Entrance Exam - Examples of Questions

lyndonjones

My daughter is due to sit her entrance exam at the end of the month for the local community college here in Cork and I have heard that the entrance exam is some sort of aptitude based test.


Has anyone had experience of this and know where I can look at examples of the type of questions she is likely to face??

Thanks

stripysocks85

Generally, the teacher will cover examples of some entrance exams from previous years. End of Januray sounds quite early so perhaps teacher is not intending to cover them until next month.

Generally, they are asked to write an essay in Irish, maybe something along the lines of My favourite person, or A day I spent Shopping etc.

Also required to write an English essay I think.

Maths is usually what's in the Maths curriculum, although I think there's some Simple Interest questions usually, but they're not on the Maths curriculum for 6th class.

IF it is an aptitude test as you say, then things can't be really covered in advance. They are purely to test the general intelligence of the child in question.

Hope this is helpful in some way.

byhookorbycrook

Varies from school to school. For Maths get her the New Wave Mental Maths book, if you wish, lots of all kinds of everything in there. English tends to have a comprehension passage as does Irish, there may be some short creative writing in both languages, though this seems less and less common.Cloze procedure is common too.

lyndonjones

What are you referring to when you mention Cloz(s)e procedure?

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Varies from school to school. For Maths get her the New Wave Mental Maths book, if you wish, lots of all kinds of everything in there. English tends to have a comprehension passage as does Irish, there may be some short creative writing in both languages, though this seems less and less common.Cloze procedure is common too.

byhookorbycrook

sorry, cloze procedure is "fill in the blanks" like It was a snowy day so the children put on hats and gloves before _ went outdoors. Missing word is "they" can't be she or he or the children, only one word per space and must fit correctly.

elmoslattery

Its not somthing you need to worry about. Its just a general assesment of your ability.

TheColl

stripysocks85 wrote: »

Generally, the teacher will cover examples of some entrance exams from previous years.

That must be a very general statement, I do not cover anything with entrance exams in mind at any time of year and don't know of any school that does.

If it is an aptitude test then there is no real preparation to be done for it. Does the exam determine whether or not your daughter gets a place in the school or are they just used to place students in classes?

Eriu

I also don't prep the children from my class when entrance exam time looms and neither do other senior teachers in our school. In our local area, the entrance exam is not to ensure a place in the school but to place the children in a class suitable to their abilities, therefore, if a child is coached for an exam it will not be an accurate assessment of those abilities.

thesimpsons

most of the 6th class teachers in our local 2 schools prepare the children for entrance tests. Kids this age have very rarely had to do a test of this type previously in a strange surrounding. The teachers tend to give the kids essays in both irish and english during school time - a timed essay to get them used to having to time themselves. They also use maths past papers of entrance exam as a type of revision for the kids. Being prepared in how to take an exam is half the battle I feel. The entrance exams here are also just used to get a starting point for the new 1st years.

English is usually maybe a page on "a day out", "a big storm" or something similiar. Bit of basic english grammar and a comprehension paragraph. Irish would be very similiar. The maths just covers what they are already doing in 6th class and maybe a few harder questions just to see the standards.

I thought it would be fairly common for 6th class teachers to prepare the kids in this way.

TheColl

thesimpsons wrote: »

I thought it would be fairly common for 6th class teachers to prepare the kids in this way.

Not common in my own experience, guess it can depend on the teacher/school.

deisemum

Both of my lads have sat these, younger lad earlier this month and found them very easy, nothing to worry about and nothing different from what they did in 6th class.

The pupils have already been offered their places in the secondary school before they sit the entrance assessment. Principal of secondary school stressed in his letter to parents of incoming 1st years that it's an entrance assessment and not an entrance exam and that pupils aren't streamed until end of 2nd year.

The 6th class teachers in my sons primary school have prepared the pupils beforehand and have done trial entrance exams so the pupils know the sort of assessment to expect.

bubbletea

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