Selective Eligibility Test
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Selective Eligibility Test
Well the Selective Eligibility Test for the Sutton schools isn't that far away and not surprisingly, guidance as to what it contains is vague to say the least.
The test consists of two multiple choice style papers; a numeracy paper and a literacy paper. Each paper will be 40-45 minutes long. The tests do not include verbal reasoning or non verbal reasoning.
I think this means Maths and English but any experience of anyone who has been successful would be appreciated (and I know it can change year on year). Idle speculation is fine, too.
How many questions are we talking about? Does the English contain comprehension? Can English really avoid some elements of verbal reasoning? Is speed the key as with Tiffin Stage One? Is it typical of stuff they learn at school?
I'm sure forum readers would be grateful for anything which sheds more light on this and any prep tips.
The test consists of two multiple choice style papers; a numeracy paper and a literacy paper. Each paper will be 40-45 minutes long. The tests do not include verbal reasoning or non verbal reasoning.
I think this means Maths and English but any experience of anyone who has been successful would be appreciated (and I know it can change year on year). Idle speculation is fine, too.
How many questions are we talking about? Does the English contain comprehension? Can English really avoid some elements of verbal reasoning? Is speed the key as with Tiffin Stage One? Is it typical of stuff they learn at school?
I'm sure forum readers would be grateful for anything which sheds more light on this and any prep tips.
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Re: Selective Eligibility Test
A good topic started by panicattack. Hope those parents whose children took SET of Sutton Schools would respond. Ladymuck, perhaps..
Re: Selective Eligibility Test
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Last edited by Ladymuck on Sat Mar 21, 2015 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Selective Eligibility Test
Thank you, Ladymuck. Very helpful.Ladymuck wrote:Last year the maths was 50 questions in 45 minutes, very similar in content and difficulty to the GL assessment papers (according to ds).
English was 72 questions in 45 minutes including 2 comprehensions, a cloze and various SPAG tests. No NVR or VR other than 5 of the English questions involved picking the middle item out of a set of words eg sea, puddle, ocean, lake, pond. But no codes etc. Homophones were included in the SPAG questions.
DS finished both papers but boys seemed to find the English more time pressured than the maths. DS felt that the English paper was very unlike any of the NFER/Bond papers he's done, but that he had covered all the topics at some point in class.
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Re: Selective Eligibility Test
Thanks, LM. Very helpful. Any other insights out there?
Re: Selective Eligibility Test
Sorry, DS is not very good at remembering the details (not even on the day he took the test!).
Yes to all Ladymuck's advice - my DS was another who did not find the SET too time pressured, although stage 2 was another story...
We used Bond, GL Assessment and CGP practice papers for Maths and English, and those together with regular school work covered everything - he did not find it too difficult, on a par with the usual tests for SPAG, comprehension or Maths that he was doing in school or in the practice papers.
One other thing, the SGSPTA mock tests were a good way of settling any nerves relating to the exam rooms, seeing queues of children etc.
Yes to all Ladymuck's advice - my DS was another who did not find the SET too time pressured, although stage 2 was another story...
We used Bond, GL Assessment and CGP practice papers for Maths and English, and those together with regular school work covered everything - he did not find it too difficult, on a par with the usual tests for SPAG, comprehension or Maths that he was doing in school or in the practice papers.
One other thing, the SGSPTA mock tests were a good way of settling any nerves relating to the exam rooms, seeing queues of children etc.
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Re: Selective Eligibility Test
English was in general "tough" especially the comprehensions.
Maths was ok except 3-4 quetions that were tricky.
No issue of time.
The morning is scary with a mile long queue but everything was very well organised by Wilson's.
Only 600-700 are selected out of 2400ish.
Maths was ok except 3-4 quetions that were tricky.
No issue of time.
The morning is scary with a mile long queue but everything was very well organised by Wilson's.
Only 600-700 are selected out of 2400ish.
Re: Selective Eligibility Test
My 2 cents would be on parking. Those who reached earlier were able to park easily and rest had to go around to find suitable places. I would recommend going a bit early and after parking, you need not worry about the queue as those will be well managed by school. Wilson's had organised the day quite well. Hats off to their meticulous arrangements, we didn't face any problem that day unlike another school after a few weeks where I had to struggle for 30 min to find where my DS was supposed to reach after the exam!
Wishing good luck to all aspiring DCs for SET.
Wishing good luck to all aspiring DCs for SET.
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Re: Selective Eligibility Test
Thanks all. V helpful.
Re: Selective Eligibility Test
I think the odds were a bit better than quoted, parent2013 - from an email that I got from Sutton LEA:parent2013 wrote:English was in general "tough" especially the comprehensions.
Maths was ok except 3-4 quetions that were tricky.
No issue of time.
The morning is scary with a mile long queue but everything was very well organised by Wilson's.
Only 600-700 are selected out of 2400ish.
The Selective Eligibility Test was taken by 2285 boys and 799 have been invited back to the second stage tests.
This is for the SET last year, i.e. 21 September 2013