After each mock test we recommend you spend at least 10-15 minutes looking through the results, discussing corrections with your child and picking out areas of difficulty to focus on.
Find out below what you should look for.
Standardised age score
The first number you will see at the top of your child's mock test transcript is their 'standardised age score'. This is the same scoring used in the real 11+ exams. Standardised scores remove variables and allow for fair comparison across students.
Each child's SAS is calculated by looking at the number of questions they answered correctly, the difficulty of the questions and their age in years and months.
As a general guideline we recommend aiming for a SAS of at least 115 by the time of the 11+ exams.
You can learn more about standardised age scores here.
Total time spent
With paper mock tests, unlike online mock tests, total time spent will not be automatically calculated. Instead when entering your child's answers you will have the option to add 'time spent' at the bottom of the answer sheet or leave it blank. We highly encourage you to use a stopwatch to accurately time your child's test and add it to the answer sheet.
In paper exams if a child gets to the end of the test early they can go back and use the remaining time to double check their answers so there is no reason why a paper test should end early.
On the other hand, if your child runs out of time be truthful when entering their answers. There will be an option to select 'unanswered'.
It is important to know what your child's ability is within the given time frame. If they are consistently running out of time then you know speed is something to work on.
You might want to follow up the paper test by sitting an online mock test so you can see 'time per question'. This will help you to identify if there are specific question types that take your child longer that you need to practice.
Performance by topic
This graph will show your child's average performance across each topic that was included in this test. It allows you to quickly pinpoint their strongest and weakest topics.
For a more detailed understanding of your child's ability we recommend you look at their individual corrections.
Individual corrections
When you are looking at your child's individual corrections we recommend that you have them with you. Ask questions such as;
- What type of question do you think this is?
- Do you know what all the words mean?
- Do you think you read the question carefully?
- What would you do differently next time?
In some cases your child may have made a silly mistake, such as selecting one answer where the question asked for two or using the wrong units in a maths question. In these situations remind them how important it is to double check their answers.
Other times it will be clear that it is something your child finds difficult. Click on the question to expand it and see the explanation. Once you have discussed the correction with your child if it they are still not feeling confident set an additional practice to their to-do list.
You see can the topic the question was on at the bottom of the answer explanation.
When you are creating a practice we recommend selecting one area at a time to work on with at least 15 questions. To learn more about how to set a practice click here.
Following each mock test we recommend setting at least 2-3 follow up practices.
If you have any further questions about understanding mock test results please get in touch with us via email at support@atomlearning.co.uk.