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Dear Parent
11+ Mock Exam – Session D (for GL Assessment Henrietta Barnett 11+ candidates)
Thank you for bringing your child to the Susan Daughtrey Education 11+ Mock Exam, Session B (for GL Assessment Henrietta Barnett 11+ candidates).
You can access your child’s Record Table, an anonymised List of Scores and your child’s Video Tuition report using the tabs above.
The students were generally very good at following the test instructions and our checks during the test indicated that students did not move forwards or backwards to other Sections in the test papers save as instructed.
At Susan Daughtrey Education we provide students with the following advice:
- While the number of questions and the time allowed for the Section is being read out (which is usually stated immediately before the students are instructed to start the Section), to quickly look at the clock and make a mental note of the time so they are able to work out how much time is remaining at any stage during the Section;
- To perform a quick mental calculation taking the allotted number of minutes and dividing this by the number of questions in the Section in order to work out the approximate ‘pace’ with which they will need to work through the questions if they are to finish the Section in the given time (for example where there are 12 questions to complete in 6 minutes, students will be able to calculate that they need to answer a question roughly every 30 seconds, or to complete 2 questions in each minute, if they are to finish the Section) – however students have been told that there will of course be some quick/easy questions and others that are more difficult and which take longer – therefore if a question is taking a little bit more than the time allowed for the ‘average’ question in that Section, this is probably ok as the ‘lost’ time can be made up on other questions;
- If a question is taking too long, or the student is unable to work out the answer, students have been advised to:
- Enter a guess for the question on their multiple-choice answer sheet;
- Circle the question number in their question booklet (so they know this is the question for which a guess has been entered);
- Continue to the next question; and
- If there is time left once they have completed the other questions in the Section, to return to reconsider any question(s) which they have circled in their question booklets and, if appropriate, to change the answer already recorded on their answer sheet.
The reasoning behind this advice is as follows:
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- It is thought better to enter a guess than to leave the question blank for the following reasons:
- There may not be time left at the end of the Section to return to the difficult / time consuming question and therefore it is better to enter a guess, and have an answer on the multiple-choice answer sheet, than it is to provide no answer at all;
- If no answer is entered on the answer sheet, there is a greater risk that the student will move on to the next question but then inadvertently give the answer to the next question in the multiple choice answer battery intended for the question they have just missed out – for example in Sections where all the answer options on the multiple choice answer sheet are A, B, C, D or E, if the student leaves out say, Question 9, it is very easy, especially under pressure, to then enter the answer to Question 10 in the multiple-choice answer battery for Question 9, to then enter the answer to Question 11 in the multiple-choice answer battery for Question 10 and so on (and in doing so to lose a substantial number of marks);
- It is better to circle the question number in the question booklet as the answer sheet is marked electronically and only the student’s answers should be recorded on the multiple-choice answer sheet (in the real test it is likely that the students will be permitted to write on the question paper – for this reason students are encouraged to write on the question papers at SDE’s mock exam sessions and we then shred and recycle these after the Session); and
- Finally, as a very last resort, for example if time is running out, students should enter guesses for any remaining questions, as there is no negative marking in the 11+ (i.e a mark will not be taken away for getting an answer wrong). By guessing e.g five questions with A – E options, it is possible the student will pick up a mark or two and this could make all the difference. Leaving batteries on the multiple choice answer sheet blank guarantees lost marks.
Students will need to consider their own exam technique, perhaps with the advice of their parent/tutor, and if there are other techniques which work for your child and you are happy with them, these should be adopted/continued in place of the above.
Importantly students who have attended mock exams need to be reminded to listen very carefully to the instructions for the actual GL Assessment 11+ test as these are almost certainly going to differ from the instructions given at the mock exam sessions they have attended.
The test papers have been designed to reflect, as far as reasonably practicable, the expected difficulty of the actual GL Assessment 11+ tests. As a result many students will find their marks are lower than they would like. This is quite normal and if this applies to your child, you should consider explaining that the tests were not easy, that they still have time to revise the work they have already done and to improve their exam performance.
