Brandon Learning Centre: British Education - process, preparation and practicalities

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

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

Imagine 70 students between the ages of 13 - 18 coming together to study, make friends and, maybe for the first time in their lives, share an environment where they are appreciated and engineering, Imagine no more, I gave just returned from  a month in Kunshan this July as Academic Coordinator for the Duke University TIP programme where I witnessed an incredible transformation in our students as they studied cryptology, writing, entrepreneurship, biotechnology, international relations and engineering. The course is aimed at gifted students and it was Duke's research in this area which first led me to want to be involved in the programme. Teaching was inspirational; experiential and thoughtful. Over and above the learning which took place within the classroom, it was fascinating and inspiring to watch the way that students engaged with and respected each other. Gifted learners are often very isolated in their academic settings and being able to find a peer group with shared abil

The countdown to Common Entrance is well and truly on. Can't remember any of your formulae? Irregular verbs driving you insane?  Don't worry, there is a simple solution... decorate! 1: Choose your topic: science, maths, French, Latin, history? Focus in on the key points, facts and formulae. 3: Create a mind map or a diagram from your notes. Use colours, pictures, different types of lines, anything you like! Be creative... 4: Stick the picture on the bathroom mirror and read it whilst brushing your teeth! Here is an example of a diagram we created for French to help us remember the passe compose. Good luck

Here is a brilliant tip for anyone who is about to sit Common Entrance (or any other exam for that matter!) Reading and making notes will help your remember your information but teaching and explaining your topics will help you even more. In stages... 1: Revise one of your topics (e.g. life processes) and make your notes, 2: Try to teach the topic back to a member of your family. Plan your lesson around providing the information needed to answer typical Common Entrance questions. Refer to the marking scheme when you are thinking of how much information to include. Your aim is to teach the materials and for your student (victim?) to be able to reply to your questions. 3: As you are teaching, remember to repeat key points or share mnemonics (MRS GREN?!) Through teaching your student, you are ensuring that the topic will stick in your mind. 3: At the end of your lesson, if you have explained everything clearly, your students should be able to give you complete answers. You are

Common Entrance and Scholarship exams are almost upon us... Easter is a brilliant time to consolidate all your hard work and make a final push before the Common Entrance or scholarship exams. Try these steps. Get a copy of the Common Entrance syllabus from iseb.co.uk. Print out each subject. Choose three coloured pens. Go through the syllabus and use a different colour to mark each topic depending on your knowledge level (e.g. red - 'I am confident with this topic', green - 'I need to revise', yellow- 'I have no idea!') Plan your revision based on your findings. If you have identified big topics which are confusing (e.g. tectonic plates) start with those. In the next update, I will give you some ideas for planning each study session. In the meantime, and importantly, don't panic! I have had students whose grades have gone from Ds to As after Easter revision sessions. There is still time, you just need to use it wisely.