11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi. DD got through to the second stage and we are not sure what familiarisation we should do for this Saturday's exam. Are there any sample papers or are there commercial papers that are similar to the [non-multiple choice] test they will write on Saturday? Many thanks.

bit late now isn't it?

OP, there aren't any past papers available for the second stage Sutton tests.

The English paper format does vary but is usually one piece of extended writing. My experience is that the boys have had to do a factual piece (eg persuasive letter) while the girls have had more creative pieces, but it could be different every year. Better to advise your child to go in with an open mind than to try to predict what the test will cover. The maths problems often have several steps of calculation in order to reach the answer and sometimes marks are awarded for working - make sure you tell your child to check whether they need to show their working.

Good luck.

Is it only writting? No comprehension?

For the boys it was definitely only writing, no comprehension. One persuasive piece. There had been comprehension questions in the SET.

Two years ago at SGS it was creative writing, i.e. a story, not a persuasive letter. I heard it was a persuasive letter last year, though, so it changes from one year to another.

Hogroast -- it is not too late to familiaries your kid with format. I didn't cram my kid in the first place so there's no "late"...just want her to feel comfortable.

Agree it's not too late to familiarise as this is the first year of a joint second stage hence we cannot predict whether it will be just writing or this will be alongside written answers to a comprehension as well.
My DS has been fortunate to be invited to sit the second stage and we will be "revisiting" all the learning he has done to date.
Good luck everyone and let's not try and demoralise at this stage.

I think the best thing at this stage is to tell the children to keep an open mind as any format can come up and if they go in expecting one thing and something else comes up, they may get very nervous.

I'd just run quickly through a few possible formats to remind them how to handle each of them and, most importantly, remind them how to manage their time in the English paper. They need to know how much of a page they can cover in the time given (is it 45 mins writing? I don't remember now) so that they can plan accordingly and not run out of time.