Success stories despite failing 11 plus

The test is definitely weighted towards English and verbal skills. Lots of top set maths kids didn’t pass in our school last year. Yet middle set but stronger readers often did.

A lot of people are bright in one dimension so are not necessarily suited to the 11 plus which tends to test a broader range of learning. Therefore they might be gifted mathematicians but not good enough at 11 plus English because they don’t read enough. It’s often the scientists who get overlooked!

My godmother's husband failed his, went to Cambridge and then became a professor.

DD failed the 11+ for 2 different counties. She went to a normal comprehensive school, where she was very happy.

She is clever and worked very hard from the outset.

She got 10 GCSEs all at grade 8 or 9.

4 x A* at A Level.

She was offered a place at a grammar for 6th form but declined it and stayed at her comp because she just couldn't bear leaving all her friends and the fantastic teachers she knew.

She is now studying for a masters degree in a STEM subject in one of the best unis in the world.

I live in a wholly selective county. There are no comprehensives, only grammars and secondaries.

There are very few secondaries that are decent - outweighed by the crap ones. There is a very high demand for them, so unless you live on top of them/are very religious, you face your child going to a crap secondary.

There is a large cohort at the grammars (particularly the single sex ones), who would have gone to public schools if they hadn't passed, which shows how highly regarded the schools are.

It is still a great leveller though. Nearly all are tutored. My two children (one of whom was a child to a single mum on benefits, went to a decent primary though - my youngest went to a school that was dire and put into special measures), weren't tutored.

I didn't pass my 12+ (as it was then), in fact I didn't even take on of the papers as I was always sick. I suffered from school phobia. I still went on to do A levels and went to university, but it wasn't the success or failure of the selective process that helped me.

Children are all different, it's nurturing the child, not trying to get the child to fit into a hole, that is important.

Op I live in a grammar school area in the town I live there is 3 of them . 2 of them are super selective taking only children with a high % of 11 passes

The school in the area with the highest results BOTH for boys and girls is not any of the 3 grammar schools. Its the c of e secondary school. Mixed school.

I know people who pick this school above the grammar schools. My youngest went to this school and it is a great school ds went to one of the boys grammars but changed to the c of e for 6th form and loved it.

The 11 plus is not the be all and end all. Like I say to my kids often. Ok so we find out what plan B is and work from there.

Good luck

If you live in a grammar county, you can appeal a 1 mark deficit. Some years they would just let you in if schools are short of passes!

Because DS asked to sit the test.

We didn't tutor or do any study. So no big build up or pressure. My experiences put a small doubt in my mind. But he is not me and it wouldn't be fair for me to prevent him from trying because of my experiences.

Failed my 11 plus.

Failed it by one mark and was heart broken.

I’m now ‘very’ high up in a well known, international drinks company, it means very little, use it as a learning experience, don’t give up and feel deflated. Let it ignite her tenacity, ingenuity and determination.

So why even sit for it? It’s not obligatory. I think a lot of people go with the flow whereas you could take the pressure off if you chose to.

On the other side of the coin, I passed my 11plus but really struggled to keep up in a cohort of excessively bright girls.

I ended up being "managed out" of the school and went to a comp instead. I did really well and had a great career pre kids.

I'm a little bit relieved that DS only passed 2 out of 3 of his papers so won't be offered a place. I don't know if he would have coped at the grammar.

Some children are bullied for being “too clever by half” in comprehensives. I’m sorry to hear what happened but bullies are everywhere.

Really sorry to hear that @CoastalSwimmer. Puts things in perspective a bit.

My youngest passed the 11+ with a high score and went to the local grammar. He was relentlessly bullied there, the staff were hopeless at dealing with it, he had a breakdown and never went back to school.

Passing the 11+ was the worst thing that could have happened to him.

But finding an Oxbridge student ….

I think it also depends if DD was trying for a super selective. Our LA results are not yet published. When there are few grammars, the other schools do have a pretty broad range of abilities. Our secondary moderns do bug funding an Oxbridge student would be looking for a needle in a haystack. However that doesn’t mean these schools don’t have successful DC in them! They absolutely do!

My DD didn't pass her 11+. She went to the local girls comprehensive. Came out with excellent GCSEs and 2A* and an A at A level. Now at her first choice uni (Bristol).

@Odette81 I would definitely still celebrate and congratulate her for achievement (sitting the exam, going through the process). It's a daunting experience.

For a completely different perspective, DS achieved the required standard for a place, but has decided to go to the non grammar.

A parent posted very similar on Facebook and was met with lots of positive examples from people who hadn't done so well but were now GPs, lawyers and so on.

Thank you so much for this thread. I first saw it the other day, before my son's results were published.

I checked them this morning, and he hasn't reached the minimum qualifying score. I feel gutted for him because he tried really hard, but we have always been careful not to put pressure on him, and had the attitude that the extra work was great practice for helping his education in general, and that it didn't matter whether he went to grammar school or not. I hope he won't be too disappointed.

This thread is really helpimg me think how to frame this with him when he gets home from school.

Teacher here: I taught twin boys in Year 2 at a state primary. They were very average in Year 2 but both would score the same in every test...8/10 in spelling but different ones wrong. I joked with mum that they would probably get identical grades at GCSE!

Fast forward to Year 6. Twin 1 gained a Grammar place, Twin 2 didn't and went to the local comprehensive.

7 years later I noticed in the local paper that Twin 2 (comp) had scored top A levels and had gained a place to read Physics at Oxford!!! I quickly googled Twin 1's Grammar only to find he had gained a place at Cambridge to read Medicine! So no matter where you go, the cream will rise to the top with the right love and support around them.

My three kids tried, and weren't offered places at the local grammar schools. A few years later, the one who got 4 A* at A level ended up with the lowest UCAS points in the family (different qualifications, in case anyone wonders).

Don't think of it as failing the 11+, it's helping to refine her educational path, and all the world is still open to her.

Also, I know three people who passed the ultra-competitive Latymer 11+ (our local grammar) at different times and then actually did poorly in GCSE/A-levels. One of them barely scraped through his GSCEs to make it to A-levels, one missed her grades at A-levels and couldn't go to medical school, and one who also had very disappointing A-level results. Because apparently the school has a very hands-off attitude towards exam preparation and the kids have to be very self-reliant. Gammar school is no guarantee of good results

I wasn’t in a grammar area but my cousin, who failed 11+ and went to a comp got great grades, went to medical school, now an A&E consultant. Plus wife &kids …ie rest of life!