The BOFA User Manual

This is the concise version explaining how to use BOFA.

• What is in each BOFA product?                  
• What is in a BOFA Report?
• BOFA Demo
• Who Created BOFA and what is B O F A ?
• Which subjects are covered by BOFA and at what age?
• In what format are the BOFA products, books, CD's, downloads or online?
• How are the marks calculated?
• Viewing the test in full screen
• Altering Text size and Colour
• Leaving, Pausing or Stopping a Test
• Email Notifications
• Translate this Page - Translation Service
• JavaScript and Bofa
• Can the student attempt the on-line test more than once?
• Can the student print the test?

What is in each BOFA product?

Each Subject is 3 tiers and each contains 4 complete Formative Learning cycles of tests:

1. Each test has the appropriate number of questions for a timed 50 minute test (Maths & English 50 questions, VR 70 questions & NVR 60 questions).
2. The difficulty is set to be as realistic as possible, i.e. at covering the Key Stage 2 syllabus with some Year 7 KS3 use.
3. The tests are marked automatically, including the questions which are attempted after 50 minutes.
4. The initial score only includes the correct answers obtained in 50 minutes.
5. An Email is immediately sent to the parents and tutors containing the amount of time spent, finish time and the score achieved.
6. Bespoke explanation of each error followed by a practice question which can be repeated (These are not the same as the initial question).
7. When the practice is finished there is the retest on the questions which were wrong (These are not the same as the initial or practice questions).
8. The final score includes the correct answers in the initial test both within the first 50 minutes, the out of time marks and the retest score.
9. An Email is immediately sent to the parents and tutors containing the amount of time spent, finish time and the score achieved.

You can see this in the demo.

The subjects are:

What is in a BOFA Report?

Each BOFA report is unique to that pupil and is available to use at the end of the 4th retest for each product:

1. It contains all the questions which were answered incorrectly in each retest.
2. These questions are sorted by topic and indexed.
3. These questions can be repeated as often as required. They can be marked and the explanations are available for viewing.
4. This report can be printed out as a whole or by topic and it is possible to print with or without the answers and explanations.
5. The BOFA report is designed for teachers, tutors or parents with plenty of patience who will be able to structure the directed learning for this pupil.

You can see this at the end of the demo.

The products are:

BOFA Demo

Each 11+ Demo has 10 questions. Each demo can be repeated as often as you like. They are:

Instructions

• Try to get at least 5 questions wrong in the first instance in order to experience the learning process.
• You will be sent an email, if logged in, at this stage.
• Then explanations of the incorrect answers.
• After each explanation you will be given a practice question.
• You will then do a formative assessment (test on those questions you initially got wrong).
• Try to get at least 3 questions wrong at this stage.
• Your new score would then be shown.
• If logged in, then you will receive an example of an email sent at this stage.
• Next follow the link to see the report on the questions you still need to work on.
• Try viewing these online or printing them out, they will be sorted by topic.
• Then try another subject?

You can use BOFA 11+ to help prepare for the exam:

Who Created BOFA and what is B O F A ?

Andrew Baines created BOFA after 15 years teaching Mathematics in a variety of schools including: state, private, international, grammar & secondary. He is also an author of over 1,300,000 eleven plus products, which have been either written or co-written by Andrew Baines under the brand Bond Assessment.

Baines Online Formative Assessment

Which subjects are covered by BOFA and at what age?

BOFA covers 11+ examinations in English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-verbal Reasoning at approximately age 10-11.

In what format are the BOFA products, books, CD's, downloads or online?

All the BOFA products are accessed online by the pupils using  their username and password. This means that there is no postage, nor delivery charge and no software to load. You only need to be able to see the demo test in full screen on your computer, which means that JavaScript needs to be enabled and you must have confirmed your registration by clicking on the link in the email sent to your email account.

How are the marks calculated?

