11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi there, my son is due to take his 11 plus exams in October in Bucks.

I am trying not to panic he has a tutor for him who says he is progressing well but she has not overloaded him with practise papers as she wants him to reach his peak by September. We are worried however, he has never been a big reader and his vocabulary is not what it should be.

He is also a little imature for his age and whilst not wishing to stress him out about the exam we try to avoid not putting too much pressure on him, fear he may lack the maturity to realise how important it is.

Having said that, we are told he performs well in school and is in the top third of the class in both verbal reasoning and non verbal (this school attains about 40% pass rate amongst its pupils).

I have just doscovered this website (more fool me!) and read about the CD's that may be available. Which would you recommend for Bucks sitting pupils? I have been told that the Daughtry books come close to the Bucks 11 plus exam so would these CDs be appropriate? Vocab builder sounds ideal as he loves using the laptop and interactive software.

Many thanks for any assistance,

Dear John

I have also replied to you in the CD section. The only CDs that are applicable to Bucks are those produced by The Tutors.

With regard to Susan Daughtrey, only her Bright Sparks series are relevant [not her books 1-7]

With regard to testing, I have just taken over a child who has been to a tutor who also did not believe in too much testing, she has only completed 2 tests since January. Although she has been taught the 21 types reasonably well, she had also been taught a number of other non relevant types. She completed a test for me [homework] and took 66 minutes to complete a 30 minute test! I firmly believe timed testing is a very important factor.

Vocabulary is and always will be the biggest problem with the Bucks test. Words seen totally out of context.

Ensure he reads out loud to an adult at least 3 times a week.

Use more complex vocabulary in your everyday speech.

Play word/compound word games eg scrabble.

Patricia

Patricia,

Thanks for that. To be fair his tutor has given him three tests so far and he improves every time (only we have stopped for a break now).

Specifically which CD's do you recommend of the tutor series ? He does read to us frequently but more complex vocab is definitely required.

Dear John

As we are so close to the real tests, I would not be purchasing the whole range. Perhaps Vol 1 [50 of each type] OR Vol 2 [12 tests using the 21 types]

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/cd/the ... lume-1.php

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/cd/the ... lume-2.php

I would be inclined to concentrate on pen and paper. Walsh use some complex vocabulary, you could look at these with your son, a section at a time. [not the age 9-10]

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... p?g=f&p=23

Have you seen my word /compound word lists together with games in the free download section?

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/revisi ... wnload.php

Patricia

Just to be sure - you mention VR and NVR - the Bucks 11+ is Verbal Reasoning only.