woodford county parents, how did it go yesterday?

[Zain1]

Im still trying to get over the fact that so many months of preparation is finally over.

in VR my DD said that the paper was ok and she was happy with it. on NVR she said that practice paper was very hard and took alot out or her. She ran out of time on the last section of the main paper and left out 5 questions. she also said that NVR was really difficult. did anyone get similar feedback?

going to be a long wait for the results and trying to manage my (and her) expectations

Would really appreciate if anyone could share experiences

[muffinmonster]

Hi Zain.

My DS took the papers yesterday, too. His comments were very similar to your daughter's - he was happy with the VR. Said the NVR practice paper was a lot harder than the actual one (why do they do that?). Likewise he didn't quite finish the NVR - left out 3 questions at the end and had to make educated guesses at a few (that is, he eliminated some answers and took a guess from the remaining options).

Good luck to your DD.

[Zain1]

thanks for your response muffinmonster,

i think the reason they make practice papaer hard is to get their brains warmed up and prepared for the real thing...not a v gd idea to make it that difficult though as it takes up a lot of energy which is needed for the real thing.

good luck to your DS too.

come on redbridge parents (woodford and Ilford county), please share your experiences

[countdown321]

My DS also has similar experience. He left out some questions in NVR last section. VR was ok. The Practice paper is complete waste of time. These days kids do a lot of practice at home/tutions so they don't need warming up in the real exam. Even if they require warm-up, they should be given 2-3 practice questions per section. Last year they were told the answers to all the practice exam questions, but this year the practice paper has been collected without telling them the answers. Does any one know why?

[muffinmonster]

Perhaps it was to save time. Two full practice papers plus two full 'real' papers makes for a long day.

Personally I would rather not be told the result of the practice paper on the spot - it could be very unsettling if it wasn't good.

My DS said that the practice papers had practice questions, and so did the real ones - and the practice questions were the same in both!

Totally agree that full practice papers are a waste of time, but Redbridge persist in deluding themselves that (a) it is impossible to practice for their cunningly devised papers and (b) nobody does. A couple of practice questions before each section would be adequate in my view.

[Hopefuldad]

Hello all

Firstly I am glad they didn't postpone the exam. Secondly I think it was a great call to hold both exams on one day. Finally they pitched it on the first week day of the holidays, so everyone take the exam at the same time. No more "can't make it on Saturday story".

Full marks to redbridge on these points.

My DD took the exam and has similar feedback. VR was easier of the two papers, she still had to guesstimate about 5 questions. NVR slightly difficult and time consuming.
All my family are completely relaxed now and can enjoy the festivities worry about march later.

[mw]

Yes, I am glad it went ahead as planned. I was really worried about re-schedule.

My dd feels vr easy and she finished with 15-20min to spare. nvr is harder, particular the practice one, and she only just finished all the questions in time. She is not very used to the section timing, because she did all the practice papers as whole paper timing. Maybe this is a factor that future parents need to look at.

Anyway glad it is over for redbridge 11+, although dd will still have a couple of indie tests in January. Time to relax though, X'mas is on the way...

Best wishes for everyone!