question for Patricia
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question for Patricia
We have twin Boys who are young for thier year (July Birthday) they are due to take the 11 plus in October 2009. we have been working wih them for about 6 months (following the advice on this forum - using all the 21 Type materials on this site). As an example; we have been doing 50 questions in 30 minutes from the Tutors Level 2 and they generally score 90 plus %. At this stage their vocab is not great (!) but we are working hard on that. All the code type questions they can do almost standing on their heads !
On Thursday of last week they sat thier first FULL 80 question paper in 50 minutes (the paper I was told was hard maybe equating to Tutors Level 3 (ish) ) They ran out of time and only completed circa 60/65 questions. they scored 48 out of 80 and 53 out of 80 (60% and 66 %).
They also appeared to 'panic' a little and I think they got a little stressed.
Patricia I am looking for some sort of a benchmark if you can help ? I know all cases are different but in you experience is circa 60% for a first 50 minutes 80 question sitting OK ? I must say our expectations where higher !
any advice comments appreciated ,
On Thursday of last week they sat thier first FULL 80 question paper in 50 minutes (the paper I was told was hard maybe equating to Tutors Level 3 (ish) ) They ran out of time and only completed circa 60/65 questions. they scored 48 out of 80 and 53 out of 80 (60% and 66 %).
They also appeared to 'panic' a little and I think they got a little stressed.
Patricia I am looking for some sort of a benchmark if you can help ? I know all cases are different but in you experience is circa 60% for a first 50 minutes 80 question sitting OK ? I must say our expectations where higher !
any advice comments appreciated ,
Dear Hyates
Level 2 from the tutors are going to be easier than 50 minute tests, so there is probably no suprise in their lower scores. Which paper did you use for the full 80 question test? I use papers in a strict order of difficulty.
Something I do find is that when moving from one publisher to the next: there is nearly always a dip in marks. The children seem to have the need to complete a few tests before they get used to that particular publishers format. Hence why I always leave NFER until the very last tests, this way they become accustomed to the new look before embarking on the real tests.
I certainly would not be too worried at this stage. You still have several months to iron out the scores/timing and that dreaded vocabulary. As you say codes become second nature [as will the maths] Vocabulary will always be a problem as they are seeing words out of context. In addition there are some words they just do not recognise for example sate as a word to be found hidden in a sentance. Have you seen my free flash card system of difficult words and compound words ?
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/pdf/11 ... tricia.pdf
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/pdf/11 ... tricia.pdf
The Tutors also have a CD for voabulary building.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/cd/the ... lume-1.php
Patricia
Level 2 from the tutors are going to be easier than 50 minute tests, so there is probably no suprise in their lower scores. Which paper did you use for the full 80 question test? I use papers in a strict order of difficulty.
Something I do find is that when moving from one publisher to the next: there is nearly always a dip in marks. The children seem to have the need to complete a few tests before they get used to that particular publishers format. Hence why I always leave NFER until the very last tests, this way they become accustomed to the new look before embarking on the real tests.
I certainly would not be too worried at this stage. You still have several months to iron out the scores/timing and that dreaded vocabulary. As you say codes become second nature [as will the maths] Vocabulary will always be a problem as they are seeing words out of context. In addition there are some words they just do not recognise for example sate as a word to be found hidden in a sentance. Have you seen my free flash card system of difficult words and compound words ?
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/pdf/11 ... tricia.pdf
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/pdf/11 ... tricia.pdf
The Tutors also have a CD for voabulary building.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/cd/the ... lume-1.php
Patricia
hi Patricia , many thanks for your insight. I understand your answer - in fact we can only benchmark or compare papers at the same level.
You mention NFER papers - are these the ones we can buy on this site without the HIKNOS question types ?
A last question ! - do you know if county (bucks) publish the practice papers which schools get ? many thanks
You mention NFER papers - are these the ones we can buy on this site without the HIKNOS question types ?
A last question ! - do you know if county (bucks) publish the practice papers which schools get ? many thanks
Dear HYates
Shop bought NFER do not include HIKNOS, therefore while completing these tests [ in September ] ensure you practice HIKNOS. By September all techniques and timings will be in place so its just going through the motions.
The practice tests used by Bucks are published by GL assessment [nfer] and cannot be bought from shops or Bucks County. However they can be found out in the community as they would be in the possession of families with older siblings....They have used exactly the same tests [ie the questions] since they were first introduced.
Patricia
Shop bought NFER do not include HIKNOS, therefore while completing these tests [ in September ] ensure you practice HIKNOS. By September all techniques and timings will be in place so its just going through the motions.
The practice tests used by Bucks are published by GL assessment [nfer] and cannot be bought from shops or Bucks County. However they can be found out in the community as they would be in the possession of families with older siblings....They have used exactly the same tests [ie the questions] since they were first introduced.
Patricia
