This page features answers to some common questions that may be helpful in reviewing your child’s results.
Results and Scoring
Can I see my child’s question paper or answer sheet?
Unfortunately, No. As stated in the results email, question papers and answer sheets are not shared with candidates or parents under any circumstances. This policy exists to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the exam materials, which may be reused in future years. All the information we are able to provide has been included in your child’s individual results.
Are the scores definitely correct? Can I request a recheck?
All scores are checked carefully before results are issued. Papers are marked electronically and then reviewed manually. Any discrepancies identified are investigated and reconciled before results are released. This is an established process that has operated for many years.
This process typically identifies most issues to do with poor completion of the form (e.g. shading too lightly for the scanner to detect the response, or poor rubbing out that appears to the scanner to be two lozenges completed when only one is expected). We do this (as parents ourselves) to ensure children get the opportunity to have their marks recognised, which is helpful for feedback. We also provide feedback in the results email to show if poor completion of the paper could result in marks lost in the real exam. TO NOTE: this offers no guarantee of what shading errors will be accounted for in the real exam – we are a parents organisation, not the official exam organisers. If shading errors are noted in the feedback email, we recommend practice at shading, erasing, etc with a blank answer form (examples can be found online).
If you have a specific reason to believe there may be an error, you may contact us to request a manual recheck on famtest@wilsonspfa.org. We will physically review your child’s answer sheet and confirm the mark. In our experience, rescored results almost always confirm the original mark. If marks have been lost due to incorrect completion of the answer sheet (e.g. filling in multiple answers where only one is allowed), this will have been noted in your results email.
My child’s English score seems much lower than I would expect. Why might that be?
This is one of the most common questions we receive, and it is worth reading the Overall Feedback Report for the cohort, which provides a detailed explanation. In summary:
The English paper uses a different marking scheme to most practice papers. The paper has 31 questions but 50 marks available in total. This is because some questions require candidates to select all correct answers from a list, not just one. This means that a wrong answer may mean missing out on more than one mark for that question – so a few wrong answers out of 31 questions results in a lower mark than would happen for the same number of wrong answers in a 50 question test.
This format:
- is more challenging than the single-answer (“choose one”) format used in most common practice papers
- tests comprehension more deeply than technical knowledge (such as identifying parts of speech or naming literary devices)
- includes questions that compare two separate texts, a skill many children have not specifically practised
- results in a wider spread of scores and generally lower averages than candidates or parents tend to expect if the child has mainly practiced on more technical English papers (e.g. testing parts of language rather than comprehension)
This does not mean the score is wrong — it reflects the nature of the test, which is intentionally more challenging and focused on undertstanding rather than memorisation. The mark shows how your child has done against peers who have taken the test. Please look at the overall results published on the website to see how your child’s score compares with those of all other candidates.
To improve comprehension, the recommended approach to preparing for the English paper is to read a wide variety of good quality books and materials (fiction, including modern and classic novels; and non-fiction, including news reporting) to develop an understanding of different styles. This helps develop comprehension and critical evaluation skills.
My child said the English paper felt easy and finished early. How can the score be so low?
This is very common. Having the same time allowance for 31 English questions as for 50 Maths questions means that significantly more time should be spent on each English question, but many children do not use all the time available to focus on each question for longer. Children who are used to single-answer formats often select the most plausible answer and move on, without reading all the options carefully to check whether more than one answer applies. If your child finished quickly, it is possibly they were answering as they would a single-answer test, or could have spent more time considering the more complex questions carefully.
My child’s English score is out of 50, but they only answered 31 questions. Is there a mistake?
No. The English paper has 31 questions but a maximum of 50 marks. Some questions carry more than one mark because candidates are asked to select all correct answers from the options. A candidate who answers all 31 questions correctly would score 50 marks. If a candidate misses one or several multi-mark questions, their score could be well below 50 even if only a few questions were wrong.
Is there negative marking (marks deducted for wrong answers)?
No. There is no negative marking in this exam. Incorrect answers receive zero marks; they do not reduce the overall score.
Answer Sheet and Shading
My child’s results mention shading issues. Does this mean they lost marks?
Not necessarily. Shading warnings in the results are issued as advisory notices about technique, not necessarily as confirmation that marks were lost. During the manual review process, we identify papers with problematic shading (e.g. answers shaded too lightly, shading outside the box, or answers not fully erased) and, wherever possible, we correct for these errors so that the candidate receives the accurate mark.
If the feedback notes a shading issue, it is provided to help you and your child improve their technique before the actual exam — not to indicate that marks have been deducted in this test.
