Dear Parent

11+ Mock Exam –  (for GL Assessment Kent 11+ candidates)

Thank you for bringing your child to the Susan Daughtrey Education 11+ Mock Exam (for GL Assessment Kent 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 forward or backward 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:

• 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

It is thought better to enter a guess than to leave the question blank for the following reasons:

• 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 Kent 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 (in all likelihood, the SDE tests may end up being slightly harder than the real 11+ tests – we would rather this than the tests being too easy). 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 ahead of the real 11+ tests.

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 Tests have not been prepared specifically for Kent 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.

COMPARING YOUR CHILD’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 students at the Session. We suggest that parents consider keeping their child’s rank confidential from their child; a high rank may deter your child from working hard over the remaining weeks and a low rank may damage your child’s confidence.

We wish your child every success with his/her 11+ exam preparation.

Susan Daughtrey Education