Dame Alice Owens - Mock?

Cgp papers are definitely more difficult than GL. I don’t think that they increased in difficulty—we didn’t notice that.

@purplejeanie Thank you for your reply. Do you recall if the CGP VR Paper packs were of different difficulty level like Pack 1 being easiest and Pack 3 toughest or did they have the same difficulty level? I noticed the GL VR paper packs difficulty levels increased with the pack numbers, hence, wondered if it was the same with CGP as well? As the exam is just days away, I don't want to buy all 3 packs if the difficulty level varies. In general, are GL VR papers difficult than CGP VR papers or vice-versa?

@Coolparentwe used cgp ten minute tests for vr and maths and also the cgp papers for all the subjects. EPP is exam paper plus. My daughter was also sitting the HBS exam and the VR in the EPP papers is more realistic for HBS. But I think the English in the DAO EPP papers and some of the maths is pretty useful (you can pick out the questions ). Yes I meant Schofield mental maths. I found it useful as it covers so much and so exposed weak areas. For mocks we also did those Harrow mocks plus Susan daughtery (which were easier). My daughter did HBS and Latymer practices. In the Harrow mocks she did not score as well as your child (she was probably getting in the 70s and then getting in the 80s for the Susan daughtry mocks) but scored well enough in the actual exams to get into all the schools she sat, so I think your child is in a very good position and I’d try not to worry.

@purplejeanie Thanks for your reassuring reply. By CGP did you use the CGP papers or the books as well? If books can you let me know which ones in particylar? Is EPP exam paper plus? I’m a bit hesitant to use them as I’ve heard more neg reviews than + due to the difficulty level. For maths, was it the mental arithmetic boom by Schofield n Sims that you used? We’ve been using the FPTP worded problems book only so far. Would you recommend any particular school practice paper for Eng/ Maths? My child sat a couple of Eleven plus Harrow mocks for SWH/Latymer and scored between 85-95%.Are these exams of the same difficulty level as DAO VR?

Thanks a ton for your response.

@Coolparentit sounds like your child is doing excellently. The VR paper is a similar level of difficulty to the GL papers. My daughter was getting similar scores shortly before the exams and VR was certainly her strongest subject. She sat the exams last year. She also did a lot of CGP (they are more stretching) and EPP, bond and FPTP. Mainly cgp. She didn’t use Schofield for vr. For maths, we used all of the above plus FPTP and Schofield. The EPP school specific papers are good but very stretching, probably harder than the real thing. For English, it is normally a continuation or a piece of writing based on the comprehension text (for example to write a speech in the voice of one of the characters). The DAO English papers are very useful for this and she did them all and then repeated them. I left them to the weeks before the second round so she could have the most realistic practice then. I also found other eleven plus comprehension books (ie bond) and would give her my own continuation title. DAO English is very time pressured so good to practice to time as much as possible. Latymer exam has a similar format so you can practice using EPP Latymer papers too. I can’t remember what the DAO writing piece was last year, but I’ll ask my daughter and update here.

Hello 👋 on second round DD was on 126th (or 136th) if not mistaken. She did sit the Herts Consortium too and got enough points for Watford Grammar, Ricky, Parmiters and etc but I ended up going the Independent route and choosing Queenswood School instead. The main factor for us was the class sizes and the number of classes for each year and We felt that for DD coming from a small Independent primary school with only 12kids to classes of 30-35 each would be too overwhelming for her. All the best of luck to you on whichever path/school you choose <3

@Minerva81 My child will be be taking the exam this Sept. For VR round, apart from GL papers would you recommend any other books or papers? What should be the VR score for GL roughly? What about the books and papers for Maths n Eng?

Hi Purplejeanie, if you don't mind me asking, when did your child take the DAO exam? If recent, then can you advice on if CGP VR Papers are any good or Schofield and Sims Rapid Tests would be better? My child has completed the GL VR papers and is scoring around 95% on an average. Which books/papers would be recommend for DAO VR? For Maths, what I gather from the above is that Maths DAO papers do not reflect the actual exams. Which papers would you recommend? Are First Past The Post worded problems book close to the DAO maths paper? How about English? Is the Creative writing usually 'continue the same story' format?
Any guidance is appreciated.
Thanks

We prepared for both from the outset because there’s not enough time between round 1 and 2 to prepare from scratch for the English and maths papers. In the last couple of weeks before round 1, we focussed on VR (but my DD was also doing other tests, so couldn’t exclusively do VR). The VR paper was the same level as GL practice papers. The English paper was the same level as the DAO practice papers; speed is of the essence as there is a lot to read and write in the time available. She found the maths paper significantly harder than the DAO practice papers.

Ah, that's great to hear. We have to pass 1st round first. Did you focus on each round separately, or were you prepared for both from the first stage? If that makes sense. We're sitting multiple schools, all slightly different in format and difficulty - so for now we've been doing the general maths and English. Did your son find the real exams harder than the practice papers?

@Countrylifemama @purplejeanie my main question is if they're happy there and how much homework they get?

Did you mean you used Queenswood papers for DAO?

Mine did. Let me know if you have specific questions ?

@Countrylifemama and @Minerva81 Hi, did your kids get into DAO? Was after some tips and advice please?

It's worth buying the papers but for use in the weeks just before the exam. The English and vr papers are very realistic. The maths paper was harder in the actual exam.

Hello :) DD Did the second stage test few weeks ago and we are now anxiously waiting for her final results/ranking.

Yes, we stuck to GL books for VR and for English and maths we practiced on DAO papers from their website + Queenswood papers from their own website as I found the paper style very similar. :)

Good luck to you!!

How did you do on DAO test?

In your opinions, is it worth buying Dame Alice tests (£30 for Verbal reasoning and then English and maths separately)?

Or is it enough to prep with other tests available?

Thanks

In September we are sitting for: DAO, HBS and doing the SW Consortium exams tii (although the only one I like from the consortium is Parmiters).

Then for Indies we are definitely sitting the exams for: Habs, Queenswood, NLCS, St. Columbas in St. Albans and MAYBE: STAHS, Aldenham and St. Margarets too.

So stressed, feeling like we left prep for too late. Was (naively) hoping that her music would give her an "edge" but not holding my breath on that either, did not realize how competitive this 11+ is.

Good luck to us!!! <3

Hello, my DD is sitting DAO exams now in September 2024 too.

The school itself sells a package of preparation material, have you seen it?

Good luck to us!!

Which other schools are you applying? X

We didn’t take the DAO exam (OOC), but some of my acquaintances did, and quite a few passed. You need to prepare for the first round of VR initially.

The second round consists of written papers for maths and English, which are nowhere near the difficulty level of GCSE papers.

However, practicing written papers from various independent schools would be beneficial. Lots of information on elevenplusexams forum and I think one of the user there is a dedicated DAO tutor for many years!

DAO papers are very hard so maybe some GCSE papers?