Wilson's exam

[SheHulk]

Exam in sept this year...Any advice based on experience welcome: should we aim to be doing the 11 - 12 age group Bond 11+ maths by summer? Or would it be enough to stay on the 10 - 11 if he manages to get 85% on them? Did your DS get a place and what level was he preparing at?

Well we won't know if DS has a place till 1st March so not entirely sure we are the best people to ask, but we definitely were doing the 11 - 12 age group Bonds by about June/July 2011 - our thinking was that if he was pitched at a higher level then he should find the exam answers would flow more easily....As it is, he did pass all three 11+ tests that he took but our feeling (from his feedback) was that just about none of the stuff covered in the higher age-group books came up in maths or VR/NVR. Certainly think the English for that age-group is really hard and pitched way higher than the level in the 11+ tests.....

Thank you gazzalw that is so useful, because even though he didn't encounter the stuff covered in the higher age-group, having done it probably made him comfortable with the questions and therefore probably quicker...Passing the 3 exams is really good! Food for thought. My fingers crossed for you and your DS on1st March.

Many thanks SheHulk....

Just to put this whole thing in context....DS, when he took the Sutton 11+ said "the maths was just my level" (and he was confident that he had done well in it) but most other boys in his class (and generally, from what we can determine from various discussion forums) found it hard.

I think the trick is to try to seamlessly adjust the levels - start on 9 - 10 age group and then up the game when you think your DS is ready - but go at his pace with each different subject rather than just doing a blanket "oh he's been doing these for three months, time to move levels for all subjects" approach.....

Will do! BTW did you do any GL papers aswell? I understand GL set the Wilson's exams?

think we did but less by design and more because by the time it got to September 2011 we had just about run out of any other test paper options to use for practising!

Wow.

Variety is the spice of life and think that the GL ones are different enough to offer a slightly jaded child a different approach too!

Good luck!