This blog explores the English comprehension paper content, the challenges, the techniques and structure required to answer the big mark questions. Leaders of the pack, the breakaway group in the Tour de France of entrance examinations, nail the ‘big markers’.
Key takeaways:
1. Understanding the English Comprehension Paper
2. Navigating Linguistic Challenges
3. Cracking the Big Markers: Speed and Technique
4. The PETA Approach to Analysis
5. Cultivating Resilience and a Growth Mindset
Battle of the Big Markers: Mastering the toughest exam questions in School Entrance Exams
It is entrance exam season again, it rolls around so quickly, and the current Year 3s, 4s, 7s and 9s are now nestled into their new schools – all happily, which is a joy to see. The stress of the last autumn term, a fading imprint. Anyone might think my life is dull since it’s the 30th year I have prepared children for this cycle of examinations! However, the educational landscape has changed and continues to evolve, each school has different requirements that change, at each entry point, each child is different, each family is unique, and locations have diverse personalities too. I tutor many families based in central London who are readying themselves for the Colosseum of battles for top Day School places – I feel the need to raise the sector to the status of a proper noun given the challenges to gain a coveted offer!
Beware the Ides of October…to February
Hardly Julius Caesar, but families often feel the pressure, an impending sense of doom at this point (no assassinations), you might be at the precipice. The 7+ examinations have already started, you might be fervently ploughing through Atom/BOFA ready for the ISEB pretest, working hard to secure strong CAT scores, increasing the private tuition, honing the skills for written style papers, reducing the playdates, targeting the gaps, gathering feedback from school, evenings/weekends full of school visits and struggling to remember when you did not go to sleep or wake up thinking about schools.
The time, money and emotions that seem to reverberate through every day – particularly if it is the first time you are entering the arena with your eldest.
The Challenge of 11+ English Papers
Last year, at the 11+ exams, oftentimes texts in the comprehension paper were extracts from A Level and GCSE texts. Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Wordsworth, Dickens and the like. This can be tricky to handle at the age of 10years old. The language can be a barrier as written long before their time, and many of the children I teach speak other languages at home. Shamefully, I do not speak many languages, but the depth of my English is vast as I would listen to my grandparents who used phrases from their lifetime and their parents’, I read all the time – no social media or technology in those days, and Victorian texts didn’t seem too far back in history, and I enjoyed the formality and intricacies. I loved that literature taught me about history, like a source.
Today at 10 years old these texts present linguistic challenges:
Highly descriptive language.
Poetic language.
Formal tone and unfamiliar vocabulary.
Archaic, colloquial or regional dialects that can feel foreign and difficult to engage with.
Epistolary format (like Dracula) which can be disorientating, shifting perspectives, unfamiliar sentence structures
Long, winding sentences of Dickens can be hard to follow/slow reading and the vocabulary creates a blind spot.
Historical and Cultural Contexts can be difficult to navigate – social norms and struggles (economic/ friendships/ moral) feel alien and hard to grasp without the background.
Characters and Themes – adult experiences such as the tragic love triangle of Ethan Frome is hard to recognise and connect with. Heavy themes such as injustice and inequality can be tricky to relate to.
Cracking the Big Markers: Speed, Accuracy, Technique
There will always be the ‘warm-up’ questions, essentially requiring retrieval skills. Everyone is going to get those correct, so how to pull away and gather the most marks is via the big mark questions. Speed is key – you’ve got to get to them as they are usually towards the middle-end of the questions. Not dropping the accuracy either, as inaccuracies can cost you half marks here or there which can make all the difference to your percentage.
I teach along the lines of GCSE skills, which is impressive to the 11+ examiner and sets you up nicely for the next stage of your child’s school career.
My students have a sheet of literary techniques that they must know, be able to recognise in the texts and be able to use in the writing section of the papers. We work on annotation skills – noting on the text, naming the techniques and thinking about the connotations of the vocabulary or technique. There is barely a white space left on the page. We work in granular detail. We are not just understanding what is happening in the narrative, we are looking at the author’s tools and why the author has used them. Their impact on the reader. We are not just understanding the language, we are ANALYSING the language. The big mark questions are, in the main, language analysis. This is not a quick process and even the brightest children with their 141 CAT scores struggle to grasp at this age. It takes time and practice. Doing well at the big markers isn’t all about ability, it is also about technique in answering these questions. Sometimes children with lower abilities score higher in these papers as they have grafted over several years and mastered the technique.
Mastering PETA: The Key to Analysis
PEA? PEE? PEEL? PETE? PETEE?
Acronyms and initialisms, which is correct?
You’ve heard them all, right?
Point Evidence Analysis
Point Evidence Explain
Point Evidence Explain Link
Point Evidence Technique Explain
Point Evidence Technique Explain Effect
Let’s look at an example question in this box.
Over the years I have found PETA works best for me.
Point – this should be short and clear
Evidence – a relevant quote from the text that evidences your point. Good quality evidence has something for you to analyse – or the student can simply get stuck and repeat their point
Technique – name the technique or the type of word that is effective in your quote. Zoom in like an arrow.
Analyse – explore the connotations of the word and the impact on the reader.
Here’s why I do not include the word ‘explain’ in my acronym. I find the word ‘explain’ suggests to children that they must explain the meaning of the quote instead of analysing the language with clarity and precision. They often simply repeat the evidence in their own words, showing they understand what has happened, not that they can identify a key word and explain the impact and effects of the language.
Handling the 'How' Question
It always comes up at the big markers, ‘How does the author create a sense of fear/ excitement/ mystery?’ It is asking you to name a technique. What is the author’s tool to impact the reader? If you have honed annotating skills, this is easy for the student. They notice literary devices as they read. Evidence is straightforward, it has to be relevant. It’s the analysis part (that is worth the most marks) where it often falls apart..nebulous and rambling. You can see in the example, the analysis pinpoints the effective word, names the type of word and explores the connotations/effects. No waffling. Precise.
Final Thoughts: Resilience and Growth Mindset
On that note, I have waffled on long enough. I hope this has been helpful. It is not easy at this age, and I understand parents can feel at a loss too. Lots of growth mindset and resilience is required but it will pay dividends at the 11+ entrance exams and beyond.
If you need any support or feedback, please do get in touch. Our experienced teachers and examiners offer tuition, workshops and courses delivered online and in-person. We are here to help whether you are starting preparations three or four years in advance, or needing a pre-exam booster.
We create our own unique resources and exam papers that target the most challenging skills. The course and masterclass materials cannot be purchased outside of the sessions, but watch this space as we will soon share practice papers for download that are fresh and challenging, with detailed mark schemes. These are ideal for parents, tutors and teachers to work through and prepare children for the examinations. Building skills and confidence to perform their best…and enjoy it!
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