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Original poster

Is a tutor the only way to pass 11+

54 replies

Jemimafuckingpuddleduck · 02/10/2018 14:11

My daughter who has just turned 10 and is in year 5 has being talking to me a lot about secondary school options, I get the feeling it’s hot talk in her class atm with all the open days coming up and so know a few of her friends have just got tutors to help them sit the 11+

DD is my middle daughter with her sister already started the local comprehensive high school, and she is absolutely loving it and that school was a really good fit for her.

DD2 is very academic and is naturally good at maths and English she is also very athletic and sporty and competes most weekend with various clubs.

With that in mind we have started looking at the local grammar school which has an excellent ofstead report and an amazing PE department.

Having decided not to put DD 1 through the 11+ we really have no experience of what it entails or what preparation is needed, if I’m honest I was really surprised to find out that DD2’s classmates are already picking and visiting schools and starting to get things under way for the exam, especially bearing I’m mind they have near enough another 2 years to go before they go to big school!

Ideally we would have loved to get DD2 a tutor but being one of 3 just don’t think we can stretch to it.

Is it vital for passing the exam?

I’m wondering how unusual it is for a child to sit it, pass by just doing some extra pass papers and little help from parents....

Also wondered what’s covered in the test, (and, I’m guessing by a tutor) is it not taught in year 5?

I can’t lie I’m finding it all a little intimidating for my DD that some of her peers have and have had tutors twice a week for the last couple of years to prepare them for the 11+. She is naturally clever but I don’t want to put her through something that she has no chance at because she hasn’t had the same level of tutoring/teaching than everyone else!

I also wondered about prices of tutors, I have heard from a few parents that tutors are around the £30ph market here...

Is that normal, is there a way to bring that down? Online tutoring, student looking to earn some pocket money or would I need someone that really knows what they are doing...

HELP

OP posts:

Foslady · 02/10/2018 14:15

My dd passed without a tutor. The School recommended a set of practice papers and there were 6 in the pack. We went through the 1st one together to see how the questions worked, then she did the next one untimed. The third one she did and I told her to put a mark when I said so, so we could see how she needed to speed up, and then we worked on her working at however many seconds per question.

Foslady · 02/10/2018 14:16

Oh, and we sat and marked them together to explain where she had gone wrong

Mrsnutellatoast · 02/10/2018 14:19

Do you realise that you have to sign up for exam pretty soon, it will happen next September, at the start of year 6. So you have a year to prepare. You can do DIY 11+ by using past papers etc, but please be aware that the exam covers material of the whole year 6 curriculum, so you have to teach your daughter yourself ahead of the school.

You should also read on how to do verbal/non verbal questions and all the methods and tricks that are used to speed up the process. Yes, you can do it but your daughter will need your support.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

11+ Exam General education Primary education Tutoring

chloworm · 02/10/2018 14:22

Hi, I know it's crazy isn't it? My daughter is also in Year 5 and tbh I don't think a grammar would suit her (she's more creative than academic). We're not visiting schools yet, that starts in the summer term of Year 5 here apparently. If she loves the grammar after a visit, I don't know what I'd do! Quite a lot of her friends have tutors already, which I think is daft as the local comprehensive school is really good. Personally, I would start with familiarisation papers which you can find online. If they don't help, then a tutor might be useful but I'd try other things first. If your daughter is naturally clever, she might be OK without a tutor but I do think becoming familiar with the tests would definitely help.

JacquesHammer · 02/10/2018 14:24

No it isn’t the only way to pass the 11+.

We didn’t tutor and did no practise papers. She did however do NVR/VR at school as part of the curriculum.

Original poster

Jemimafuckingpuddleduck · 02/10/2018 14:24

Thanks for the Foslady

Well done to your daughter and that seems a really good way of going through the practice papers.

Can I ask how the exam is formatted, ie does it cover everything in the one test or like high school you sit different papers for different subjects? Is there a lot of questions, it sounds like DC need to be quite savvy with their time.

Sorry if these seem like silly questions, just have no knowledge of how it works?

OP posts:

LusaCole · 02/10/2018 14:25

We’re not in a grammar school area so I only know about this through friends. All I know is that my friend took a relaxed approach towards it and didn’t use tutoring - and her son scraped through to grammar school by the skin of his teeth. He’s very bright and is doing well now he’s there, but it’s hard to do well in an exam if most of the other kids have been prepared for it.

