When before the 11+ could your dc sit and pass past papers?!

[sparklyorange]

Dc is doing the papers in year 5 now is still not passing every paper, some they pass some they don't, wondering if this is normal or not at this stage.

I think it depends on when they start and what they are doing exactly. Also, this is a silly question, but what mark is considered a pass mark when prepping for the 11+? As schools have their own targets for pass marks?

My eldest only started her prep end of May in year 5 (we did not know until last minute we would do the 11+) and she is in year 6 now. She mainly did Atom learning, which did not really say pass or fail, but gave you an SAS score, average was 100 and they advised for private schools aim for above 120s. Once she did the test a few times she understood the technique, so she started to get the scores required within a couple weeks. Her weakest ones (verbal and nonverbal) she would sometimes still get 115-120 score range though.

I am not so sure about the written exams, as she did that with a group once a week and I never got her scores or looked at the work. But I assume if she was not passing, the tutor would have told me. How long has your dc been prepping? Do you go over the work after? For example, when my dd got stuff wrong on Atom, she would look at the question she got wrong and the explanation. This is very important to help them improve scores.

Thanks @SamPoodle123 we have only used hind books and yesterday took first test on atom but dc only got 116 so am a bit worried now and not sure if to try to work our way up to better scores or if it's too late already.

About to start with tutoring for exam in September so fairly last minute too.

Bond not hind...

Don't worry! I am sure your dc will be fine. A 116 on atom the first time trying is a good start! Your dc will probably go up to 125 by summer if starting at 116. My dd first try on atom (but w no previous prep at all in any 11+ or those kinds of tests and from state school) she got a 100!! Once she understood the exam technique she quickly started getting 120s. By the time she took the exam her math was 142 regularly and English 130s. Non verbal and verbal were her weak spots and she would get 117-125 range towards the end. In the end she got offers to all 4 schools she applied to and will be going to Godolphin and Latymer. I was a little freaked out at the start, as we started late and I had no clue about the 11+. I am now about to go through it all again with my year 4 boy....but at least now I have plenty of time to learn about the boy schools and prep for him lol.

DS is in year 5 and doing tests this Sept. He could do well on the content now (get 85% or more of questions right, across the board) but would take longer than the time they'll have. We've been focusing on understanding the tests and being able to answer the questions with accuracy until now and will begin working on speed from here on out.

We're doing GL for grammar school entry

Thanks speed is definitely an issue. Annoyingly, we are doing GL for grammar and CEM style for indie so trying to cover all grounds.

@SamPoodle123 this gives me hope thank you! I'm trying to tell myself at least if we do all this prep and fail, at least dc has more maths and English knowledge going forward regardless. Finding it all rather stressful.

Your dc will be fine! There is plenty of time still. Just keep up with the prep. What kind of exams do you need to prep for the Indies? My dd had exams online, except for the Emanuel one. So we focused mainly using Atom. We found Atom very helpful for this. I am a little nervous for my ds bc all the exams are written! So more nervous about the prep for this.