basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR paper

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admishra
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:14 pm

basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR paper

Post by admishra »

Hi All
may be its too basic a question to ask at such a late stage; but as a parent of self/ Home-tutoring child; just wanted to know from the parents of current NW DDs, or the experts here; is the NVR paper @NW timed at a similar level as CGP / Letts - GL papers (i.e. 72 odd questions across 6 sections in 30-35 minutes?)
We couldn't find the mock test papers for NW anywhere; nor did the PA seem to organize mock tests this year :(

My DD had been doing decently enough in Bond books ; but upon putting in section-based timed tests (Letts, and CGP practice papers) - her % scores have begun dropping significantly to around 75% correct rate. Close inspection revealed that she is unable to finish each question in give or take 30 sec; and thus is forced to hurry through in the last few questions in each section, thereby making elementary mistakes.
on the other hand, same questions; when doing along with me - at time of fault figuring; she is easily able to solve them (thus an additional 2-3 minutes in each section make a sea of difference to her scores!).
if she attempts the whole paper as one big one (i.e. without the time constraints in each section)- she does manage to do it relatively better - at around 85% (we accidentally did one of the old official GL practice papers-2017 series which didn't mention time constraints)

given that its only 5 odd weeks left now; am concerned regarding how could I get her timing to go better (I myself can't see how any child could get 90%+ correct in those questions within 30 secs!)

thanks in advance to any responders!!
PettswoodFiona
Posts: 2134
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by PettswoodFiona »

Hi, compared to Kent and Bexley DD found the NW test the least time pressured. DD didn’t see the NW practice paper or do the PA mock (one didn’t exist when she did it six years ago).

It is slightly different from the others in that the paper is broken into smaller chunks and once you’ve done one section you can’t go back and review that section once you’ve started another. It appears easy but is actually quite ‘tricky’. The exams take place in small groups in classrooms rather then a big hall (don’t know if that will change with distancing etc).

Good luck to your daughter. DD has had a great five years at the school and is looking forward to staying on for sixth form so if you have any questions please do ask.
admishra
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:14 pm

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by admishra »

thanks a lot @PettswoodFiona! You were a lot of help in helping us overcome our nerves when DS was giving his St Olaves 3 years ago as well; and thankfully he made it through (again- self/ home-taught). am keeping my fingers crossed with regards to DD.

its just that with NVR we are a lot more circumspect - i.e. what counts as a good raw/ or absolute % score at this stage of prep and whether DD needs to put in more effort / focus on it; or whether I am just being too nervy. Don't want her to pressurize her unnecessarily.

regards
Zannak
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:11 pm

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by Zannak »

I have a similar question to the OP. I understand that there are 165 questions, and that the cutoff score tends to range from 217-223. Can anyone explain how the score is calculated, and what percentage of questions you need to roughly aim to get right in order to secure a place?
PettswoodFiona
Posts: 2134
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by PettswoodFiona »

I can't confirm the number of questions, maybe someone else can answer that.

Looking at DD's result letter from October 2015, the VR maximum score was 140 and the NVR was also 140, so total max was 280. How many marks there are for each question I don't know e.g. is each question possibly 2 points etc and what amendments they make for age adjustment / standardisation I don't know. I wouldn't worry too much about the detail, it is more about accuracy in the Newstead test, timing is less of an issue compared to the other tests but is still a factor.

There is no hard and fast rule about the percentage needed to pass as it depends on how popular the school is and how many who passed with high scores put it as a preferred choice etc. We also haven't seen any comments from PP families about their level of interest as they need just 210 to get a place. This latest year the pass mark on offer day for non-PP and non-SP was a low 215 and so has probably gone down lower than that since. Most other years it has typically started at 220-222 and gone down to around 218 or 217. They have also recently issued wait list positions which give a a better idea of chances if they don't get an offer on offer day and those with a wait list position of 20 or less have got in, the furthest down I think we saw on other threads was around the mid twenties.

DD was scoring between 80 and 95% in most of her tests in practices before and she got a score comfortably above the cut-off score so we were pretty certain once we got the result that barring some quirk of scores she would get in but there was never any certainty. Often doing tests in the comfort of your home is easier and familiar so do allow some 'wriggle room' for nerves and random errors that can creep in when in a different environment.
PettswoodFiona
Posts: 2134
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by PettswoodFiona »

Interestingly I note that the 2022 admission document states that the admission number is 168 and the revised one for 2021 was also 168 but think that was a late change. In DD's year and most subsequent years it was 160 so a few extra spaces there now. It will make the classrooms a bit tight but they had 27 or 28 in each class before so this will still keep numbers 30 or below for each form.
Zannak
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:11 pm

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by Zannak »

Thanks very much, that is helpful. It looks then that the pass rate is around the 80% mark for non-PP, though it clearly can vary from year to year. I also noticed that the NW PAN number had increased this year, which is good news for those looking for a place. My Y5 daughter is part of the post-financial crash baby boom, so I imagine secondaries are now under pressure to create more places. That said, it will be interesting to see how admissions this year is impacted by Brexit in Covid. Our inner-London state primary in Lewisham has lost a lot of students in the past few years due to people moving abroad or to the countryside, and is struggling to fill its places. My daughter's Y3 class is down to 20 students, down from 30 in reception.
mumsdarling2
Posts: 270
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2014 10:25 pm

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by mumsdarling2 »

Zannak wrote:I have a similar question to the OP. I understand that there are 165 questions, and that the cutoff score tends to range from 217-223. Can anyone explain how the score is calculated, and what percentage of questions you need to roughly aim to get right in order to secure a place?
Hi Zannak,
My DD will be sitting for the exam next year and I trying to get my head around what we need to do. You mentioned 165 questions in the paper. Could you please share how they split across the two subjects? Thanks.
Zannak
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:11 pm

Re: basic but urgent question regarding Newstead Wood- NVR p

Post by Zannak »

Verbal reasoning – 85 questions, 45 minutes

Non-verbal reasoning– approx. 80 questions divided into four separately timed sections of approx. 10 minutes each.

The school uses GL Assessment.
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