Mumski45 · 02/10/2018 14:25

You will need to give a rough idea of your area and the school you are applying to as 11+ tests are set differently. It is perfectly possible for a bright child to pass without a tutor but I would strongly advise that you do some work with your DD to familiarise her with the style of test. It's very different to sats and generally not covered in primary schools. There are different types so you need to know exactly which one the school uses. Most are either GL or CEM. The school website should tell you this. I have put 2 DS' through 11+ so I know how it feels to be overwhelmed by it.
There is a good forum specifically for 11+ parents which you find easily using google but a slight warning as some parents on them can be quite scary and off putting.

Good luck.

JacquesHammer · 02/10/2018 14:26

I presume different schools have different methods but for DD she had 50 mins for maths, 50 mins for English and 45 mins for NVR.

The exams were all taken on one day.

Madwithjealousy · 02/10/2018 14:30

A close friend spent a small fortune on a tutor but her son didn't pass anyway. He's doing fine. I think too much is made of the 11+ sometimes.

Original poster

Jemimafuckingpuddleduck · 02/10/2018 14:30

@chloworm My was blown when she dropped it into conversation, mid LOL doll game.

I have just got over the emotional roller coaster of picking and sending my DD1 to high school, was hoping I had a breather for 5 minutes

OP posts:

M0reGinPlease · 02/10/2018 14:36

No, it's not but it's not just about how smart your DD is; this will probably be the first exam she's ever sat and giving her some exam techniques will really help. When I did my 11+ (admittedly a long time ago now!) all my school did was go through practice papers with us, and this gave me a good idea of the questions and I could score enough points to pass, but not in the time required. Three sessions with a tutor and I flew through it. She told me things that as a ten year old who'd never sat an exam I just wouldn't have thought of, like if you're stuck on a question, move on! She gave me loads of great tips and advice like looking through the paper right at the beginning, putting a tick by each question I thought I could answer, then doing them first, coming back to trickier ones if time allowed, teaching me to read the question properly etc. As I said, I only had three sessions so might not be as expensive as you think.

LilithTheKitty · 02/10/2018 14:37

You don't need to tutor. DS2 passed after just doing a couple of practice papers.

zzzzz · 02/10/2018 14:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NoLeslie · 02/10/2018 14:46

Round here the test covers stuff not taught at school and in an unfamiliar format. It is mostly children of school teachers who also have a tutor who score highly. Grammar is only really accessible to those who know the 11+ works. It's horribly unfair and a shit system. I wouldnt have settled down in an 11+ area if I'd realised, I had no idea about grammar schools at the time we bought a house.

SunnySomer · 02/10/2018 14:52

My son did it without tutoring- but with lots of practice including timed practice. As a pp mentioned there are strategies in doing exams - managing time, organising the questions you can and can’t do etc. Also if she has to do non-verbal reasoning, there is a knack. It’s nothing they ever encounter at primary school. The school should advise on the content and format of the test.

Original poster

Jemimafuckingpuddleduck · 02/10/2018 14:53

@Mumski45 thanks so that, I have just checked the school website and it’s GL

OP posts:

W00t · 02/10/2018 14:56

It depends on the school and the child.
Some can, definitely. Many won't.

Foslady · 02/10/2018 14:56

Agree to tips for her - moving on, ok to make marks on the question paper for q’s to go back to etc.
Our local grammar testing format has changed, but if it includes NVR I went through knocking out on the harder ones and go back to

Foslady · 02/10/2018 14:57

Most important thing to get through to her though is it’s ok not to pass. It’s not the be all and end all, if she’s bright she’ll succeed wherever she goes

Bechetdiagnosed · 02/10/2018 14:59

My DD passed but we had a tutor for a year once a week beforehand. The demand for places in my area is high and there are a number of private schools nearby who take up many of the places. Pupils from the private schools are tutored from year 2 so I felt we had to do some tutoring to gain a place.

NanFlanders · 02/10/2018 15:04

Hi. My dd passed without a tutor. (Didn't take up the place as got an 'aptitude' place at a comp that she preferred.) She did do some online practice tests with bofa11plus.com. You can also get practice papers from WH Smiths, but bofa explains and gives you extra practice with the ones you get wrong. It's about 6.99 per month iirc.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 02/10/2018 15:47

Part of me thinks that if you have to be intensively coached to pass the 11+, you might well struggle at a grammar school, unless you continue with the same level of input.

BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou · 02/10/2018 15:56

My DD passed without a tutor. I felt that if she needed a tutor to get the required score then she would need a tutor to keep up at school too.

She has never had a tutor of any sort and achieved all A and A GCSEs and A A* A and B for A levels. She has worked hard but did it all herself.

Scatteredthoughtss · 02/10/2018 16:00

Personally I passed just doing practice papers. It was a while ago though!

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