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D-2Exam skillsTue 8 Sept

Bexley vs Kent: what changes

Weighting and paper shape — calmly.

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Same skills, different wrapping. Know which paper you are sitting so the first five minutes are not spent decoding the booklet. Technique transfers. Totals do not.

Picture it: two GL papers, two score systems

Kent (GL)

  • English, maths, VR, NVR as separate timed papers
  • Standardised scores combined (plus Kent’s total rule)
  • Age allowance is built into the SAS
  • Spatial / 3D thinking can sit with NVR-style items

Bexley (GL)

  • Still English, maths, VR, NVR — check this year’s order
  • Own standardisation and cut-offs
  • Do not reuse a Kent total as a Bexley chance
  • Same habits: flag, guess, move, fill blanks

The same four building blocks, just reordered

Whichever borough, whichever order the invigilator announces, the exam is built from the same four pieces. Only the arrangement changes — never the piece itself.

A typical Kent running orderEnglishMathsVerbal reasoningNon-verbal reasoningA different, equally typical orderVerbal reasoningEnglishNon-verbal reasoningMathsSame four blocks either way — check the front cover for today’s actual order.

What actually stays identical between the two

It is easy to feel like a “different exam” means starting again. It does not. Everything below is unchanged whichever booklet lands on the desk:

Question types

Comprehension, SPaG, vocabulary, arithmetic, word problems, codes, series, matrices — the same families of question your child has practised for months.

Reading habits

Underline the ask, expand every algebra term, order data before finding a median — every method drilled all year still applies exactly as practised.

Timing discipline

Flag and move after roughly 90 seconds of being stuck. Fill every blank in the last minute. That rhythm does not change with the borough.

Marking style

Multiple-choice with no extra penalty for a wrong letter, so a best guess still beats a blank on both papers.

Remember — read this paper

  1. Do not convert a mock SAS into the other borough’s offer chance.
  2. Read the front of this paper for time and number of questions.
  3. The content you practised still applies. The wrapper changes, not the skill.

Check the admission letter tonight, not on the morning

Five details that differ between families and between boroughs — confirm each one calmly this evening so there is nothing to work out at the school gate.

  1. 1Venue and start time — some centres ask families to arrive 30 to 45 minutes early for sign-in.
  2. 2What to bring — pencils, a candidate number slip, or ID may be listed; schools vary on this.
  3. 3Format for this sitting — some centres use a single combined booklet, others hand out separate timed papers.
  4. 4Answer method — check whether answers go directly in the booklet or on a separate multiple-choice sheet that needs its own pencil shading.
  5. 5Any last-minute borough notice — a small number of schools send a short update email in test week; check for one.

How scoring works, in one picture

Neither borough marks a raw score out of 100 and stops there. Each paper’s raw score is placed against children of the same age in that sitting, then converted into a standardised score. That is why two children can get the same number of questions right and still receive different standardised scores.

this child’s scoresame-age average

The exact formula differs by borough and by year group size — which is precisely why a Kent number and a Bexley number are not the same currency.

Exam trap

Walking in with last night’s Kent totals in your head if you are sitting Bexley — or the other way around. Scores are not interchangeable. Technique is.

✗ “Our Kent SAS means a Bexley place”

Different cohort, different cut-off

✓ Same methods, this paper’s clock

Underline the ask. Flag at 90 seconds.

A short briefing, not a new topic

Use this on the morning of each sitting.

  1. 1 · First page ritual

    1. 1Write your name / candidate number as instructed
    2. 2Note minutes and question count
    3. 3Find where answers go (booklet vs separate sheet)

  2. 2 · If the order surprises you

    English first or VR first does not change the method. Reset at each new paper. Do not carry a bad feeling from the last one into the next.

  3. 3 · What stays the same

    Underline the ask. Expand every term. Order before median. Flag at 90 seconds. Fill blanks in the last minute.

  4. 4 · If the instructions look unfamiliar

    A slightly different cover sheet, a new example question, or an unfamiliar answer format is not a sign of a harder paper — invigilators read every instruction aloud too. Listen once, then work from the printed page in front of you.

  5. 5 · Parents

    Pack what the school listed. Do not quiz on new topics tonight. Sleep beats one extra worksheet.

Coach tip: the invigilator’s timing is the only clock that matters — not last year’s forum post.

Tomorrow (D-1): a calm checklist for the morning — nothing new to learn.

Next step

Practice link coming soon for this day — explore all practice topics.

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