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Original poster

Pulling out of 11+ (poor mock results)?

29 replies

fedupofit1234 · 27/08/2025 07:13

Hi. Wondering if anyone in a grammar school area has pulled out of doing the 11+ at the last minute and if you/your child regretted it?

My daughter has done 4 mock exams between May and this week. Scores have improved steadily (from very low on the first attempt) but she is still under what the provider states is probably a pass (she scored 71% this time, a 'pass' is classed as 75% or above and the real thing is generally considered to start somewhere between 76-80% although nobody knows for sure).

Some of her wrong answers are silly mistakes which she can spot straight away, especially in maths where in theory she could absolutely excel. But she also has weaker points that we just can't improve on at this stage - mainly comprehension and vocab. Yes we are practising but she just finds it inherently hard!

Her friends have been scoring 80% plus since the spring and some are now getting ridiculous scores of 95% and more and I just think she is so behind this level, what's the point? Would it be a mistake to pull out at this late stage (real test is mid September)? Has anyone done this and regretted it or ended up with an upset child afterwards? She is bored of the work we are doing (although gets on with it and we are not doing ridiculous amounts) and has often said she doesn't mind if she goes to the grammar or the local secondary school but I don't know if this opinion would stay if I actually let her drop out.

We are in Trafford if that's relevant.

Thanks 🙂

OP posts:
Original poster
fedupofit1234 · 27/08/2025 10:07

Thanks all, you all make some good points.

@TraffordMum This is the thing - at school she is a really high achiever and sails through everything! She's greater depth across all maths/reading/writing and at the end of Y5 they gave predicted SATS outcomes and she was predicted greater depth (or whatever the phrase was) in all areas here. In lessons she is certainly not behind her friends who are achieving these amazing mock scores.

Ideally we would be looking at Stretford or Sale as those are closest to where we live. I've also come across parents with children who went through the local review for Stretford and are among the higher achievers there - just goes to show how pointless taking a score from one exam is in the long run. I don't doubt that she would cope once there, I think it's just the way of thinking/processing needed to actually pass the 11+ doesn't suit her abilities (which I get is why they do it - they don't just want children who can learn but children who can think in certain ways/cope under pressure etc.)

@Rocketpants50 you are right there is nothing to lose. Kind of feels like we've come this far we may as well go through with it!

OP posts:
Rocketpants50 · 27/08/2025 07:44

If your child wants to have a go and is happy I would say give it a go. There are some that always score high in mocks then fail and then there are those which pull it out the bag on the day. A really silly system but nothing to lose.

TraffordMum · 27/08/2025 07:41

We are in Trafford and my DS just about passed a couple of years ago. He only did one mock and scored 70%. However we were told that this was on target, so perhaps it was a tougher mock. In the end he narrowly missed the cut off in the exam but got a place at both Urmston and Stretford via the local review. His strength was maths and comprehension was also his weakness.

He’s absolutely flying at grammar school and has no regrets trying the exam and taking the place despite only scraping through the exam. Academically he is now one of the highest performers there, particularly in maths. Of note, he attended a fairly low performing primary with a lot of disruptive children. I think this may have hindered him more than I realised as he has done so well since leaving that environment.

How is your daughter doing in school tests? My DS was getting greater depth in most subjects and was borderline greater depth in writing. If your daughter has a similar profile, it might still be worth considering taking the exam.

Might also be worth considering whether you are looking only at the Altrincham schools or whether you would consider Urmston and Stretford which require lower marks.

My older DS also did the test despite having no realistic chance of passing. He just wanted the experience of doing it and didn’t want to be left behind in the classroom whilst the other kids had a day off! He was a relaxed kid who wasn’t upset about not passing. He went to one of the local comps. It was ok but he didn’t love it. Our experience with the grammar school has been far superior to the local school.

Personally I’d let her take it as long as you are realistic with her about the chance of passing and you don’t think she’ll be too upset about not passing.

modgepodge · 27/08/2025 07:17

I’d leave it up to her at this stage. It doesn’t sound likely that she will pass, and if she does, will she keep up with the level of work at grammar as she will be very borderline.

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