My name is Yusuf and I am 11 years old. This article is about preparing for and sitting the Kent 11+ test.
I’ll start with the night before the test. I think it’s really important, because that’s when the real nerves kick in, and that’s me speaking from experience. Also, eating, drinking, and numerous mock tests all play a part in the journey to passing.
As we had dinner that evening, I wasn’t as nervous as I was before; after all, I’d already taken the Bexley council test. Furthermore, the Kent test wasn’t the main one anyway, as I was targeting Bexley Grammar School. So dinner went pretty well. And then, after the usual bedtime routine, I packed my bag – comprising an asthma pump, and a pencil case (a clear one because opaque ones aren’t allowed). And I’m pleased to say that I slept well (unlike my first exam).
Sitting the exam
When the night passed and dawn arrived, I was up early. I brushed my teeth and ate the usual, which was, of course, porridge. Dad dropped me off at Leigh academy. I was getting worried when I saw some other kids from different schools meet up, but felt reassured I saw kids from my own school.
I can recollect that there were 4 different papers, each with a different subject- Maths, English, NVR and VR. Everyone says that the Kent test is the easiest test ever. All kinds of questions that I’d practised came up (in VR, NVR, Maths and English), and there was a creative writing assignment. In the assignment, you had to pick from 5 different options and I picked the one about the arguments for wearing a uniform and we had 20 minutes to do it. Then we had NVR. This was slightly different. Instead of your usual topics like odd one out and grid sequences, there were mostly birds-eye view questions, and building block questions (where you decide which blocks make the shape). You were given 25 minutes, but I found this OK and didn’t have any problems. In the maths option, it’s just normal stuff like, number operations, fractions and other stuff like that. In fact, I breezed through it!
Next came verbal reasoning. I’m very good with alphabet codes, anagrams and sums. Since these very subjects were the core of VR, I had no problem with it. I’m also good at English, which helps with the VR. In terms of the English, there were 25 questions. There was one comprehension section, and one SPaG section.
The rest of the day went like a blur. Both my parents and my siblings came along to pick me up. The next month was a casual wait, but one day when I came home from school, my parents told me I’d scored 396- a good score. Not record-breaking stuff, but still a very good score.
That was my story and hopefully you pass too.
Yusuf,
11 years old