Mock 11+

Discussion of the 11 Plus

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JustAnotherMum
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:21 pm

Mock 11+

Post by JustAnotherMum »

Hi, my daughter has been scoring good marks on the practice papers but when she sat two mock tests (kent and bexley), she scored very low on all of the tests on both occasions. Based on the mock tests, she has no chance of passing the 11+ this September. She is in tears (and so am I) because she has worked so hard and we thought that she was doing well. She was nervous for the first one, but not the second one so we do not understand what could have happened. The scores on all the exams were so much lower than what she has been getting on the practice papers that it seemed another child sat the tests! We do not know now if we should just give up at this point or if there is still a chance for her to deliver on the day. She has been preparing for two years!
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Mock 11+

Post by Daogroupie »

She needs to do some more mocks to find out what went wrong. Was it MC? Perhaps she got out of sync with the scoring. Lots of students can do well in the comfort of their own home but find the actual exam environment hard which is why I think mocks are crucial. What is the format of your exam? DG
Amoda
Posts: 132
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 7:01 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by Amoda »

JustAnotherMum, whatever you do, don't give up. You just need to understand where your DC went wrong and work on it. Were the test papers your DC sat returned from the two test sittings? If not, can you ask for them? You can then analyse them and see exactly what went wrong.

As Daogroupie suggested, try and do a few more mocks during the summer hols if you can. You still have enough time.

Try not to be disheartened. The fact that your DC does well at home shows that the knowledge is there but you need to work on how they cope under more tense exam conditions.

Good luck.
West Kent Mum
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:32 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by West Kent Mum »

As previous posters have said there is plenty of time to work through DCs weaker areas and try to get in a few more mock exams.
However, it can also be a good idea to start investigating and decide upon options (appeal, non GS schools, etc) if she, on the day, does less well in the exam than hoped for. In that case, both she and you have a backup plan ready and it may be easier to handle the disappointment.

Don't give up and good luck!
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by mystery »

Sorry I don't really understand. If you paid for mocks, don't you have the questions and answer papers so you can see what went wrong?

Were the mocks anything like the real thing?

I'm sure there was someone on here a while ago who had sat some dodgy mocks set by some rep off company and had a rotten mark which upset them, no feedback, no chance to look at the questions and answer afterwards etc. They had no problem on the day after everyone on here told them to get their money back and forget about it.

Who managed to provide a mock for Bexley? It's the first year of a CEM test there. Hopefully no--one knows what it will really be like.

And what were the marks you thought were so bad? And how do you know they would result in a fail? It all sounds v. odd to me.
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by mike1880 »

The other obvious question to ask yourself is: was the mock run by a company that offers 11+ tuition? And did they offer to sign you up for some expensive sessions to bring your child up to scratch before the real test?

Mock exams are, by and large, a marketing exercise.

Mike
christmasbonus
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 4:45 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by christmasbonus »

Hi there. My DD did one mock test in preparation for the Bexley exam. The company running were trying to replicate what the new Bexley test could be like, and did caution that the actual test may not be like this etc etc. They did give quite good feedback but did not mark all the answers correctly ie. there were some she got right, but were marked wrong - not many but it makes a difference! Although initially the marks might not look good, they need to be compared to what other children are getting. The feedback included where she was placed in the group, so looking at it more objectively, she didn't do too badly. This may be the same for your DD.
JustAnotherMum
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:21 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by JustAnotherMum »

Thank you very much for all the feedback. The company that did the mocks used the exams provided by a very well established company (not sure I can state the name here but they provide an online test system where you can buy individual practice tests using credits purchased from them.) We did get the results and could see the questions she got wrong and her answers.
Looking at her results, especially Maths, it would appear that she was rushed as this mock test allowed less time than the practice papers commonly bought from Waterstones, etc. She also made lots of silly mistakes from not reading the questions correctly or using the wrong number in her calculation. Any suggestions on how to rectify this? It is frustrating when I know she is capable but seems to "trip" because she either did not read the questions correctly or forgets how to do something at that point, then suddenly remembers it later when reviewing it the second time. Yesterday, she completed a Bond practice paper in Maths and got 63%. I marked the paper and gave it back to her. She did the questions marked wrong he second time and her mark after the second attempt was 84% so the knowledge I think is there.

Do you think it is worthwhile doing another mock test? She was extremely upset with her results in the last one so not sure if we should just not bother and just let her sit the real thing.
JustAnotherMum
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:21 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by JustAnotherMum »

Forgot to answer someone's question on the format - DD is doing multiple choice only for the Kent and Bexley grammars.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Mock 11+

Post by mystery »

Ok, well if you are doing kent this year that is straightforward if you unless you are looking for a high score for a superselective are you?

Raw scores of around 50 per cent get you through in the real thing. For kent make sure you practice the 8 gl assessment papers there are in each subject. That is the best practice you can do for kent. Bexley is new this year and it is a bit late to be doing anything special for them.

For the issue of not reading the question properly I think it is just more practice and always getting her to go back and work out what she misread and why.
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