to have spent thousands of £s on 11+ tuition and still dd has no place!

[annoydmum]

so depressed!spent alot of money on tuition to no avail :(.....

you spent actual thousands of pounds on specific tuition for the 11+?

More fool you.

Whats the 11 plus, we dont have that in Scotland.

Well I suppose that if your daughter passed the 11+, the tutoring worked. It's always going to be the case that there are more applicants than places.
If a child is capable of passing the 11+ and coping with a grammar, they will do it without tutoring.

If she had got a place would she have struggled to keep up without additional tuitoring throughout the rest of the school time?

Thats not true in some places Obiwan - they are never going to be able to do the non-verbal and verbal and in some cases English and Maths papers in the time allocated if they havent practiced it first unless they are extremely gifted - more gifted than the 1000 or so others sitting the test all of whom will have experience of doing the papers in a test setting.

Op - sorry this has happened - its always a gamble though that people offset against private fees in some areas though isnt it and reputable tutors will tell you so after a few lessons.

Thousands is a lot though

My husband, myself and more recently my three cousins all passed 11+ or equivalent without tutoring. Do some practice papers yes, but you don't need private tutoring. As another poster said, if you require tutoring to get your child in, they will just need more tutoring to keep up once there. And presumably if you spent that much going private is an option anyway?

did she fail the test or were there more applicants than places?

As another poster said, if you require tutoring to get your child in, they will just need more tutoring to keep up once there

This, she wouldn't have been happy, don't put so much pressue on her and make her feel like a disappointment, she'll do just fine, if not better in a school that meets her needs

Thousands is a bit excessive. Surely that's hours and hours and hours of tuition given that a tutor charges, what, about £20 and hour?!

Agree with ObiWan.

They have grammar schools in our local area. Headmaster so fed up with less naturally academic chidren passing the 11+ , getting a place and then not managing the workload , that he goes around the local primary schools asking parents to really think about whether their child is right for the school.
Must be awful to see a child really struggling and some have to leave!
Did your child not pass or not pass well enough to get a place

Nobody should have to spend more than a couple of lesson's tuition (maybe going over the format of the papers for familiarity) to get their child through the 11+. Thank goodness she didn't just squeak through- she could have been very unhappy there. Whatever happens don't let her feel she's failed! Be positive about it even though you don't feel it at the moment. One door shuts, another opens...

I smell a rat on this thread.

However, if the OP is genuine, all I can say is that if your child isn't up to grammar school even with extra tuition she wouldn't enjoy being there anyway as the academic pressure would be too great.

We never had all this tuition business when I was a child. We went into school, took the 11 plus not really knowing why we were taking it and got our results, job done.

It just goes to show how crap some schools are that parents feel the need to cram their 11 year olds these days.

I agree with the PP who said More Fool You.

Your poor child probably senses your disappointment and now feels guilty.

Nobody spends Thousands of £s surely.

The primary schools in our area are not allowed to teach anything to do with the 11+.
Tutors help prepare the children for the exam, they can't improve their intellect.
DD has a tutor for one hour a week to practise the test in exam conditions. I used to be really anti-tutors, but if everyone else has one I will not put DD at a disadvantage for my principles.
I thought the passmark was set depending on how many places are available? Are there lots of people coming from other areas?

No, but it can help. I'm currently shelling out for French tuition for ds as he has his IGCSE this year, and needs the tuition to ensure he gets his A.

As for money doesn't buy happiness...matter of opinion there.

But it's not wasted....your Dc has had hours and hours of o e to one tuition which will have boosted their skills, prob got them working a tad faster, got to go over specific areas of difficulty. I imagine they will be going to their state secondary at the top of their game. Ok, they failed to secure a grammar place but they will have got something out of the tutoring.

Fortunately we don't live in a grammar area.
I still bought the books from Smiths and did the tests at home. You can tell if your own DC are struggling why did you carry on?

In our area there are grammar schools and all the primary school kids sit little tests throughout their final year of primary. Then their best marks are taken in German, Maths & Gen studies, and the average worked out. Everyone who gets over the threshold (2,66 if you're interested!) is guaranteed a place in the grammar if they want one.

(Some choose to go to the next level down even though they get the points required as they feel the academic challenges would be too much over time.)

I really agree that if you're child is academically suited to grammar school, they'll pass the 11+ without the need for spending loads on tutoring. It's not fair to try and cram them into a school not suited to them.

The thread was started an hour ago and yet the OP hasn't returned.

Odd, that...

It's always a big disappointment when your child doesn't get the school you hoped for.

"Op - sorry this has happened - its always a gamble though that people offset against private fees in some areas though isnt it and reputable tutors will tell you so after a few lessons." - going to private school doesn't guarantee a place at a grammar either!

A bit of practice with the style of tests and the timing is necessary, but as for years of regular tutoring - that's something else. But once some parents are doing it - cramming their children to the test - then presumably others have to too - even if their children are naturally more able.

Hope your dd finds a good alternative school, OP.