Hot on the heels of our popular 11 Plus top tips, here’s part II of our ‘How to pass entrance exams’ series. Today’s is all about time: how to make the most of it, and how to avoid wasting it. Easily done..!
Beat the clock in entrance exams
For 7-11+ exams, beating the clock is no mean feat. In many cases, it’s the first time our children face timed exams in their life. How do you get past this?
It all boils down to skills. To explain, our team of entrance exam tutors often meet children who have sat endless timed mock papers and yet haven’t improved their score. This then leads to a crash in confidence.
Our first advice is not to sit papers under timed conditions at first, but to go through a paper slowly and thoughtfully identifying:
- what you are good at and…
- which question types are a stumbling block
This way, you can master trickier skills which then helps you get quicker.
Time wasting mistakes to watch out for
Time and again we see children spending too long on early ‘one mark’ questions at the expense on the later ones. If there’s a hard question early on, children tend to spend ages on it. However, this simply gulps up time.
Instead, a good technique is to press ahead through the early questions, putting a star by ones missed (with the intention of returning to them later).
English Comprehension papers, for example, often have ‘5 marks or more’ questions at the end. It figures: if you spend too long at the start, you run out of time to complete the higher mark questions later.
What to do in the last 5 minutes
- In English papers, proofread for SPaG errors (spelling, punctuation and grammar)
- Go over your paper to tackle any questions missed
- Read your writing response with new eyes, swapping dull verbs and adjectives for more powerful ones
Need entrance exam support to make the best use of time?
Call our established team of 7-11+ school entry exam tutors today. We can soon get your child not just back on track, but soaring ahead of the field. Pop along here for our contact details.
Tags: avoid time wasting in entrance exams, Comprehension Skills, entrance exam techniques, s, sitting timed exams