11+ prep - how did you go about it?

[thecoffeewasthething]

I've never been through the British school system, but I'd like to prepare my dd for the 11+ exam and apply for our local grammar. She's in year 5, and reasonably bright, so I feel that with a bit of coaching and practice she could meet the requirements for entry.

If you've recently prepared your child for the 11+, how did you go about doing it? Our chosen (hopefully) school uses GL Assessments. I am about to buy the multi-pack of all 4 exam prep booklets, and we'll work through these together. Did you use a tutor as well? Or would a tutor provide these as part of their approach? Any insights appreciated. :)

Look at the 11+ forum for the area you are interested in. Lots of advice on there

Ah, thanks, didn't even know that existed!

Definitely need to research the area you are in using 11+ forum. Also look at admissions criteria for desired schools. Is there a pass mark or is it top scores ranked (even harder!)

We're in Yr 5 and have been formally tutoring from September and will do for a full year in advance. I've also been doing light DIY prep at home in Years 3 and 4.

In our area a lot of people are tutoring at least 2 years formally, so I'd look at getting on with it.

Starting at Christmas in year 5 is slightly late. I'd signed ds2 up to a tutor 3 years ago (when ds1 did it). We did assessments in year 4 on which they scored highly then my tutor is more relaxed than some and only starts at the start of Oct in year 5. Others start in year 4. We do weekly lessons plus homework then regular testing using the books supplied by the tutor.

Start EARLY, we had an online tutor 1hr per week and a fairly expensive subscription to Atom, for practice. DD did 30mins a day for 3months, then 1hr per day for 3 months, which was probably not long enough. She has quite bad dyslexia. It was very hard a times. She didn't pass. It's probably for the best, as I would hate for her to struggle in a very academic environment

You don't need months of prep but you do need to make sure they know the maths.

If they avid readers make sure they know lots of words and comprehension etc.
Then see how they get on with the non verbal reasoning. You can buy books and familiarise themselves in u tube.

But many schools don't cover the maths and exam skills and speed.. With an able child you can do it with a light touch at home.

11plus is a flat out competition but ONLY with those in your local area.
So the answers you'll get here on a Uk wide basis won't really help as some people live in super selective areas (where each place is being fought for by 10,000 applicants - loads of tutoring required even for the brightest button) and areas where there's loads of grammar schools (and anyone who can write their own name will get in). I've exaggerated but you get the gist. The point is, you need to find out if the area you live in it's hard to get in, or easy.

Sorry just reading back at some posts.
If it's a highly selective one then perhaps you might need some more intense work.

However, an able child who is already scoring highly in school does not need hours and years of prep they really, really don't. They definitely need something but these schools are money spinners. People will think their own children passed because they did years and years of prep.

They should already be scoring greater depth in school.
If they are, to teach the entry mark they don't need years of extra work.

@ChristmasEvemaddness
In the area I live in (I'm not going to disclose) you would need to be at greater depth in every subject and be tutored for about a year to get in. Those who either aren't gds or are but just do past papers the summer before, won't pass.
In the area I grew up in (Kent) you only needed to do a few past papers in the few weeks before the test, and that was plenty.

In my experiences the vast majority of children are tutored . That gives them a significant advantage over children that aren’t . It also means that kids then pass who maybe shouldn’t have done and go on to struggle at Grammar School.

For me the starting point would be your current schools opinion on whether DD is Grammar material and any CAT or SAT scores she has to date .

I have children of varying academic ability and would say that the priority should be about what suits them best . I’ve one that is very comfortable at Grammar but also one that didn’t pass and has struggled since .

If DD stands a good chance of passing then tutor - but get recommendations as frankly the quality of tutors is very different

It does depend where you are, and whether the school is just selective with a catchment area or 'superselective'.

My dd worked through some Bond books type of thing in the summer hols before yr 6, that was about it really. Her gs wasn't superselective but we're out of catchment so she needed higher scores to get a residual place.

Thanks everyone. She is scoring highly in every area at school, reading age of 13, etc. She is a voracious reader, recently finished the Percy Jackson series, and has a highly inquisitive l, scientific mind. I'd like to see her potential flourish in this particular school. We only just bought a house in the area, hence us being "behind" schedule. I'll look at the particular forum for our new area and go from there.

