to think that northeren lights passage is too difficult for school entry test?

[pukkapatch]

i thought that a bit unfair. its a hard hard book. we gave up reading it, because it was too difficult for him. and then he gets it in his test yesterday.

I think it really depends on the passage. A hard book can have easier excerpts so just because it's from a hard book doesn't necessarily mean it's a hard test. It shouldn't really be an advantage to have read the book before for a comprehension and as all the children will have had the same test I don't really think it's unfair. Often a harder test makes it easier to discriminate between the good and the very good (which they probably need for scholarships) but the overall pass mark may well be very low.

One very well known London day school sets v. hard passages in entry tests on purpose to throw candidates to see which will panic and give up and which will take a more mature approach and at leat give it a go.
not an approach i agree with, but the school recon it is an excellent way of distinguishing between pupils and identifying those with the 'right' attitude, whatever that is.............
sadly, all the prep school kids are well briefed on this and do rather well. State school kids are not and tend to deflate/panic/give up.

Are we talking about tests for 10 or 11 year olds or is it a younger age group (say age 7)?

If it's the older group, you are being unreasonable, since a reasonably bright 10 year old should manage it easily. If it's for a younger age group, I would have to see the particular passage. Can you point me towards the age of the children involved and the sort of passage?

he is 10.9. he is reasonably bright.
we stopped reading it, beccause it was too difficult for him. he hates reding generally, so wont read unless he has too. but i wanted him to read it before we saw the film. had to stop after the second chapter.
the particular passage i havent had a chance to reread. so cant comment on how difficult tath one was. i think feeling is right. that is probly the technique in mind

Tbh if he really hates reading, he might not be suited for a school which is academically selective - the point of the test is presumably to pick out kids who will be suited to the school's curriculum.

I think NL would be accessible for this age. He might not have been enthused by it as a novel, but an able 10 year old shouldn't be too phased by a comprehension test set on an extract from it.

Was the reading test the only test, or were there other components?

my 10.6 ds1 did entrance test on monday....school v academically selective.... text for comprehension was keats poem .... i said "how did you find it?" and he said well it was ok but a bit random".... which translated means (i'm guessing) he didnt understand what was going on at all.....

If the school set it and it is not suitable for him then it tells you that it is the wrong school for him.It is not unfair of the school-they can set what they like.

The essence of a selective school is that they select. If they picked something that every child sitting the test could do, it would make it harder for them to differentiate.

This is why I have chosen not to send my children to a selective school.