• When an initial test is finished before the clock has got to 00:00, all the questions are marked and the initial test score is the number of correct answers, out of the total number of questions, displayed as a percentage.
• When an initial test is finished after the clock has got to 00:00, all the questions are marked and the initial test score is the number of correct answers completed before the clock got to 00:00, out of the total number of questions, displayed as a percentage.
  • The correct questions which were answered after the clock got to 00:00 are included with the retest score.
  • The score reflects the outcome for a timed test.
• When a retest is finished before or after the clock has got to 00:00, all the questions are marked and the retest score is the number of correct answers, out of the total number of questions, displayed as a percentage minus the initial score.

 *(Maths & English 50 questions, VR 70 questions & NVR 60 questions)

Viewing the test in full screen

The BOFA products are designed to be viewed in full screen on all machines. This is to prevent the pupils from being distracted during their work by other web pages or links. We could have programmed this to happen automatically, but this often upsets people as they think something has gone wrong with their screen.

With most browsers, this operation is very simple and you could try it now on this page.  Press the button found on your keyboard (often on the top row) then wait a couple of seconds. You should now be in full screen, to reverse this try one of two buttons, either  or at the top of your screen. If this hasn't worked as described you can deside not to view BOFA in full screen or search in the online help for full screen with your browser.

Altering Text size and Colour

These buttons are found at the bottom left of each test screen.  They are used to set the font size which best suits the individual.  It is also possible to alter the text colour between black, blue and green as some people find it difficult to view black text on a white screen.  We plan to be able to alter the background colour in later updates.

Leaving, Pausing or Stopping a Test

Use the Pause the test button at any time to stop the clock, if you don't stop the clock it will keep running for weeks!!"

Please ensure you use this pause button to pause or stop your test rather than closing your browser.

Email Notifications

As a parent, tutor or school administrator it is possible to receive emails when a pupil has completed a test.  Two emails are sent out per test; the first on completion of the initial test prior  to the practice questions, the second is sent out on completion of the retest.

Because a pupil can complete the tests anywhere and at any time the parent, tutor or school administrator would not normally know that the pupil has completed the next stage of BOFA, by receiving an email automatically, it is possible to feedback to the pupil and/or parent and/or tutor straight away. e.g.

A pupil completes the test at 9:40pm and gets 52%. The parent can then reassure their child as they will be disappointed with the result, they can suggest that this is probably not the best time of day to be working.  The head of the tutoring centre can get in touch with the tutor and suggest that they speak to the parents the following day and suggest what action can be taken. On the other hand, an administrator may have over a hundred pupils and will be regularly monitoring their progress on the site anyway and as such would find  it a pain to be having their inbox filled on a regular basis.  In such a case the administrator may wish to turn off the notifications.

Tutors with new pupils.  A tutor may decide that they would like to ensure the correct praise and feedback is given to the pupils during the first few tests and are concerned that the parents may pass on their anxiety to their child so the tutor may switch off the notifications to the parent until they are sure that the pupils is only receiving praise.

This can all be managed in the my BOFA area by editing the account setting:

When you are logged on follow this link to:

Edit your account

then tick or un-tick:

Receive notifications

Translate this Page - Translation Service

It is possible to read BOFA pages in many different languages thanks to third party software. You do not need to download anything and it is completely free. We have added this to help our parents understand what they are buying for their children when their first language is not English. These links are found on Translate this page.

BOFA does not suggest that the pupil should use this function as the tests are written in English.

JavaScript and BOFA

Many users already have JavaScript enable on their computer but some do not. BOFA uses Javascript to control the clock and open and close the tests.  If this is not enabled on your machine then BOFA cannot work properly or worse still, not at all. Go to the following page to find out: How do I enable JavaScript in my browser?

Can the student attempt the on-line test more than once?

Can the student print the test?

The only reason a pupil would need to print a test is to be able to sit down with a tutor or parent to work on the questions they do not understand.

• BOFA  sorts all the questions from the set of 4 tests by topic
• These are accessed in the report
• These can be attempted online as often as you like
• The questions can be printed out so that a tutor or parent can work through them with the pupil
• The explanations and answers can be printed off to help the parent or tutor assist the pupil