Saturday Mocks

I spent my Saturday invigilating and correcting exams, our Mock-Cambridge exams which we use to see if students are ready for June. The results were pretty good, though I kept seeing the same errors again and again. Exam technique and attention to detail are worth between 5 and 10% in these exams to my mind. I have seen the usual mistakes... I'll list them here so you can shake your head in wonder that students still make them and nod sagely and think 'I would never do that' (but someone ALWAYS does).

1) Bad copying on to the answer sheet. One poor girl had the correct answers, just one exam question late. She got a couple of marks simply because there we a couple of times when there were two in a row with the same answer. Fail.

2) No name on the paper. I mean, really! Fail.

3) Simple spelling errors. Marks thrown away.

4) Poor hand-writing. Marks abandoned to the abyss.

5) A poor understanding of the question. Fail (well, banded 2.2 in the writing section) because he didn't read it properly.

Also, to those students who didn't bring pens or pencils... c'mon! You know better!
Still, that's why we do mocks.

Mocks - Sign Up Now!

We are due to have our mock exams this year for the Cambridge suite of English exams on February 6th. I've warned all my students to all sign up - and as I know some of you read this from time to time I am using this as a reminder.
I have to spend all Saturday watching you lot scratch paper!
As you know, we don't recommend students for the exams unless you have at least 65%. I know it's a long time till June, but experience teaches us that all students who achieve this pass the exam. Of course I want 80% plus and 'A' grades all round, but back on Earth I am happy with 'C' grades. I am interested in getting a look at the writing papers. I want to see how you get on with these... I am expecting the worst.
Have a good weekend, and DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP!