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Showing posts with the label ISEB pretest

Almost there, but not quite - Waiting List Woes

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You get through the ISEB Pre-test, fly through the interviews... only to get a waiting list offer.  Don't despair!  A waiting list place is NOT a rejection. You are still in the picture. In 2020, five of my boys moved from reserve to general places at Winchester. One of my boys moved from the Eton waiting list and one of my girls has just moved off the waiting list at Downe House to the delight of her parents.   Why do schools have waiting lists?  It is no secret that families apply to multiple schools. If a school makes 10 offers, they can assume that a proportion of the candidates will not accept, or may drop our later. Hence the waiting list.  Why do students move from the waiting list? Some students may have a couple of options to consider. Once they give up their places, the schools will go to the waiting list to fill the gaps.  Other places will become available after scholarship exams take place. For example, Winchester candidates for Election will generally be holding offe

"My friend says that the ISEB Pretest pass mark is ... " and other myths!

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  If your child has just taken the ISEB Pre-test as part of their Eton, Winchester, Tonbridge, Charterhouse, Wellington, Cranleigh, St Paul's (continue ad infinitum, see the list here! ) then you may well be surrounded by a fog of panic and misinformation. So here we go, the top myths...  1: There is a pass mark of X... No... there really isn't. Schools use the Pre-Test as part of their application process in conjunction with school reports, references and additional information. Most schools will apply a range to the results they receive from their cohort which may be broader or narrower depending on their intake.  As a rule of thumb: a school with fast-paced teaching and highly academic focus (such as St Paul's), will take the top end of their cohort. A school with excellent support and a broader intake (e.g. Stowe), will use a wider measure.  2: So and so scored 100%... The scores of the test are not released by schools...  3: So and so took the test twice... Not in one

Sequences questions? Here's how to tackle them!

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This is a video taken from our new pre-test practice tool . Hundreds of pre-test questions and tips for anyone who is sitting the ISEB, GL or UKISET tests. 

A new virtual visit to our (hitherto!) secret weapon for the ISEB pretest

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Practice makes perfect - our secret weapon to ace the ISEB pretest

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For years now, we have been working on ways to help Brandon students excel in the ISEB Pre-test and UKISET. Now we are sharing our secret weapon! Pre-Quest is our new platform which provides hundreds of adaptive questions written by our teachers for each section of the ISEB Pre-test: English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning.  Each section is divided into units and each unit into different levels. Work your way through the levels using our tips and checking your answers as you go. Once you have finished, you can mix all the levels in a practice test. Not sure of your result? Try again and the questions will be different.  We have three stages - pre-test, pre-test plus and extension and all are provided in subscriptions which start at US$90 per month.  Conquer your pretest with Pre-Quest!  Watch our videos for overviews:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkKEw52lyyg - Overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQoW8girr1o - Non-verbal reasoning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8

What is the ISEB Pretest? The format explained

Entry to schools used to be relative easy: register, interview, get an offer, sit Common Entrance and start in September. All has changed. Why? Simple: the sheer numbers of students applying to UK schools has increased dramatically and schools have elected to use pre-tests in order to identify applicants who will be able to thrive in their classrooms. So what does the pre-test consist of? The test is taken online and there are four sections: Maths (50 mins) English (25 mins) Non-Verbal reasoning (32 mins) Verbal reasoning (36 mins) Students may take breaks between sections but, once started, the test cannot be paused. A timer at the top of the screen shows the student how much time remains and there is an indicator at the bottom of the screen showing which question number the student is on and how many he/she has left to answer. There are no prizes for finishing first! We recommend that our students pace themselves and aim for accuracy rather than racing though the quest

Time running away? Practising for the ISEB Pre-test

One of the challenges a number of our children appear to be encountering when they are taking the ISEB and other pretests is runnning out of time. The maths section in particular can present problems as students try to extract the problem from the test. Try this: Give you child a sheet of word-based maths problems (e.g. three boys bought a six litre bottle of orange squash which they divided equally amongst them, how much did each boy receive?) and ask your child to write out the resultant sum. As your child becomes faster, increase the complexity of the arithmatic. Include: fractions, percentages, measurements. Allocate time to completing the sheet. Use a large kitchen timer which rings when "time is up" so your child gets used to working to time constraints. Talk to them about how they are going to be dividing his time. You can use the timer technique are you practice verbal/non-verbal reasoning.

Testing for a test! The world of the ISEB Pre-Tests (and others!)

School entry used to be relatively straightforward: apply, interview, take a couple of exams and join. No longer... welcome to the world of the pre-test. Why have pre-tests become so prevalent? A couple of reasons: firstly, the increase in applications to UK schools has put already over-worked admissions departments under incredible strain and pre-tests represent a way of filtering students and reducing the number to a manageable size. More importantly though, schools say that they do not want candidates who have no chance of gaining a place going through the stress of an application. Sounds fair enough... There are a number of pre-tests but I am going to focus on the ISEB pre-test as has been adopted by a number of big schools (Eton, Radley, Wellington, Westminster amongst others) and is therefore a hot topic amongst our parents. What is the ISEB Pre-test? The test consists of four sections: English (25 minutes) Maths (50 minutes) Verbal (36 minutes) Non-Verbal reasoning