I used a tutor for one child and Atom for the other. It’s worth doing at least a month with Atom so you can get started even if eventually you decide to use a tutor. It also allows you to gauge where your dc is compared to her year group, so you know if she has a decent chance of passing.

I’ve been through this for all of my children now, and if I had to do it again I would ensure they were good readers (and give them audiobooks too) and get started with tuition in the Christmas holidays of Y5, with ten-minute tests, introduce Atom during the Spring term, including the weekly group classes, then in the Summer term do lots of Atom mock tests and as many of the levels as possible, then in the summer holidays do quite a few paper-based mock tests (the ones you buy from WHSmith not the ones run by tuition companies that cost £50 a throw!)

I think this will set you back about £50 at the beginning (ten-minute tests) and £60 per month for Atom from January to April, then ramp up to the £70 subscription May to August, and then another £50 or so for the mock test papers. So £620 in total, if you can manage it.

If you need a cheaper option, then just get material from WHSmith or Amazon, and use Atom from May through August, and just rely on their mock tests. People sometimes have discount codes for Atom too.

Go for ATOM, go for past papers, sit in mock exams (book in advance), have a list of schools that you are applying to as dummy candidates to give your DD some practise. Since you are starting keenly now, best to go in with a tutor. Most kids who eventually get through the best start early. This doesn't mean you are late, it's just that you have lost the time advantage. If your DD is smart and committed, starting now is not a barrier. Do all of the above and even more if you are serious about it

I bought a practice test book for the holidays before the test. He wouldn't work with me at all but worked through it alone.

We are in an area where the grammars don't have catchments, it's based on ranking.

Children don’t need coaching or tutoring if they are bright enough. My daughter did a few past papers at home, then sat the exam and passed with flying colours.
the Head of the grammar school we chose, made it plain at an open evening that she did not condone children being coached to pass the exam, as they may not cope once in the school system. She estimated that in the first year of grammar school there would be several children who would leave as they could not cope with the work.

@Katherineryan1986 agreed

My son's weaker area was creative writing, so we focussed on that, got a book with example questions and answers in and did about 30 mins once a week for 6 weeks in the run up just so that he would feel a bit more confident and know what to expect. We did just enough to make him feel relaxed about the process. We didn't prepare for any other subjects. My view is that, if you need to prepare early and hard for it and get tutors, then your child probably isn't the right sort to go to an 11+ school. They are children after all, so let them be children and don't put them under undue pressure. It would be so easy to do more harm than good, so a light touch is always best. I was amazed to learn that there are companies flogging tutoring to pass the intelligent test aspects. That seems wholly wrong to me and renders the whole thing pointless.

This is such a pervasive myth. The vast VAST majority of kids are tutored, many very intensely, and it’s extremely naive to believe that they’re not. It’s not good enough to just be bright, not anymore. Sad but true.

(Although I accept that not all grammars are equal, and schools that require a child to exceed the pass mark and live in the right postcode are less cutthroat than the high ranking superselectives).

Kids needs to be brought up to speed with what to expect from VR, NVR and - quite often - parts of the year 6 maths curriculum. Not only that, but they need to work quickly.

Every time the 11+ is mentioned in a thread someone will bring up the idea that a) the only deserving kid is an untutored kid, and b) those who are tutored will inevitably flounder with the pace of teaching. Again, a myth.

Starting now isn’t THAT late. We started at the Easter of year 5 which was really cutting it fine 😬

This thread is actually quite depressing. Do people really start prepping in year 4 and 5 and work over the summer holidays or do an hour a day in the run up? Those poor children. I think that, if your child is working at greater depth in all the subjects they are probably fine and if they're not, then perhaps a different school would be a better fit.

Same. We aren't in a county like Kent either. The grammars don't have catchments or select by distance, though there's not just one grammar either so we are somewhat in the middle of the two extremes. DS was the only one from his primary class to get in.

You have to start in year 5 because the exams are held at the very beginning of year 6.

The school we're trying for is quite specialist in their approach, as well as single sex, so I do feel a bit of tutoring wouldn't go amiss to help my dd feel confident on exam day.

I understand the arguments against selective grammars, but if an opportunity exists for my child, I'm not going to decline trying. Not at the expense of her welfare and happiness, of course, but we'll give it a go.