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There is no 'standard' pass-mark for entry to Grammar Schools. Although the pass-mark for a particular school or area varies very little from year to year, there are wide variations across the country. This variation is not due to children being brighter in some areas of the country! In fact, there can be large variations between schools a few miles apart. Pass-marks vary because of the demand for places. An area with few Grammar School places will select perhaps 5% of the children taking the selection test. In an other area 10% of children may be selected. In the latter case the pass-mark will be lower. |
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As the pass-mark for Grammar Schools varies widely across the country it is only possible to give a 'benchmark' in answer to this question. Experience suggests that the 'benchmark' is 80%+. Scoring at this level would indicate that a child could be expected to be successful. This figure only relates to our practice tests - practice tests on the market vary considerably in difficulty and many are too easy. |
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This very much depends on which tests we are talking about. Lets consider the IQ tests first, ie verbal and non-verbal reasoning. The purpose of practice is not to increase a child's reasoning ability. Reasoning ability cannot be increased by working through practice tests. What practice can achieve is to make it more likely that a child will perform at his best when taking the selection test. A child will normally continue to improve up to about twelve practice tests although the optimal number for each child will clearly vary. Practising English and Mathematics is quite different. These subjects can be 'taught' and English and Mathematics tests 'teach' children as well as 'test' them. |
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A difficult question to answer in a few words! Put simply, reasoning with words or language is 'verbal' and reasoning involving shapes and patterns is 'non-verbal'. To see the difference go to an example of a verbal reasoning paper and a non-verbal reasoning paper. If you want to read about intelligence tests in detail (written from an American perspective) go to Indiana University's website. |
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Many children have difficulty with certain types of questions. They may not be able to do them at all, or they may get the answers right but spend too long on these questions because they are using an inefficient method for solving them. In either case you can help by working through these questions with your child. The best way to find out which questions your child finds difficult is to ask them! Our verbal reasoning test packs provide a chart to help you identify which types of question your child finds difficult. We also publish a book called 'Verbal Reasoning Tests Explained' which discusses each question type and using examples from the test papers gives detailed advice on how to solve each type of question. You can find examples from this book by going to Verbal Reasoning Question Types. |
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Yes, you should! Children can gain more from talking through a test paper than they gained from working through it. It is best to leave this for a day or two. There are two reasons for this. In the first place your child will be too tired to gain much from this if they have just spent 50 minutes doing the test. However, the most important advantage of leaving this for a day or two is that your child will have been subconsciously 'working through' the questions he found difficult, and may be able to solve them. |
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The score a child gets on a test is called a 'raw score'. This is simply the total number of questions a child answers correctly. The child's 'standard score' on the test is calculated from the 'raw score' together with the child's age. This ensures that there is no advantage or disadvantage in how old the child is when taking the test. Age is allowed for when converting the 'raw score' to a 'standard score'. Go to a more detailed explanation of standard scores. |
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A 13+ selection test will normally include a Verbal or Non-verbal Reasoning Test (or both), Mathematics and English, and often a foreign language test. Relatively few children take a 13+ test, so there are no reasoning practice tests available. However, your child will benefit from our practice tests. The increase in score expected of children over a twelve month period is approximately 5 percentage points. So, you should expect your child to score about 90% on our tests. As children grow older they are not only expected to solve more difficult problems but also work faster. So, we would also advise you to reduce the time limit on our Verbal Reasoning Tests from 50 minutes to 45 minutes. |
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No, I'm afraid not. There is really no such thing as an 'old paper'. Selection test papers are used for a number of years in different areas of the country. In your area 'Test 12b' may have been used last year. This test may have been used for several years in other areas and will be used again, but never in the same area. Some publishers of practice tests do claim they are selling 'previous papers', or that they include questions from previous papers in their practice papers. This is not so. Indeed, if they did this, they would be infringing copyright. |
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We have provided a list of selective schools listed by area. Most have a link to the school's own website. Go There |
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Many Grammar school selection tests are now designed to facilitate computer marking. A separate answer sheet is provided and the child is instructed to place a mark in a box to indicate which multiple-choice answer they have selected. It is simply a different way of recording an answer and does not affect the skills required to answer the question. |
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There is often confusion about what '11+' means. Grammar School selection tests are designed to choose children for education beyond 11 years - i.e. all children entering year 7 are 11-year-olds. Hence, the 11+. Of course, many children sitting the 11+ are still 10-year-olds as the tests take place during year 6! |
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Children normally require 2 hours per week for 10 weeks preparing for the tests. This would be sufficient for them to reach their potential. Any amount of practice, either at home or with a tutor, will not ensure that a child will pass the selection test if they do not have the potential. Whether they practise at home or with a tutor depends on how confident you feel about helping. It also depends on whether, from your previous experience helping with school work, your child is comfortable with you in this situation. Bear in mind that tutors do vary - some are very good, some are not- and it can be expensive. If you do decide to employ a tutor the best way to select a tutor is by recommendation from a friend. If this is not possible try Yellow Pages or adverts in the local newspapers. Ask how much experience they have and what the total cost will be. Also what material they use - many do use the Secondary Selection Portfolio. |
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Age is taken into consideration when the 'raw score' (the score on the test) is converted to a 'standard score'. This ensures that there is no advantage or disadvantage in how old the child is when taking the test. For a more detailed explanation go to standard scores.
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Verbal reasoning tests are normally about 45 to 50 minutes. Non-verbal reasoning tests are usually in 4 or 5 sections. Each section is timed at about 10 minutes. Maths and English tests take about 30 to 40 minutes. Occasionally the English test will include an essay and more time will be allowed.
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No, I'm afraid we do not publish a book which explains the best way of looking at and solving the non-verbal reasoning tests. Frankly, we do not think a book could be very helpful given the very nature of non-verbal tests. However, we have attempted to overcome this by putting a lot of support on our website - it is possible on websites to have interactive examples which we feel are far more helpful than trying to explain these with words. Go here - this is the main menu for our support for non-verbal question types.
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| Note. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the above information there are wide differences in the selection process across the country. In addition, any advice concerning children is aimed at the 'average' child. Your child is unique and any advice we have given should be interpreted for your child. The information given is therefore only of a general nature. |
This page can be downloaded for your own personal use. |
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