Finally, while we are not permitted to distribute GL Assessment’s familiarisation material, we advise parents to Google “GL Assessment Familiarisation” – the first appearing search result will take you to the Familiarisation page on GL Assessment’s website where you can download and print a wide range of Familiarisation tests from GL Assessment. Even though these Familiarisation papers have not been prepared specifically for Henrietta Barnett 11+ candidates, we still consider it beneficial for your child to practice using this material.
RECORD TABLE
As well as providing a detailed breakdown, we have also provided a total mark and a percentage for each paper.
Our students’ results have not been standardised (i.e. your child’s score has not been adjusted to take account of your child’s age on the date of the test).
As a rule of thumb, standardisation on standardised 11+ test papers tends to involve an adjustment of up to 4-5% of the total amount of marks available on the test (the September-born child will not usually have any marks added to his/her score, whereas an August-born child will, depending on the test paper, have up to 4-5% added to his/her score – students born in other months are likely to receive a pro rata adjustment to their score on a sliding scale). The justification for standardisation is that it helps to ensure that the younger children, who on average tend to score lower in tests than their older peers in the same year group, are not disadvantaged by reason of their age.
If your child is not born in September, you may wish to make your own adjustment to your child’s score to take account of his/her age, however you will also need to bear in mind that the other students’ scores on the List of Scores have not been standardised.
TARGET MARK
A ‘Target Mark’ for each Section has been specified below in order to help you identify areas of weakness. The Target Mark is not a specific percentage of the total marks available in each Section; the Target Mark has been determined taking into account (i) the difficulty of the questions in the Section; and (ii) the overall performance of students in the Section.
Where your child has missed the Target Mark (most students have fallen short of the Target Mark in at least one of the Sections), you may wish to make the relevant type of question (or the underlying skill, such as knowledge of English vocabulary), a particular focus of the work your child undertakes between now and the real 11+ tests in September. Where your child has missed the Target Mark in several Sections (applicable to many students), you may wish to prioritise or spend more time working on the areas where the shortfall was greatest. We hope this is helpful.
Prior to starting each Section in the tests, students were presented with:
(i) the Instructions for the questions in that Section;
(ii) an Example Question (with the answer given on the Question Paper and Answer Sheet); and
(iii) a small number of Practice Questions.
The Instructions and Example Question (together with the answer options and correct answer) were read out on the pre-recorded audio. Students were then given a short period to work through the Practice Questions (in silence). The audio then reads out the answers to the Practice Questions. The students are then told how long they will be given to answer the ‘real’ questions and how many questions they will need to answer in that Section. They are then told they can turn over the page and start the Section. The tape is then silent, save for the prompts to remind students how long they have left (e.g ‘you have 15 minutes remaining’, ‘you have 10 minutes remaining’, ‘you have 5 minutes remaining’ and ‘you have 2 minutes remaining’).
Please note the practice questions are not marked and do not count towards the marks presented on your child’s Record Table.
DESCRIPTION OF SECTIONS / COMMENTS ABOUT DIFFICULTY & TIMING
Section 1
(i) Comprehension
Target Mark: 15/20
The comprehension text was 636 words long, followed by 20 comprehension questions. Even though this is a longer comprehension text than previous SDE Mock Exam papers, it is a straight forward ‘factual’ story about a pilot returning to flying after he is involved in a serious plane crash during the second world war. The story is written in the first person.
The comprehension questions can be broadly categorised as follows:
• 10 questions involved factual recall;
• 1 question required the student to draw an inference from the text;
• 6 questions required the student to understand the meaning of words in the text, such as phrases/expressions used by the author; and
• 3 questions required the student to form an opinion based on the information in the text.
