8+ exams - which books / materials to use to practice?

[MommyA81]

Hi, my son is starting to get ready for the 8+ exams of SPJ, KCS and WU. I will support him during this. Could anyone who has experience please share which books or materials would be the best for this? Schofield books? Bond books (which I heard are too easy), CGP books? or EPP papers? (which are quite expensive - are they worth it?) And what year / age should he be doing comfortably? Has anyone also used Atom Learning? Do you have any other suggestions? Thank you so much!

I don’t think at that age they need any prep. I had two kids who went for the 7+ and 9+ respectively for two academic schools and both kids got offers from both schools. They said the exams were relatively easy and tested only material they’d learnt at school (state school) the previous year. I think at such a young age the schools are looking for teachability rather than knowledge above the national curriculum level.

Thank you for your comment. We keep hearing mixed things - feedback like yours AND also that the kids should be tutored or study with these books a lot & be at a 2 year higher level in order to succeed...

The second part is interesting as it's conscientiousness vs intelligence.

When teaching, this is the case at all levels from early years to post graduate, you largely get 2 traits.

Those who perform at 80% at assessment and those who do at 100%. Both cohorts have the same knowledge but one has a higher error rate.

To account for this we tend to advance beyond what is assessed so it's comfortably within the 80% ability application group to get the needed grade.

I think only you as a parent can make that call as no one knows your DC better than you. Take a look at some material and the measure error rate over longer periods of time. Play around with harder work at the start of session and it gradually getting easier.

Just finished using Atom for 11+/13+ pre-assessments . It's brilliant for that if you take the time to work out how to use it and use it properly, and if the exams your child is sitting are going to be online multiple choice adaptive tests like Atom. It will be less useful if your child is going to be asked to write a story, or do a written maths test where they need to show their workings. So find out what the school's tests involve and work backwards from there.

And don't be lulled by the people who say they did no work with their DC who got in everywhere anyway. While the children capable of that do exist, it is not the norm. Don't know the schools you are talking about but in central London people work like mad to prepare for 7+ assessments, and often tutor.

Just occurred to me SPJ might be St Paul's Junior school? For that, your DC will need to be properly prepared. Including doing practice tests to time.

That’s an interesting analysis and I think I agree. But it doesn’t follow that kids need to be tutored a year or two ahead. Wouldn’t it be better to focus tutoring on solidifying the age-appropriate national curriculum, rather than pushing them two years ahead on shaky foundations?

“While the children capable of that do exist, it is not the norm.”

Absolutely correct, it’s not the norm. The top schools are searching for the brightest kids, so the brightest pupils will sail through. Average kids will of course need to work extremely hard to get in, but maybe just because they don’t belong there?

yea I agree with you I was trying to be counter factual to justify the 2 years ahead angle. I don't personally think it should be done but I understand why people say it.

This is really helpful; thank you so much!