Mock today - reassurances

[TNM47]

My child sat his mock today in school hall. He came home quite confused. The paper was quite easy, he did not have to complete an answer sheet (line through multiple choice answer), there was alot of noise in hall and he said it looked nothing like the mocjs he has done before.

Are the mocks different in style to real thing, are they easier?

Any reassurance would be greatly recieved.

[scary mum]

They aren't mocks, they are practice sessions designed to give examples of the types of questions used. I'm surprised about the answer sheet though. This is what BCC say about it:

Practice Test
In September your child will take the Practice Test before they take the Secondary Transfer Test.

The Practice Test looks the same as the Secondary Transfer Test and has the same instructions. Your child will sit the two multiple-choice Practice Test papers in test conditions. These are both timed like the Secondary Transfer Test. An audio soundtrack gives the instructions for the test.

The Practice Test will mean your child becomes very familiar with the different sorts of questions and the style of the test. Your child will get used to using a separate answer sheet. Your child will experience this under test conditions. The Practice Test papers are shorter than the Secondary Transfer Test:

they take about 40 minutes each
they are not marked or sent home
The purpose of the Practice Test is not to see how well your child has done. It is to give your child a good opportunity to prepare for the Secondary Transfer Test.

[Deb70]

he did not have to complete an answer sheet (line through multiple choice answer)

Really?
My child sat it last year and they had an answer sheet with multiple choice boxes to put lines in, exactly like the real test.

[patricia]

he did not have to complete an answer sheet (line through multiple choice answer), there was alot of noise in hall and he said it looked nothing like the mocjs he has done before..

Answer sheets definitely provided.

The audio tells the children, several times, to answer their questions on the separate answer sheet. At this point if your child did not have an answer sheet, he should have put his hand up and asked for one.

There should be silence during the tests, if that was not the case, contact the school. I am aware that in one grammar school, many children asked to go to toilet during the test. Children need to go before! They get no extra time.

Mocks provided by outside sources, will not necessarily be similar to the real test, you need to speak to them as to why.

Where did your child take the test?

Patricia

[SIT]

My DS sat the exam (familiarisation test) in his school yesterday. He definitely had a separate answer sheet, in which he had to strike a pencil line in the box.

[TNM47]

Thanks so much for your answers. On questionning my child again he said he did have an answer sheet but they did not even ask them to fill in Pupils name and School - so he felt like they were not treating the exam properly. Apparently 2 girls were talking just before the instructions were given. Phew does not sound as bad this morning.

[SIT]

My DS had to fill his own name in for the mock.


For the actual exam tomorrow do you think the names will be printed on the answer sheet in advance? I remember this was the case when my older two children took the CEM 11 plus a couple of years ago.

[Bustermartin]

My DS had to fill his own name in for the mock.


For the actual exam tomorrow do you think the names will be printed on the answer sheet in advance? I remember this was the case when my older two children took the CEM 11 plus a couple of years ago.

Yes. All the children will have their names and numbers pre-printed on the answer sheet

[Berkmum2016]

However please make sure they check the name and if it is wrong report it immediately!!

[greengekho]

Is there only one answer sheet then? I thought they had to hand in sheets after each section (or maybe after two or three sections if they were short ones)?

I wasn't aware that their names are printed - I will tell son to check correct name - but it would be helpful to know whether he needs to check multiple sheets or just to check once at the beginning?

Kids with someone else's answer sheets - the chaos doesn't bear thinking about!