Marked Q paper

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Guest

Marked Q paper

Post by Guest »

My daughter took her 11+ yesterday. They were told not to mark the question paper (this info was also included in a letter sent from the school with details about the exam). When my daughter got her paper it was covered in pencil dots and small lines. She panicked and wasted valuable time rubbing these out. The result was that on the 1st paper she ran out of time. V unusual for her as in the 20+ practice tests she had always finished with time to spare. Is it possible these were old papers that were being re-used? I am in a real panic, convinced she has little chance of getting in and don't know what, if anything to do, ie contact the School etc. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
Bexley Mum 2

Marked Q paper

Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

How very upsetting for you and your daughter. The only thing that occurs to me is that it might be better if you flag this up as a serious concern as soon as possible rather than wait until you get the results. If, heaven forbid, it does come to appeal and your concerns aren't already on the record, it might sound as if you'd waited until you got the results and then started trying to find reasons why your daughter didn't achieve the pass mark. I don't know which part of the country you are in, but I would be inclined to write to the LEA and the school where the tests were taken (and copy it to anyone else involved in the process). Clearly there are two issues: one, that your daughter lost significant time rubbing out pencil marks; two and more importantly, her frame of mind could have been affected substantially. Some children would take this in their stride; others wouldn't. My second son is currently sitting his eleven plus (exams are spread over 2 weeks in Bexley) and I can just imagine the effect something like that would have on him.

Furthermore, for the sake of others sitting tests in the future, those who administer the tests ought to be made aware of this to make sure it doesn't happen again.

It's such a delicate process trying to keep children in the right frame of mind to do these wretched tests. I wish your daughter every success and truly hope you both have a happy outcome.
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by capers123 »

I agree - talk & write to the school now rather than later. Hopefully she'll have done well enough in the answers she did complete to pass anyway, but I prefer to see at appeals that you immediately flagged up the problem. It will also be evident to the appeals panel if they ask to look at the actual paper.
Capers
Tracy
Posts: 1123
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:28 am
Location: Bexley

Post by Tracy »

Dear Capers,

Could you confirm or not that the 11+ papers are actually used more than once.

If this is the case I find this absolutely incredible and the integrity of the whole exam is questionable.

:shock:

Thanks
Guest

Post by Guest »

Thanks - actually we are in Gloucestershire so Capers advice is very interesting. I checked with another Mum who's daughter sat the test in the same group as mine; she also had pencil marks on her paper but decided to ignore them. Hoping this proves my case as my daughter will have erased the marks on her Q paper but there will be evidence on other papers. Sounds unbelieveable but I really think must have been re-used; if they were ink marks I can understand they may have been part of the printing but these were definitely pencil. By the way, I have now emailed the School to get this down in writing. Cheers.
traceyanne
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 2:58 pm
Location: bexley

Post by traceyanne »

Its begining to make more sense now. My daughter got in a lot of trouble marking on her question paper the other day ( just a mistake, she didn't o it all through the paper). Apparently head went through whole book and rubbed out any signs of pencil marks. She said that she thinks they are checked when they go back to exam people. It can only mean to me now that they are in fact used again. I'd have been better convinced that my daughters wrong doing was so important if they had given me this reason.
Guest

Stoud Mum

Post by Guest »

If this is the case I hope they will say so. I had wondered why they were so insistent on not writing on the question paper, if it was a case of not doodling on the actual answer sheet I could have understood. I am dreading my daughter failing ( we reckon she wasted at least 3/4 mins rubbing out, at her speed that's time to do at least 10 VR questions) and then having to go to appeal with all that that involves.
Guest

Post by Guest »

I have now been told that question papers are re-used but they are meant to be checked first to make sure they are unmarked. All the School can advise is that I write a letter now which would be used in the event of an appeal.
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Post by capers123 »

Tracy wrote:Dear Capers,

Could you confirm or not that the 11+ papers are actually used more than once.

If this is the case I find this absolutely incredible and the integrity of the whole exam is questionable.

:shock:

Thanks
I wouldn't have thought so, as the results are kept in case of an appeal.
Capers
Guest

Post by Guest »

To clarify; the answer sheets are new, it is the question papers that are re-used, that's why they are told not to mark them during the test. My daughter's question paper had been used previously, hence the markings. The School has confirmed this as "unfortunate".
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