Practice answer sheets are available to download on the results page of our website. Practising careful, confident shading — and thorough erasing — is genuinely worthwhile before the real exam.
Please note: we are a parents’ organisation, not the official exam organisers. There is no guarantee that marks that have been given by us in the FamTest despite shading issues would be given the same benefit of the doubt in the real exam. We provide this extra feedback on shading for your awareness so you can help your child maximise their chances in the actual exam.
My child wrote answers on the question paper and may not have transferred them all to the answer sheet. Can this be corrected?
Unfortunately, no. The children are told clearly during the session how to complete the answer forms, and that only the answer sheet is marked; we are not able to cross-reference with working on the question paper as these are not available after the exam. If your child failed to complete the answer sheet in time due to not completing it as they went through the test, this is a valuable lesson learned through this familiarisation exercise that should help them to avoid the same issue in the real exam. We strongly recommend that candidates always write their answers directly onto the answer sheet rather than working on the question paper and then transferring.
My child believes the lightly-shaded sample answer sheet on the website is their sheet. Is that possible?
No. Individual answer sheets are not published or shared. The sample answer sheet on our website is a generic example used to illustrate good and poor shading technique. Your child’s actual sheet is held securely and is not accessible to candidates or parents. All answer sheets are shredded and personal data deleted once the overall process has concluded.
Scores, Ranks and Standardised Scores
What is a standardised score and how is it calculated?
A standardised score is a way of expressing a raw mark relative to the performance of all candidates who sat the same test. It is based on the distribution of all scores, not just on the number of questions answered correctly. A useful explanation for parents can be found at https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/advice/standardised-scores-an-explanation
(Please note this is a third-party website; we are not able to comment on or take responsibility for its content, but many parents find it a helpful starting point.)
Are standardised scores adjusted for my child’s age?
No. This familiarisation test does not apply age standardisation. Age adjustment is a feature of some selective school entrance exams, but the methodology used by schools is not published, and we are not able to replicate it for this mock test.
Several children appear to have exactly the same scores. Is the data correct?
Yes. Because all derived scores (standardised score, rank, gender rank, etc.) are calculated from the two underlying raw marks (Maths and English), any two children of the same gender who score identically in both subjects will have identical figures across all columns. With over 1,200 candidates and a fixed number of questions, it is entirely plausible — and statistically expected — that multiple children achieve the same raw scores.
All children with the same score share the same rank. The data has been checked by multiple people and the methodology has been in use for a number of years.
Can you provide a percentile ranking rather than a rank number?
Because children with equal scores share the same rank, a simple percentile figure could be misleading. The overall results published on our website include full score distributions for both Maths and English, which allow you to see where your child’s score sits within the full range of results.
Overall Results and Further Information
Where can I find the overall results and score distributions?
A full analysis of results — including score distributions, graphs, and practice answer sheets — is available on our website at https://wilsonspfa.org/famtest-results-2026/
The overall results data is not distributed by email; it is available exclusively via the website.
Why are English scores generally lower than Maths scores across the whole cohort?
This is a consistent pattern each year and reflects the nature of the English paper rather than a problem with any individual child. The multi-mark, multi-answer question format creates a greater spread of scores and a lower average than the Maths paper, where questions are each worth a single mark. This means all candidates are in the same position, and performance is best understood by comparing English scores to the English score distribution, not to Maths scores.
What can my child do to prepare for the English paper in the actual exam?
We are unable to make specific commercial recommendations for practice materials. However:
- Search online for comprehension tests that involve comparing two texts and that include multiple-answer (“select all that apply”) questions. These are available from various providers.
- Wide and varied reading is consistently the most effective preparation for comprehension-based exams. A broad reading diet — including both modern and more challenging or classic children’s literature — helps develop vocabulary, familiarity with different writing styles, and the ability to infer meaning.
- Practice the specific skill of considering all answer options carefully before selecting, rather than choosing the first plausible answer and moving on. A helpful technique can be to practice reviewing answers from both the perspective of “could this be true” and “can I disprove this” before deciding. This takes longer, which is why there are fewer questions in the English paper.
Can you tell me how this test compares to the actual selective school entrance test (SET)?
We are a parents’ organisation, and not the exam organisers. We have no connection to the actual exam or knowledge of their marking schemes, question formats, or any age standardisation methodology they use. We are unable to comment on, or make comparisons to, any other exam. The purpose of this familiarisation test is to give children exposure to this style of exam in advance of the real thing, not to replicate the school’s own paper exactly.