Skills test advice, third time failure....what would you do?

Hi all,

So I have been accepted for a PGCE place and in 3.5 weeks I have my first attempt at the skills test. I am nervous, very about them both. What I am wondering is what people have done afte failing the third time. Have you decided to wait? Or, have you gone down a different career path?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

ChancedTravels

If you haven't even done one attempt yet, you don't need to worry about what to do if you fail three times. They aren't as hard as they appear at first - just practise and prepare!

Reply 2

PlantVZombie

I know I have time. I am just wondering what people do in that situation. I have an essay due Friday then it's 3 weeks, 4 hours a day. Do you think that's enough? (Test at end of Jan)

Reply 3

ChancedTravels

Original post by PlantVZombie

I know I have time. I am just wondering what people do in that situation. I have an essay due Friday then it's 3 weeks, 4 hours a day. Do you think that's enough? (Test at end of Jan)

Definitely - just have a look at the online example tests and repeat them until you're getting 70s at least. You can look at the spec for the maths test to see if there is anything specific you don't know and look it up on bitesize to practise / look on youtube at video tutorials. The English is mostly common sense to be honest.

Reply 4

PlantVZombie

Cool, glad. I thought it would be enough and worth forgetting about my dissertation for a bit just to get it out of the way. English should be ok, I hope. It's odd but I feel more confident about maths.

Reply 5

myblueheaven339

Honestly if you had failed 3 times I would count yourself lucky for the narrow escape.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 6

lissee

My daughter has failed her literacy test today she accidentally pressed a wrong button and left the test and asked to go back in but wouldn't let her go back. What a night mare

Reply 7

PlantVZombie

Original post by myblueheaven339

Honestly if you had failed 3 times I would count yourself lucky for the narrow escape.

Posted from TSR Mobile

I am going to guess you don't like teaching very much?

Reply 8

PlantVZombie

Original post by lissee

My daughter has failed her literacy test today she accidentally pressed a wrong button and left the test and asked to go back in but wouldn't let her go back. What a night mare

Jesus that is awful. I thought their rules would be fairly flexible especially for that. I am not going to lie I am dreading the literacy test, I don't know why, I just am.

Reply 9

TraineeLynsey

If you plan to practise 4 hours a day for 3 weeks then I don't see how you could possibly fail three times...

Reply 10

myblueheaven339

Original post by PlantVZombie

I am going to guess you don't like teaching very much?

The profession is rotting from the inside out at the moment.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 11

PlantVZombie

Honestly, I hear that so much it is scary. Part of me thinks what am I doing?

Reply 12

myblueheaven339

Original post by PlantVZombie

Honestly, I hear that so much it is scary. Part of me thinks what am I doing?

Everyone will tell you that, but most will also say that working with children every day is wonderful. My feelings about it are very split

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 13

Findlay6

There's practice tests on the .gov website which I've used. I bought a book too and have found various free resources on the web.
The more time you put in, the better chance you have at passing (obviously).

As for failing, if I were to fail (my 1st attempts are also this month), I would continue working in my current job as a Cover Teacher until I could retake them. I essentially have all of the power and privileges as a qualified teacher but without the pay, marking and planning.

Reply 14

PlantVZombie

Original post by myblueheaven339

Everyone will tell you that, but most will also say that working with children every day is wonderful. My feelings about it are very split

Posted from TSR Mobile

I also hear that argument a lot, stick with it. Maybe, just maybe this government will realise that it would be better to have qualified teachers in these positions of leadership instead of people who have a nice accent and no actual clue.

Reply 15

Bena0202

I recommend that you search 'QTS Skills test support' there are a lot of resources on there! People are sharing methods! Please please join it will benefit you so much if you are struggling!

Reply 16

MissNeedhamMFL

3 weeks will be plenty of time to prepare. I did absolutely no preparation for the Literacy whatsoever as to succeed at university level, you have to be pretty literate so I wasn't worried about that. Make sure your spelling is good, the tend to put common 'tricky' words on there i.e. accommodate, government, achievement etc. There's also a grammar section but this is as simple as correcting punctuation mistakes i.e. capital letters, missing commas, full stops, new paragraph, questions marks etc. Then it's comprehension tasks. Take your time to read through the text thoroughly, don't try to skim read or read the questions then look for the answer as you can get caught out this way. But you're given plenty of time to complete the test (I finished mine after about 20 of the 45(?) minutes allowed), so try not to panic.

As for maths, I recommend (another possible spelling question!) doing the practice tests and there are a lot of videos on YouTube with support. I somehow managed to pass numeracy first time and to this day don't really understand what a box and whisker diagram is. Nor how it relates to my ability to teach languages... but hey ho!

Good luck and don't worry too much about failing three times, cross that bridge if you come to it (which I doubt you will).

Reply 17

PlantVZombie

Original post by MissNeedhamMFL

3 weeks will be plenty of time to prepare. I did absolutely no preparation for the Literacy whatsoever as to succeed at university level, you have to be pretty literate so I wasn't worried about that. Make sure your spelling is good, they tend to put common 'tricky' words on there i.e. accommodate, government, achievement etc. There's also a grammar section but this is as simple as correcting punctuation mistakes i.e. capital letters, missing commas, full stops, new paragraph, questions marks etc. Then it's comprehension tasks. Take your time to read through the text thoroughly, don't try to skim read or read the questions then look for the answer as you can get caught out this way. But you're given plenty of time to complete the test (I finished mine after about 20 of the 45(?) minutes allowed), so try not to panic.

As for maths, I recommend (another possible spelling question!) doing the practice tests and there are a lot of videos on YouTube with support. I somehow managed to pass numeracy first time and to this day don't really understand what a box and whisker diagram is. Nor how it relates to my ability to teach languages... but hey ho!

Good luck and don't worry too much about failing three times, cross that bridge if you come to it (which I doubt you will).

Thank you for your support. I have passed all the literacy practice tests on the gov website so I am feeling ok. I am now underway with maths revision and I have passed two governments tests and failed the other two but not by much. I will keep at it as all my uni work is now handed in until the end of April so it will be pure focus now on skills tests.

Reply 18

PlantVZombie

I have put the tests back. I am revising in a crap way, doing tests and getting stressed when I can't answer a question. I need to just sit with a book and revise properly.

Reply 19

Escape...

I'm panicking!

I originally booked mine for the 5th (Literacy) and 11th (Numeracy) but Uni of Leicester wants me to pass mine by the 3rd of Feb so now they're on the 28th and 3rd.

I'm literally juggling my dissertation which my draft is on the 12th Feb and another assignment which is due on the 22nd.

I've given myself a week to prepare for each and I'm not even sure if that will be enough :frown:

I took a practice test and got 77% on the Literacy one then I took it again a month later and I got 68%. I had a look at the Numeracy test and the eighteen second countdown was making me panic and I couldn't even get through the first few questions so I just exited it.