Hi Hope everything went well for everyone yesterday. I was a bit emotional after DS went in to the school and found the 3 hours waiting quite hard. He came out a bit upset because lots of kids appeared to be finishing before him which had unnerved him a bit. I told him its not a race and he just needs to do his best. He is not feeling very positive at the moment but hopefully we can put it all behind us now.

Just got to manage his emotions over the next 10 days now as he really wants to go to LRGS.

Good to hear from you, Mumski. Sounds like we had similar experiences. I found the 3-hour wait agonising. So glad it is all over. I tried to avoid interrogating DS but, from the snippets I've gleaned, it doesn't sound too hopeful. It's such a shame as he had really progressed in the last couple of weeks from around 60% to 80% and we were starting to see a glimmer of hope. My heart sank when he came out of the exam and said the VR was "nothing like we'd practised." We'd been doing the GL papers but for some reason he found the actual exam much harder.
I totally agree with you about the importance of managing emotions now. We have made sure DS knows how very proud we are of the effort he has put in and that he didn't give up. It must have been so daunting for them turning up at LRGS on Saturday morning. DD did her GCSEs this summer and I think they were a doddle compared to 11 plus - in your own school with your friends and teachers you know.
I think the important thing now is to have a plan B ready so, in the event that DS is not offered a place, we are clear what we are doing instead. We're planning to apply to a lovely secondary school where a friend's DD went and she got As and A*s in her GCSEs. I'll be encouraging DS to aim for the top sets and to work his socks off for his GCSEs and then he can go to LRGS in the 6th form. DD has just joined LGGS 6th form and only needed 5 Bs to be accepted! (She actually got 9 A* and 2 A grades). If LRGS is similar then 5 Bs should be a doddle for any boy who sat the 11 plus. Also, there was no catchment - something that might be good news to those of you currently OOC.
So, I think the important thing is to make sure our DCs know we are proud of them 'come what may' and that their future will be bright, irrespective of the decision on 5th Oct.
I wish all of your DCs the very best for the future, wherever that may be.

My son also said the VR test seemed different to the GL practice papers...he said there was a section of question types that he hadn't come across before. He still managed to answer all questions though. Glad it's all over though...just the wait until the 5th!

My son also had the similar experience. Verbal reasoning is quite different from what we usually practise. The words are harder too. Also he struggled a lot with the English. I knew his comprehension was not great but usually he could get more marks on spelling, punctuation and grammar but yesterday he needed to do 2 comprehensions and no grammar correction! He said he guessed quite lot of the answers for the first part so he won't expect any good result. He is a bit disappointed but there are always very good schools in our area. We still celebrated for finishing the exam. It is a good experience and through the revision, he has made good progress in Maths and some other skills.
I would like to ask you all about the papers. Did you sons need to do 2 English comprehensions? My son's classmate said he had just one! I am not sure if it is true. Is it possible that the papers are different? If so, do you know the reasons?

my son said there were two comprehensions...a fiction at the start, then a non fiction at the end of the paper, with some spelling/punctuation stuff in between.

also paper same for girls grammar according to the conversation with his mate!

My daughter did the exam at Clitheroe which is the same exam as Lancaster I believe. She said it was comprehension first, the spelling, grammar and then another comprehension. The section where they choose the correct grammatical term had not been included. That was her best section too! Also they had 56 questions in 45 mins unlike the 50 questions in 50 that we had practised. I think it's a bit naughty! All the kids were coming out saying that the English was the hardest they had done. I wonder if is to fit in with the Government making all exams harder? She also guessed 7 Maths ones as she didn't have time to go back to them. On practise paper for maths she was getting 80-90% and usually about 90% for VR. English varied, she could get 80% but sometimes plummeted to 66%, so God knows how she scored on these with them all being harder and changing the format.

Mine sat CRGS yesterday too. I understand it is same exam as Lancaster.

She reported 55 questions in 45 mins for English which surprised me was expecting 50 in 50. She says english exam was fine but is strong in English, yes 2 comprehensions 1 fiction one non fiction. Maths her weakest she says got really hard towards end but did finish. VR also surprised me. She has been getting best marks in VR but says she had to guess last 8 as ran out of time, usually easily finishes GL practice papers, she thought it was harder than usual GL she had practiced.

Nice to see an active thread on here. We have to wait longer than Lancaster for results due by 12th October.

Thanks for your speedy response. So the papers are all the same. I think probably my son misunderstood that in a rush conversation after test.
The boys are all deserved a treat! Not easy for their age! The naughty ones even tried to make it more challenging by changing the format!