Thinking of applying to Tiffin Girls School. Using Bond books. Exam is in October. At this point daughter is getting in the 60s for maths and English papers. Does she stand a chance? What sort of scores using Bond are other daughters getting at this point? How quickly can these girls progress with a bit of practice? Can anyone provide hints? Not going to be able to get tutor. Thanks! And good luck.

I am bit out of touch as DC sat for these tests few years ago, but Bond test papers were thought to be on the much easier side. Also are you referring to Bond Assessment books or Bond Practice papers?

But there is still time. Stage 1 tests are few months away. Have you tried GL papers? Actual papers are thought to be tougher than those papers, specially the vocabulary is of much higher standard than GL.

I think that first cover the ground I.e whole of Key stage 2 syllabus and then attempt GL papers, sometime in July onwards. Remember your school would not have covered the KS2 syllabus as entrance tests are just in the beginning of the year 6. You have to know the syllabus and cover it yourself.

And also consider taking other schools entrance tests which might help in preparing for TGS test, such as Nonsuch one.

I see that you have asked similar questions for HBS as well. Try to focus on one type of test, if you have just started preparing for grammar schools’ tests.

I assume that you are aware of TGS admission area.

I am sure that other more experienced parents would give you more tips and better advice.

Good Luck.

OP, what area do you live in and are you prepared to move if you get into one of these schools?

Many students have been preparing for many months for these exams so you would really need to focus to overtake them.

Bond books are not hard enough for these schools, you need to be using material like FPTP and Habs papers. Make a decision on which school you are going to aim for and then focus on their format. If you do a search on that school you will find lots of posts that will guide you.

How does your dd feel? Is she motivated to do the work required? It needs to be her dream as well and not just yours. DG

OP, I noticed that you're also enquiring about HBS. If you live near HBS you would be unlikely to get a place at Tiffin - they have not previously needed to allocate places outside their designated area (p6 of the admissions policy). If you do live in the Tiffin designated area, you would have to move house if your DD got a place at HBS.

Been a few years, but Bond papers for 11 not really hard enough, think there was some for 12 or 13 which would help
As others have suggested, worth getting other practice papers

You do need to work up though, increasing the level, there is no logical reason why a 9-10 year old will be good at exam answers until they have been taught and practiced answering a few times.

Finally remember there is no target pass mark, it is a competition versus other children, so depends on how others do. No advantage being in top 50. All you actually need is to not have more than 179 people ahead of you that choose that school (and some will go elsewhere so might be at say 250 of those that sat the exam and still easily get in)

Hi

My dd sat it this year and has been offered tgs- I agree the actual papers were harder than the bond papers.

There are more than 50 questions for the first stage and accuracy on the first stage is paramount! I agree withTiffinboys- make sure you cover the whole KS2 syllabus.

You still have time and children peak at different times but you will all need to stay focused.

As mentioned before GL assessment is a good idea, Manchester grammar papers are online.

This forum is amazing and really helped me a lot with both my children.

Good luck

My DD sat the exam in Sep 2017. According to her, the Bond papers were much easier than the actual TGS papers (Stage 1 & 2) for both Maths and English.

In addition to FPTP, I would also suggest looking at Letts and Schofield & Simms books. There is still time to catch up. Your DD needs to focus on an exam type (TGS & Sutton Consortium Exams are similar) v/s HBS/Slough Consortium which are CEM style v/s GL Style exams. The work done during the Summer Holidays can make the difference.

I had a similar feedback from my daughter as well (2017). Bond papers were much easier in comparison to actual papers. We practised a lot of papers (Bond, CGP, FPTP, GL assessement and Exampaperplus) and found ones from exampaperplus to be most challenging followed by FPTP and GL Assessment.

I remember that we started attempting papers from April onwards and at first DD used to struggle finishing paper in time without compromising accuracy. But slowly by the end of summer holidays, there was a remarkable improvement in her speed and accuracy. We did follow a strict routine (including holidays) and worked on all her weak areas highlighted by the papers. DD did read a lot of books (including classics) which helped in improving her vocabulary and comprehension.

You still have a lot of time in hand, you all just need to stay focussed and work on her weak areas. Tiffin English paper has lot more questions than the practice papers available in the market. A good understanding of grammar along with strong vocabulary will be helpful.

All the best.

DD was offered a place at Tiffin for Sept. I second what others have said regarding Bond books. DD was doing the 12+ Bond books and they were still nowhere near the same difficulty as the actual exam. FPTP was probably more like it and Manchester grammar papers for the second round. I would strongly advise buying flash cards for English vocabulary. You can get these on amazon and also keeping a diary of any new words and their definitions.

Hi, thank you for all your advice. Books to look at summarised here: FPTP, Habs, Letts, Schofield, GL, Manchester Grammar and ***. Consensus seems to be that Bond is too easy! I am aware of the location requirements. In temporary accommodation, so will have to move before now and the summer. And daughter reads a lot. Another question. How many hours a week would you recommend studying? Leave house at 7.30 and don’t get back until 6, so time is limited! Once again, thank you. Had no idea about differences between GL and CEM.