11 plus support thread for exams 2024

@SquashSqueezee thanks. Yes, we have been looking at other schools. Lots of church run ones here, which puts us at a real disadvantage as we aren't religious.

Fingers crossed. Although I think I am more disappointed then them

@user1490043295 sorry to hear that but it’s good there aren’t too upset and it sounds like you’ve got other options still to play out so fingers crossed

@PencilVania sorry I can’t help with this as where we are it’s super selective only so not finally with the different categories.

Just replying to it’s bumped and hopefully someone else who knows this part of the system will reply

Sorry to hear this @TooManyNiblings that’s really close mark wise so imagine must be difficult. Have you looked at any other schools? I’m not sure if deadlines same everywhere for applications but here 3 weeks until the cut off.

Clearly loaded intent in this comment. Whether it is intended to be facetious or snide, I can't tell. Obviously there are parents on this thread who used a tutor, some are even tutors themselves! None have hidden it though. It's not for everyone. This is a support thread and I wanted to provide balanced discussion for parents in 2025 reading to know there are other ways to do it. When I did that this year, I was reading threads actively seeking out examples of being able to do it a different way without hothousing as I was doubting myself... especially as the exam approached. Not a single person in our area supported our decision to not tutor our son, stating it was setting him up to fail as he would be one of very few not to be. He's my eldest and it can be scary making a decision that is against the current tide. He had friends tutored from y4. We decided it wasn't for us. noone should be judged for opting not to tutor or not being able to afford to. This is very different to failing to prepare, which would be cruel. We used atom learning in year 5 but small nuggets usually along the lines of what he was learning at school each week. He read lots from the early years onwards. We did exercise books atom and mock test papers but only from July 7 through the holiday. Thats the summer hol of year 5. Just to fill in bits not covered at school. This period was less fun, but we knew short term sacrifice was better for him than years of missing a Saturday morning for tuition or studying extra after a long day at school. Please don't judge when you haven't sought to understand.

Oh and I could say smugly that my child wasn't tutored and give the impression he just rocked up and passed. That wouldn't be the whole truth though because although he didn't have a tutor per se, I paid for a subscription website during most of year 5 to cover the content they don't do at school, bought a load of practice books, nagged him to do practice and had the confidence to explain tricky aspects myself. So it's not as simple as tutored or not tutored.

Yes I told my son regularly that the work he was putting in would be good practice for the homework at secondary and would improve his confidence in maths, exam skills ready for Gcses etc. Although it has worked out well for us in the end I still think it's rubbish to be testing 10 year olds like this. Sorry to hear it's not been good news for some people but I'm sure your children will go on to do well.

I’m not sure if this is a sarcastic message?!

My son was tutored bi weekly from Easter holidays onwards. From May half term we ramped it up in terms of hours he was putting into practice questions etc and a lots of sacrifices were made - missed birthday parties, some clubs on hold, having to study all over the summer hols and do mock exams on holiday. Also impact on whole family as we prioritised his study over days out etc but the way I see it relatively short period of time and even if he hadn’t of passed he’s got off to a great start in yr 6 and I’m sure the English and maths tuition will have helped him ahead of yr 6 SATs. The only grammar we have in our area is a super selective where need well above pass mark to have a chance so we knew what was required.

This thread is to provide support whilst we are all going through it but to judge everyone will have their own approach.

Interesting how no DCs were tutored this year...

According to Sir Thomas Rich’s website, the Gloucestershire results come out by 3pm on Oct 14 Monday.
strschool.co.uk

Congratulations @121212YNWA @SquashSqueezee @Danascully2 hope you’re all celebrating tonight! It must be wonderful to be able to finally relax!

Sorry to hear your news @user1490043295 and @TooManyNiblings I hope your DC weren’t disappointed and feel proud of themselves for giving it a go - I’m sure you must feel very proud of them. Hope you’ve got some good second choices and I’m sure your DC will be in a strong position to thrive wherever they go.

I am afraid we've got bad news, the twins were short by 5 to 10 points. They don't seem fazed and are okay. We are still waiting for another set of results week of 21st oct

Well, it's bad news for us. 5 marks short so no place for DD. She's fine, came out saying she did her best but she wasn't sure it was good enough. I honestly don't know where to apply for her now.

I just wanted to say that for anyone who hasn’t passed the work is never in vain. The child usually goes on to do well in their KS2 SATS and often goes into higher sets in other schools and their hard work, bravery to take on the challenge and resilience should be celebrated.

There are some disappointed children at DCs school today, but watching this process over years, it’s clear that those types of children end up doing very well in other types of schools too at GCSEs etc, and it’s very important to celebrate their efforts. It’s just a snapshot on a day and can be easy to miss a few marks or let nerves get the better of you.

It's good news for us too! No tutors, no giving up clubs, instruments or a social life. Just earnest, steady and consistent hard work. Really proud of our DC. Congratulations to all those who got positive results. Thoughts also for those reading whose result was short of the cut off. It's just the beginning of another path to success, I'm sure. This thread has been really supportive at wobbly times this academic year. Very grateful @ElvenDreamer for taking initiative to set up. Hope those waiting don't have too much longer and can keep positively distracted xxxx

I know, it’s so annoying when everyone else seems to have an actual date! I was expecting the 24th initially but Ambrose has said before 21st and Loreto has said before 23rd so I think there’s a good chance we might get them in 17th 🤞

Ah! I was hopeful there for a second.

I think they could appear at any point between now and 31/10. They won't give an exact date cause if there is any kind of delay I imagine they would be swamped with calls.

Just frustrating not knowing when!

It’s this. It’s caused some confusion on the WA groups but it’s not an official site and it seems to have lots of inaccurate information in it!

Really? Where is this??

I’m Trafford too, I don’t understand why Traffords website says results will be received tomorrow via post!

@yoshiblue and @slaybell I feel your pain!! Next week is going to feel soooo long.

So DS was deemed selective in for the grammar schools in our neighbouring borough, but not in the top set of candidates - just got the result.
Really pleased with the result as DS only did 1 or 2 Atom practice tests about 9months ago.

Not as familiar with this boroughs process - should I take this as a good or ok result? Is it dependent on how close DS was to the cut off score?

@slaybell I've been doing quite well but the next week will be agony. I asked DS and all the kids have stopped talking about it and back to being 10 which is nice!