preparing for ELAT

Hi! Just wondering what everyone's been doing to prepare for the ELAT really since there's only 1 specimen paper? I've been having a go at some of the really old Oxford entrance papers and the the old Special papers but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you. :biggrin:

Reply 1

Rosey2

I really haven't a clue how to prepare for it, I think it's just going to be basically down to my own instinct in analysing the differences in the texts on the day. I'm so nervous, I bet I only get like one mark or something lol :smile:

If you don't mind me asking how did you get hold of the old admissions tests?

Reply 2

DreamFlower

I think the whole point of the ELAT to test natural ability, hence you can't really prepare for it as the passages are all unseen, and they won't award marks for contextual references or anything. Might be an idea to just aqaint yourself with the format by looking at the sample paper, but I think that's about all you can do really!

Reply 3

Impropaganda

Yeah, where did you get the old Oxford entrance papers? I'd be interested in having a look, though probably more for curiosity's sake more than anything, as I doubt they'd be too helpful for ELAT specifically.

Reply 4

hunibuni

OP

Thanks everyone!

Yeah, where did you get the old Oxford entrance papers? I'd be interested in having a look

I just asked my English teacher - he had an entire folder of them - I'll see if I can scan some this weekend and PM them to you .... if they let you attach things. They are quite different because they only ask for a comparison between 2 passages and there are a 2 questions which you choose from 4, not just one - they take 3 hrs. On the other hand, I think they're useful just as a practice of writing down what you think about a pssage/poem etc. because it's always thematic essays on what you;ve studied and I personally have just found I'm really out of practice at passage analysis.

I'm so nervous, I bet I only get like one mark or something lol

lol....me too!! I'm really scared I'll let my spanish down with my english or my english down with my spanish!! So long as I don't do something really stupid and spell my name wrong or something, I guess it'll be ok. :biggrin:

Reply 5

Through_the_Looking_Glass

If you do manage to scan them, please could you PM them to me too? Thank you ; D
Also what sort of passages do they contain?

Reply 6

xLx

Sorry to be a pain but could you PM them to me as well? Thanks! I'm so nervous and I think its so much worse when you can't really study for a test 'cause if you study at least you feel like you're actually doing something and not just leaving it to the day!

Reply 7

Bow

I agree! I'm terrified :frown:

not sitting it at school either as it's not a test centre. Think I'm just gonna go over lots of literary terminology so it's fresh in my head...hopefully I'll be able to spot things more quickly in the texts that way haha. That's all I can think of to do!

only 10 days to go... :wink:

Reply 8

Angelil

19

For the nth time, don't bother preparing. As DreamFlower said, the whole point is to test natural ability, not how well you've been drilled.
I'd bet that if any of you are taking the AEA you're not doing any particular prep for that. Basically it's the same principle.

Reply 9

chicanery

I am also sitting the ELAT and am confused what to do as regards preparation. I would say however that there is a risk of over preparing as the exam is testing ability to respond instinctively to the extracts provided so i hope to simply do my best. It is an aptitude test and as far as i know they are looking for a personal and insightful interpretation and i read somewhere on the website that there are no extra marks for references to literary theory or other texts.

Reply 10

Bow

drink and be merry. finkin of sittin the old ELAT wasted tbh. like now.

Reply 11

Impropaganda

babybear

drink and be merry. finkin of sittin the old ELAT wasted tbh. like now.

I like your style.

Reply 12

Elles

17

chicanery

I am also sitting the ELAT and am confused what to do as regards preparation. I would say however that there is a risk of over preparing as the exam is testing ability to respond instinctively to the extracts provided so i hope to simply do my best. It is an aptitude test...

My approach to the OMAT (a sort of BMAT precusor for medicine that we sat while at interviews):

- Familiarize self with format (sections, number, type of questions & timings), whether any specific knowledge was required (obviously more applicable to sciencey Qs, but perhaps glancing over literary terminology as someone said might be useful) & what they said about it/they were looking for.
- Do the sample paper as a mock under exam conditions, seek feedback on it.
= preparation complete

Same approach to the AEA - sure it's "natural ability" blah blah blah....
But if you have no idea about the nature of the assessment you're not maximizing your chances to fully demonstrate this in the one shot you get & you'll feel like a muppet if you mess up avoidably (e.g. making a mess of timings, being unsure about what they wanted you to do or under exam conditions something obvious and straightforward escaping you because you hadn't refreshed it recently*). :p:

* say, for example long division because you hadn't done maths for a while! :redface:

Reply 13

Kater Murr

20

I might have a flip through the old paper the day before. Stretch the old fingers an hour before. Warm up the old pen a minute before.

GO!

Reply 14

epitome

11

Best way to prepare for an unseen exam like this is simply to familiarise yourself with reading unfamiliar texts. End of. So, grab a random book from the library, open to a random page, and read & write anything (literally anything) that comes to you for 20 minutes. Repeat. Repeat. If you can look at new stuff without being phased by it, you'll give yourself the best chance. And it's quite fun, too. :smile:

Reply 15

*pitseleh*

20

BornUnderPunches

I might have a flip through the old paper the day before. Stretch the old fingers an hour before. Warm up the old pen a minute before.

GO!

Same. I had to analyse unseen poetry and passages for GCSE and A-level, and didn't revise for either. My work will be better if I just take the exam as it comes, so I'm not even going to think about it until next Wednesday! :smile:

Oh wow.. it really is only a week away, isn't it? Madness!

Reply 16

Hashshashin

13

I'm just hoping I can wing it like I did with the AEA. Something tells me I might not be so lucky this time round, though.

Reply 17

toothwort white

emm..seems like this thread has been deserted for quite a while.

But ohdear, I think I am getting slightly nervous now. I've done the sample paper and it took me 2hours to finish! And I have written 8pages (4 sheets of paper)

:frown:

Reply 18

Hashshashin

13

silver_charm

But ohdear, I think I am getting slightly nervous now. I've done the sample paper and it took me 2hours to finish! And I have written 8pages (4 sheets of paper)

:frown:

That's probably more than they're expecting, anyway. I did 5 pages in total for the AEA last year, and that's a 3 hour exam! I'm aiming for 2 and a half to 3 pages of good intrinsic analysis for the ELAT.

Reply 19

toothwort white

I know. I know I probably don't need to write that much, and I have quoted far too much. But I have always been the person who can't shut up. *sigh*
What did you write for the sample paper then?
I wrote about how the the father figures are developed by the authors, using passage (a) and (d). Somthing like that anyway.

preparing for ELAT

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