA says is correct, 234 was cut-off for girls, went down to 230 and 226 was cut-off for boys, went down to 220. Up to 30 girls and 60 boys turn down places each year.
Guest

Post by Guest »

I agree with some of the other contributors, the surrey section of this website is extremely quiet and somewhat uncooperative. Just look at the threads about recent Sutton tests, so many viewings but just one or two comments. I can’t see what is wrong with conveying just a few lines about how children got on in the tests.

Anyway getting back to Jess’s question, my daughter sat Tiffin girls test for September 2006 entry. I prepared my daughter myself and was successful although we declined and choose Nonsuch due to high travelling distance for us to Tiffin. Anyway for NVR we used NFER, Athey, AFN and Bond. Don’t hold your breath for many other responses, Tiffin parent’s are bound by official secrets act !!

Hope this helps.

RC
local tutor

Post by local tutor »

Hi Jess

There's much less relevant NVR material available. Best are Nfer (obviously), AFN (though easier), the 3 epapers on this site by elevenplus exams. The 4 Bond papers are quite good as are bits of Athey and Alpha, but you have to be selective and not bother with certain sections.

The schools tend to drop 3 or 4 points below the pass mark. Someone said that they went down 100 places on the waiting list last year,at the boys' school, but I've always thought it's about 60 at the boys' school and 45 at the girls' school. It's hard to know what percentage you need to pass, but I suspect it's about 83% for boys, dropping to 80% (or maybe even slightly lower by the end) and a few percentages higher for girls. That's a guess though. Children born in summer get quite a few extra points.
Louise

Post by Louise »

Re Tiffin Boys I know they didn't go down 100 places for this year, my friend's son was number 70 on the waiting list and just before the list closed on 30 September this year he was told he had moved to first on the waiting list, but unfortunately too late for him. He is at another school and seems to be happy.
usa
Posts: 141
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:36 am

Post by usa »

There you go Jess - you are not alone after all!
Well done to RC and daughter for getting 2 places last year at top schools - do hope she is happy at Nonsuch - it is a good school.
Good luck for the test next week (?) - I think a lot of it will come down to the timing and making sure they finish!
USA
Jess
Posts: 163
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:48 pm

Post by Jess »

Wow! Couldn't believe there were so many replies when I logged on tonight. It did make me laugh though that the first reply to my post came all the way from the States! You are right USA, think I'm becoming slightly obsessive in my quest for information! It's just so frustrating that there is so little activity on this part of the forum. Well done again on passing the Bucks exam.

Milly and Louise-hope the exams go well for your children next week-good luck. Thanks for your replies and PLEASE come back and pass on any details/advice you can!

Local Tutor-thanks for the info. It would be great if you could drop in on the forum periodically to help us out with any queries.

RC-I know you've replied with info before, so thanks, and hope your daughter's settling well. What sort of scores was she getting in practice tests, can you remember?

I'm really hoping the cloak of silence doesn't descend once more-I've never seen this section so lively!

Jess
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hi Jess
If my memory serves me correctly, during the final 6/8 weeks my daughter consistently scored 90% or up in VR. In NVR she was scoring around 80-90% with NFER, BOND, AFN papers. However she found Athey NVR papers particularly hard and at best struggled to cross 70%.

RC
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