Kent Test - the English bit!

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woody3269
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 2:47 pm

Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by woody3269 »

Hi, so as I understand it, it's 106 points for English. What does the English test consist of please?

Any ideas how many points are awarded to each section for the English?

Also if anybody has done the Bond online tests, are the comprehensives tests very hard or are they all like that? Lol! My DS is finding that part of the test very hard.

Thank you!
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by ToadMum »

woody3269 wrote:Hi, so as I understand it, it's 106 points for English. What does the English test consist of please?

Any ideas how many points are awarded to each section for the English?

Also if anybody has done the Bond online tests, are the comprehensives tests very hard or are they all like that? Lol! My DS is finding that part of the test very hard.

Thank you!
My understanding is that 106 is the minimum standardised score you need to get in each section in order to pass, with a total of (?)320 minimum overall ?
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
PettswoodFiona
Posts: 2134
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by PettswoodFiona »

Yes, that was the required score last year but Kent can change it and will notify you of the required standard when they release the results. It is mainly affected by how well the cohort do in the test and how difficult is the test compared to previous years so if all do really well then the required pass can be made higher there is also the possibility that the base mark can be different for different elements of the test but that would be quite unusual.
northkentparent
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:00 am

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by northkentparent »

woody3269 wrote:Hi, so as I understand it, it's 106 points for English. What does the English test consist of please?

Any ideas how many points are awarded to each section for the English?

Also if anybody has done the Bond online tests, are the comprehensives tests very hard or are they all like that? Lol! My DS is finding that part of the test very hard.

Thank you!

I can't comment on the Bond online tests, but my children took the Kent Test in 2014 and 2015 and they both commented that the structure of the English paper was similar to the GL Assessment sample papers. Obviously things may change in the 2016 paper....
I've PM'ed you with some more details from my own experiences....
chimera-ma
Posts: 304
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:57 pm

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by chimera-ma »

My DS did some Bond Online for variety in the lead up to the Kent Test last year. The English Comp tests vary in difficulty. Printing the relevant passage so your DC has it to hand while tackling the questions online makes a big difference; and I suggest setting five minutes for an initial read, making it more like the Kent Test experience. It's the GL Assessment papers you need to prioritise for English though.
woody3269
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 2:47 pm

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by woody3269 »

Thank you for your help x
salsa
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Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by salsa »

chimera-ma wrote:My DS did some Bond Online for variety in the lead up to the Kent Test last year. The English Comp tests vary in difficulty. Printing the relevant passage so your DC has it to hand while tackling the questions online makes a big difference; and I suggest setting five minutes for an initial read, making it more like the Kent Test experience. It's the GL Assessment papers you need to prioritise for English though.
Hi
I planning on following your advice. Do you mean that in Kent the children get 5 minutes to read the comprehension text?

Thank you.

Salsa
chimera-ma
Posts: 304
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:57 pm

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by chimera-ma »

Hi Salsa,

Sorry - I should have explained the point better.

Each Bond Online English Comp test asks (10) questions on one extract only. Extracts tend to be lengthy. There is no time limit to each test and there are no practice questions. There is a new screen page for successive questions and my DS found it a bit unwieldy having to return to the extract screen to check the text and then go back to the relevant question screen. Having a hard copy of the extract to hand while he worked through the question screens worked much better.

The Kent Test English section last year included 5 minutes' practice, not reading time, before the 25 minute test, and I've just checked this year's Kent Test familiarisation paper and it appears this hasn't changed.

I gave my DS 5 minutes' reading time with the online Bond pieces because having time to read the whole passage first, at a fairly swift pace, rather than an indefinite amount of time as the Bond tests allowed for, seemed better preparation for the Kent Test.
salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by salsa »

Oh, I understand. Thank you. I thought the online tests were timed. The 25 minutes include both the comprehension and two more sections, though. Either grammar, spelling or punctuation. So, I guess I should allow 10 minutes just for comprehension?
Thanks,

Salsa
chimera-ma
Posts: 304
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 3:57 pm

Re: Kent Test - the English bit!

Post by chimera-ma »

It's a while back, but I think I had DS do the first couple untimed to get a sense of them and then I looked at the length and nature of the texts for the others before deciding how long to set for each one, but I'd say about 10 minutes on average.

I recall that there is a small selection of 'mock exams' on Bond Online (is it two per subject area?) as well as the usual tests. We didn't use those but I would expect them to be timed.

Anyhow, I think you'll find the overall online package useful. The grammar and punctuation tests were the most useful for my DS and he retained it all very well through to very successful SATs results. I also liked the fact that the required sign-up was only 3 months.

Good luck to your DC with all the preparation.
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