Difficulty of practice materials
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Difficulty of practice materials
Hi All
I have been mulling over the question of the difficulty of test papers in the last few days, as the test dates for Bucks come nearer.
Having used all of these materials, some of them twice, I would say that the approximate difficulty ranking for Bucks practice materials is (from easiest to most difficult):
1 Tutors CD1
2 Tutors full papers, Nos 1 - 10
3 IPS full papers
4 Tutors short papers, Level 3
5 IPS daily papers
6 Tutors full papers, Nos 11 & 12
7 Learning Labs
8 NFER - shop bought > practice papers
9 NFER: actual test
10 Bright Sparks
11 Walsh
12 Tutors Short Papers, Level 4. (Mental health warning attached )
I would be interested to hear any comments about how your DS/DD found the various materials against this ranking.
Sally-Anne
I have been mulling over the question of the difficulty of test papers in the last few days, as the test dates for Bucks come nearer.
Having used all of these materials, some of them twice, I would say that the approximate difficulty ranking for Bucks practice materials is (from easiest to most difficult):
1 Tutors CD1
2 Tutors full papers, Nos 1 - 10
3 IPS full papers
4 Tutors short papers, Level 3
5 IPS daily papers
6 Tutors full papers, Nos 11 & 12
7 Learning Labs
8 NFER - shop bought > practice papers
9 NFER: actual test
10 Bright Sparks
11 Walsh
12 Tutors Short Papers, Level 4. (Mental health warning attached )
I would be interested to hear any comments about how your DS/DD found the various materials against this ranking.
Sally-Anne
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- Posts: 9235
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
Hi Rose
I have just edited my post to try to cover the ambiguity. Shop-bought papers are probably a little easier than the real test. Practice papers are probably a tad harder than shop bought. So,:
1 Shop bought
2 Practice papers
3 Real thing
It is a tough call once you get up to the actual test standard!
Sally-Anne
I have just edited my post to try to cover the ambiguity. Shop-bought papers are probably a little easier than the real test. Practice papers are probably a tad harder than shop bought. So,:
1 Shop bought
2 Practice papers
3 Real thing
It is a tough call once you get up to the actual test standard!
Sally-Anne
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- Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:51 pm
Dear Sally-Anne
A very astute list, well done. I would personally group Nfer real test and Bright Sparks together.
Dear Second time round
Nfer, in school Practice papers 1 and 2 are harder than shop bought Nfer. They [the school practice tests1 and 2] are supposed to be of the same difficutly as the real test. However in my experience the real test has brought to light a slightly more complex vocab. Many children say one paper is easier than the other, but this in the main boils down to what the child actually prefers in terms of types of questions.
Patricia
A very astute list, well done. I would personally group Nfer real test and Bright Sparks together.
Dear Second time round
Nfer, in school Practice papers 1 and 2 are harder than shop bought Nfer. They [the school practice tests1 and 2] are supposed to be of the same difficutly as the real test. However in my experience the real test has brought to light a slightly more complex vocab. Many children say one paper is easier than the other, but this in the main boils down to what the child actually prefers in terms of types of questions.
Patricia
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- Posts: 17
- Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:51 pm
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- Posts: 9235
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
- Location: Buckinghamshire
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- Posts: 17
- Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:51 pm
Hi Sally-Anne,
You mentioned three categories for NFER
1. Shop bought
2. Practice papers
3. Real thing
I can understand the 1 and 3. What are you referring to when you say 'Practice Papers'. I also noticed in one of Patricia's reply the use of '.. Nfer, in school Practice papers 1 and 2 are harder than shop bought Nfer...'.
What is that you are all referring to. Am I missing something here?
Gilly
You mentioned three categories for NFER
1. Shop bought
2. Practice papers
3. Real thing
I can understand the 1 and 3. What are you referring to when you say 'Practice Papers'. I also noticed in one of Patricia's reply the use of '.. Nfer, in school Practice papers 1 and 2 are harder than shop bought Nfer...'.
What is that you are all referring to. Am I missing something here?
Gilly