Checking

This page will help children to check their answers to:

• Multiple choice questions: Whether it’s reading comprehension or SPaG, options need to be considered and chosen carefully.
• Reading comprehension questions: Ideas about texts need to be correct, clearly based on the text, and written in a way that is easy to understand.
• Writing tasks: Writing needs to be clear, purposeful and detailed. Mistakes in SPaG should be found and corrected.

1. Reread the full question carefully. Even small words like not, always or never can totally change what the question is asking. Sometimes, exam questions can be quite sneaky, so don’t get caught out!
2. Test each option carefully. Use the process of elimination when answering these types of questions. Narrow it down by crossing out the options you know are wrong. This makes it easier to spot the correct one.
3. Be careful if two answers look similar. One might be slightly better or more accurate than the other. If you come across two similar options, think carefully and try to figure out how they are different.

Common Mistakes to Catch:

• Skipping a question by accident – This is especially common when children are rushing or they don’t make a mark to remind them to come back to a certain question.
• Choosing the first answer that ‘looks right’ – Children should be quick but calm when dealing with these question types. Help them to practise thinking through answer options carefully and logically.

When checking comprehension answers:

• Reread the question to make sure your answer fits exactly what it’s asking.
• Have you used evidence from the text (ie quotes in quote marks ‘…’) where it is needed?
• Have you explained your answer clearly, not just copied the text?
• Would your answer make sense to someone else if they read it?
• Fix any spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes that might make your answers unclear.
• Write in full sentences unless the question is multiple choice or tells you not to.

Multiple choice reading comprehension questions

Make sure you’re focusing on the right part of the text according to the key words in the question. Then read the relevant sentences carefully to fully understand what the writer means. This will help you to cut out the incorrect options effectively. Looking back and forth between the text and the answer options can be very helpful and ensure you don’t miss anything.

Schools can test SPaG in a variety of ways – some schools use multiple choice questions, whilst others have tasks where children need to identify errors or fill in gaps within sentences. Make sure you check your school’s exam papers to see which types of questions they ask and allow your child to practise.

Take a look at the following pages, which will help your child understand key SPaG rules and sharpen their skills:

• Spelling
• Punctuation
• Grammar

Tips for SPaG-based exam questions: 

• Take the time to fully understand what the task requires – this is crucial, as some tasks can be very long. Children may need to correct whole paragraphs or texts.
• Check past papers to identify the skills that your child will be tested on.
• When faced with multiple choice SPAG questions, try each option in the sentence. Which one sounds best? Which one follows the rules?
• Read answers out loud or in your head – does it sound correct?

Core Transferable Skills

Checking SPaG is very important for almost every academic school subject. If your child needs to explain a scientific process or make a historical argument, they’ll need a good foundation in basic English!

It can be tiring or dull for children to improve in these areas, so encourage them to practise checking their work in short bursts.

Improving writing, one step at a time…

1. Get your child to practise checking their work carefully themselves. Encourage them to spend plenty of time on this at first, then set timers as they gain confidence.
2. Take a look at their work and help them to correct errors.
3. Keep a record of any repeated errors – these could be issues with clarity, detail, relevance, understanding of audience/purpose, or SPaG.
4. Create tailored writing tasks that will help your child improve in the areas they struggle with most. For example, a bank of words that your child often spells incorrectly could help you to create a spelling test that helps them to improve.

1 – Can someone else understand what I mean?

This is the most important question of all. If a parent, friend or tutor read your work, would it make sense to them?

If any sentences or paragraphs are confusing, try to reword them and explain your ideas more clearly. Keep your sentences simple and to the point if you’re unsure. Trying to be overly clever or fancy when writing often means that you just confuse your reader!

2 – Have I answered every part of the task?

Check for bullet points in the task or extra parts to include. You need to address the whole of the task, not just a small part of it!

Bonus tip: Also check if you’ve added any unneccessary details in your answer – it’s often better to keep it concise to avoid confusion!

3 – Have I used the right layout and structure?

Check that you have written your text in clear paragraphs. Think carefully about where you need to split your paragraphs up.

Think about the type of text you’re writing. If it’s a letter, have you included a greeting and sign-off? If it’s a story, have you used paragraphs for each part?

Try to use the correct formatting and check that your paragraphs are clearly spaced and easy to follow.

4 – Have I checked my spelling?

Look closely at any difficult words, especially ones you don’t use very often or that seem a bit odd on the page. Not sure how to spell something? Try replacing it with a different word that means the same thing.

Things to watch out for:

• Homophones
• Spacing
• Words with double letters
• Plurals
• ‘I before E except after C’
• Silent letters

• Each sentence should start with a capital letter.
• Every sentence needs an ending – a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark.
• Make sure you haven’t squashed two sentences together by accident.
• Commas should be in sensible places. There shouldn’t be too many or too few.
• Apostrophes should be used correctly – you might need to add some in or take some away.

• Are the words in the correct order?
• Have I missed out any important words?
• Have I used the wrong word by mistake?
• Do the subject and verb agree? (e.g. ‘he is’, not ‘they is’)
• Have I made sure that I’m writing in the right tense? (past, present or future)
• Are my articles (a, an, the) used correctly?

If a sentence sounds strange or confusing when you read it out loud, it probably needs fixing. Trust your ears!

When typing…

• Parents can easily check answers, as there’s no messy handwriting and there’s often the option to automatically check SPaG.
• Children with messy handwriting can read over their answers and check them more easily.
• Make sure that assistive tools like spell checkers are disabled when children are writing and checking their work – they won’t be able to access these in exams, so encourage them to check answers by themselves instead.

When handwriting…

• Children can practise improving the legibility of their writing so that it’s easier for themselves, parents and teachers to read.
• Typing errors can be avoided.
• There’s no backspace, so children often write faster and can see their improvements more clearly when checking. This often helps them to improve their editing skills and boost their confidence.
• Children benefit from practice that gives them an advantage in handwritten exams.

The more your child practises checking carefully, the more natural it will become. In timed exam conditions, being able to spot and fix small mistakes quickly is a huge advantage. It can be the difference between success and failure.