To ask why children need to sit 11 plus to determine eligibility for grammar schools- why can't their SATS results be used?

[Hercule]

Apologies if I'm missing something obvious. My children are much younger at the moment and anyway we haven't got grammar schools in our area. I am just curious - a friend lives in a grammar school area and really hates the ultra competitive tutoring that goes on. I was just wondering why with all the pupil assessment that takes place in primary schools ( and results are published so presumably they are robust) why can these assessments and SATS results not be used to identity the 'top 10%' who would benefit from a grammar school education? Rather than sitting an exam which certain pupils can be hot-housed to sit?

Interesting that tutoring is a massive industry in Germany.
Before grammar schools were abolished in most of the country, there were loads more prep schools than there are now. So even in the olden days middle class parents gave their kids an elbow up. There was a prep school attached to my church which fed into the grammar schools. Once local schools went comprehensive, these schools went out of business.

It is true that the tutoring industry is massive, but most of the people (here anyway) who recieve it are older students, not primary school kids.

I don't know anyone, though I am sure they exist, who do tutoring to get into gymnasium (grammar). BUT here you have to constantly maintain your good grades or you either have to drop to the lower level of school or resit the year.

Also, the kids finish at 1 and are expected to work A LOT at home. If (like my kids) they are not motivated or disciplined, they don't do the required amount of study, get bad grades and risk getting kicked out.

So like the primary kids, they are constantly tested and required to perform well. That's why the tutoring industry is massive. Being in a grammar school here is seriously hard work. (and for the parents of unmotivated pupils, very stressful!)