If your child was able to reach the Target Mark in this Section, it would suggest his/her comprehension ability is ‘at a good standard in readiness for the 11+’ (most children fell short of the Target Mark and should continue to prioritise comprehension practice and to read widely in the remaining time).
(ii) Proof Reading
Target Mark: 8/10
Students were asked to identify spelling mistakes within a text and to mark the area (A, B, C or D) on the answer sheet where the error in each line occurs. If they did not think there was an error on a line, students were asked to mark ‘N’ on their answer sheet for that line/question.
An adult who can spell correctly would easily spot the errors. Students tend to do well in this Section and this is reflected in the relatively high Target Mark.
(iii) Cloze (multiple choice format)
Target Mark: 10/12
A cloze is a passage of text with words missing from the text. The student is required to identify the correct word to ‘fill in the gap’. The choice must make sense contextually and also be grammatically correct (for example, if the word before the break is ‘an’, the ‘missing word’ to ‘fill in the gap’ would need to be contextually correct but it would also need to start with a vowel as it is preceded by the word ‘an’ and not ‘a’).
This was yet another relatively easy cloze with five multiple choice options (A, B, C, D and E) at each gap (GL Assessment tend to opt for the multiple choice format of cloze, as shown in the Familiarisation Booklet, rather than ‘word bank’ clozes (favoured by CEM) – the multiple choice format is generally a lot easier than a ‘word bank’ cloze as the answer options are presented in the break and there are usually only five answer options to consider, whereas in a ‘word bank’ cloze, there can be as many as ten options to look at).
Section 2
NVR/Spatial Reasoning – Holes Punched in Squares
Target Mark: 6/8
A square is folded and then a hole is punched, as shown to the left of the black line. Which option on the right (A, B, C, D or E) shows the square when it is unfolded?
The answer is C.
NVR/Spatial Reasoning – Hidden Shapes
Target Mark: 5/8
Section 4
NVR – Codes
Target Mark: 6/8
Section 5
NVR – Analogies
Target Mark: 7/8
Section 6
Verbal Reasoning (Type Four)
Target Mark: 7/8
Below there are two groups of words. One word from the first group will join together with one word from the second group to form a completely new and proper word that is correctly spelt. The order of the letters does not change. The letters from the first group always begin this new word.
Mark these two words on the answer sheet.
(nor for rob)
(let tune am)
ANSWER
‘for’ and ‘tune’ (the word is ‘fortune’)
Verbal Reasoning (Type Two)
Target Mark: 7/8
In each of the following there is the same connection between the word outside the brackets and one word inside each pair of brackets. Find the two words, one from each group, that complete the sentence in the best way. Mark both of these words on the answer sheet.
Fruit is to (tree banana bowl) as vegetable is to (potato pie meat)
ANSWER
banana and potato
Verbal Reasoning (Type Twenty-Two)
Target Mark: 7/8
In the questions below the middle word of each set of three words has been formed using the letters from the two words on either side of the bracket. Find the missing word in the second group that has been formed in the same way and mark it on the answer sheet.
cast [ star ] arid
soup [ ? ] onto
ANSWER
upon (the last two letters from the first word and the first two letters from the second word)
COMPARING YOUR DAUGHTER’S PERFORMANCE WITH OTHERS
We are very reluctant to rank our students. However, owing to overwhelming demand from parents we have provided a table which shows the scores of the other girls who have recently written the same tests. We suggest that parents consider keeping their daughter’s ranking confidential from their daughter; a high ranking may deter your daughter from working hard over the coming weeks and a low ranking may damage your daughter’s confidence.
We also advise you to treat your daughter’s ranking with caution. We often find that at this stage of the year a child’s exam performance is disappointing and does not reflect her ability. Often in these cases the child’s results will improve markedly with lots of additional test paper practice and revision. Similarly, those students in the top half of the group need to keep working very hard if they are to maintain or improve on their position in September.
We wish your daughter every success with her 11+ exam preparation and we hope to see you both again shortly.
Susan Daughtrey Education
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