11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi
this is my first post on this forum- my DS is preparing for SO this year, and being home tutored by me. We made him sit the St.Olaves mock, and the results seem to suggest he is in high 80s% of the total boys' cohort.
Would like to seek advise from the parents of past or present St. Olave candidates, whether this would be a good enough score for us to feel that he has a good chance to get in; or would you say that at this percentile, we shouldn't rather push him for St Olaves but stick to relatively lesser taxing exams? I know every single year is different; and the mock test is just that- a Mock and a lot could change between now and the actual test date; its just that doing it all alone means that we seem to be in a cocoon and not knowing whether its even worth the effort he is putting in can be tiresome.

He is quite a bright child, but a sensitive one too. He has somehow (possibly my fault) set hopes on getting into St Olaves. We don't want him to feel the angst of failure at such a tender age, and thus if the percentile rank on the Mock test would indicate that he possibly has an uphill battle ahead; I would rather start mentally preparing him from now onwards. On the other hand, if it means that he may be in the touching distance, I would continue to positively challenge his abilities even more; and focus/work on the areas which he apparently fared less well on.

Surprisingly the result we got section wise was bang opposite of what I have seen as his natural strength while doing practice questions, past papers etc. at home - he fared relatively poorly in sections which he excels at usually, and did exceptionally well in his usual stumbling blocks!

I think being in the high 80s percentile is a good indication. Of course, the competition for places at St. O is quite tough as so many bright students take the exam. All the best to your son.

admishra wrote:Hi
this is my first post on this forum- my DS is preparing for SO this year, and being home tutored by me. We made him sit the St.Olaves mock, and the results seem to suggest he is in high 80s% of the total boys' cohort.
Would like to seek advise from the parents of past or present St. Olave candidates, whether this would be a good enough score for us to feel that he has a good chance to get in; or would you say that at this percentile, we shouldn't rather push him for St Olaves but stick to relatively lesser taxing exams? I know every single year is different; and the mock test is just that- a Mock and a lot could change between now and the actual test date; its just that doing it all alone means that we seem to be in a cocoon and not knowing whether its even worth the effort he is putting in can be tiresome.

He is quite a bright child, but a sensitive one too. He has somehow (possibly my fault) set hopes on getting into St Olaves. We don't want him to feel the angst of failure at such a tender age, and thus if the percentile rank on the Mock test would indicate that he possibly has an uphill battle ahead; I would rather start mentally preparing him from now onwards. On the other hand, if it means that he may be in the touching distance, I would continue to positively challenge his abilities even more; and focus/work on the areas which he apparently fared less well on.

Surprisingly the result we got section wise was bang opposite of what I have seen as his natural strength while doing practice questions, past papers etc. at home - he fared relatively poorly in sections which he excels at usually, and did exceptionally well in his usual stumbling blocks!

I think high 80's at this stage is good. Have you had the overall result yet of where he sat in the whole cohort of children that sat the mock?

I think to be in top 20% is quite good at this stage.
Good luck

Thanks a lot Qusay02, grgygirl and olucares for the encouragement. Much relieved now and can fcus back on getting my DS hone his skills. We took this one week off so that he could recuperate, relax and enjoy the world-cup.. but alas...

would start in earnest next week now..

80% is a good score..
My son has got 70% in his mock test at St Olaves, can this be a good indicator at all of him clearing the entrance, I am confused..

Ganc wrote: 80% is a good score..
My son has got 70% in his mock test at St Olaves, can this be a good indicator at all of him clearing the entrance, I am confused..

I think it is roughly a third that goes through to the second round - so that would be enough.

I think that is a good score, my son scored 77% last year and will be starting in September 19. Please look at the past papers on their website too.

It’s a good score. We know ofchildren who scored 40% in the mock gaining places - the mock will tell you where you need to focus effforts and don’t forget to relentlessly practise filling in the answer sheets correctly! Not everyone who passes will put Olaves down so you have a good chance if that score is replicated in the real test.