Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

To ask how much work in preparation of the 11 plus your child did if they go to a grammer school.

96 replies

Generallyok · 06/09/2017 17:45

Ds sits his 11 plus exam in a few weeks. He is keen to do it as most of the boys in his year are. We have been doing a little work most days of the holidays ( approx 15 mins). He is progressing but still finds some of the practise questions hard. He has come home from school today and said that one of the boys in his class did 4 hours every day and another did formal mock tests every week which were £60 a go. Now I'm feeling that we haven't done enough. Mums at the school gate are usually a bit reluctant to discuss the amount of work done so I am really keen to know how much your child has done/ did as I know it's a topic that people disagree on.

OP posts:

FoxyinherRoxy · 07/09/2017 13:20

You never go into any test unprepared so why would this be any different?

I think those children who don't see a paper, go into a strange environment with hundreds of other kids, listen to instruction, sit at a strange desk, not know where the toilet is etc and still pass are utterly amazing.

Dixiechickonhols · 07/09/2017 13:47

Very much agree Foxy I think most opt for somewhere in between never having seen a paper and 4 tutors a week.

I looked back on a thread I was on last year. Another useful tip was to get Dc to check in exam how many questions and how much time. They switched things in the exam to 56 in 45 mins in english not the 50 in 50 mins it had been for last few years and in recommended practice papers. Fortunately I had told DC to check.

Roomster101 · 07/09/2017 14:06

I think lots of people lie about the amount of tutoring their kids have.

How do you know they are lying though? I have a friend who always says this when in fact she is the only one who is doing loads of tutoring and getting her children to do lots of practice papers.

Talith · 07/09/2017 14:19

My eldest sits it this weekend. They have had an hour tutoring a week since April and went on a three day familiarisation course a fortnight ago. For my child any more would have resulted in anxiety. They're not super academic and youngest in year so it's more about familiarisation about what the exam will be like rather than cracking the code to get a golden ticket. Great if they do, plenty of decent Academies if they don't.

Btw I think it's a really tough test! I was gobsmacked at how hard, given it wasn't something I'd had to tackle at that age.

Dixiechickonhols · 07/09/2017 14:20

Other Kids mention stuff though if they are over to play or in the car getting dropped off. Plus they talk amongst themselves and know who is going to tutor/tutor centre/grandma(retired headteacher).

speedyhedgehog · 07/09/2017 14:57

My triplets have just started at grammar school. In all honesty I thought it unlikely all 3 would pass. We were away for the majority of the summer holidays and had 3 weeks to study when we got back. We spent quite a bit of time during those 3 weeks doing past papers and books from WH Smith so they could become familiar with the question types.
It's not such a competitive area in that everyone who passed was offered a place but some kids came out crying. While they were doing it I got quite stressed listening to what other parents had done re preparation and felt that I hadn't given them a fair chance. My daughter came out and happily told me it was easier than the work we had done at home but she hadn't finished a single section! I thought well that's that. The boys also felt it was easier than the prep we had done. I was surprised and pleased they all passed and so far 2 days in they are happy. I think that we made the right decision not to over prep them because I wouldn't want them struggling through the rest of school.

KichenDancefloor · 07/09/2017 18:34

Hi @Chocolatecake12
Thank goodness that's all over! I hope your DS is breathing a sign of relief.

We struggled to get DD to sit down and practice for 10mins a day over the holidays. We had the full histrionics, crying and diversion tactics (even though she wants to go to a local grammar where older friends are). The suggestion of a tutor sent her into a full tail spin (she is really shy).

Today she came skipping out of school saying it wasn't too bad and she enjoyed writing the essay at the end. All that fuss for nothing!

Thankfully our local comprehensive is a good one so passing is not that much of a concern. We just wanted her to be able to give it her best shot.

I have no idea how children with unsupportive parents cope. Not only would they not be familiar with the test layout, but they also need to keep their brains awake in the summer holidays with some basic English and Maths. It is definitely not a level playing field and I can see how average but well supported children can pass and very bright but unprepared children miss out on grammar places. Such an unfair system.

TeddyBee · 07/09/2017 19:24

I took the 11+ without ever having seen an exam paper. I mean, it was fine, I got in, but 25 years later I remember being completely terrified and having no clue what I should do in some sections. So if my kids want to take the 11+ they are at the very least doing a prep course.

FoxyinherRoxy · 07/09/2017 21:46

I wish they'd go back to the days when everyone took the test at school. At least that way the bright kids whose parents aren't supportive and wouldn't put them in for the test would have a chance.

MyPatronusIsAUnicorn · 07/09/2017 22:01

Amazing how in RL everyone who takes the 11+ has tutoring, and the ones that don't don't pass high enough to get a place, but on here hardly any seems to be done.

My DS starts his tutoring this month, ready to take it next year. It's an hour a week and 10 minutes practice each day. Had a go at some books over the summer that the tutor recommended if we wanted something to do, the age 8-9 ones. Turns out there is stuff there that the school just don't teach. That's why they need tutoring. Nothing to do with tutoring to get them through an exam then they don't have the intelligence to keep up with grammar school work. DS's teacher last year told me he is capable of doing it, I want him to be in with a chance, therefore a tutor is needed.

Cantusethatname · 07/09/2017 22:13

I think it would be cruel to send a child into a test when they had no idea of the format of the paper, the types of question and how to manage their time. These are all things that can be taught and that your child can prepare for.

AnneElliott · 07/09/2017 22:28

DS did 2 hours per week tutoring in a Saturday from Sept to July of year 5 he flatly refused to do anything during the summer holidays though but still managed to pass.

Tutoring wasn't expressly to pass the 11+ though - it was to increase his ability in maths and English which did then help with the 11+.

Roomster101 · 08/09/2017 09:25

Amazing how in RL everyone who takes the 11+ has tutoring, and the ones that don't don't pass high enough to get a place, but on here hardly any seems to be done.

Perhaps it depends on the area you live in but certainly where I live not everyone has a tutor and although most do practice papers (whether or not they have a tutor) a small proportion get in without any. I got a tutor because it was easier (it can be a lot of hassle to get your child to practice otherwise) but they don't do anything that a reasonably intelligent parent couldn't do themselves.

smotherofdragons · 08/09/2017 09:35

A tutor for year 5 for an hour a , 3 mocks, and half an hour a day over the summer holidays before the exam.

We have a slightly different system in that the papers are different styles for different grammars.
She passed for all the schools she sat for including the super academic one however she choose a slightly less academic one with a more caring ethos.

JigglyTuff · 08/09/2017 09:35

I don't know anyone whose child hasn't been to classes or had a tutor. The technique needed to pass (answer as many questions as possible so skip ones that will take hours and leave them to the end) plus the unfamiliar format mean that unless you do some practice, I'd think you're unlikely to pass, however clever you are.

Even the practice papers cost ££ though so even if you work through the papers yourself, if you're on a low income, the system is really weighted against you.

bellabelly · 09/09/2017 14:46

Such an unfair system! My DTs sat it on Thursday morning and one of their friends turned up, expecting to take the Kent test but couldn't as his mum hadn't registered him. Poor kid. Who knows whether he would have passed or not but that's a life chance that's gone for him now. Makes me feel really sad.

Coulddowithanap · 09/09/2017 15:07

No tutoring here but we did go through a few practice tests together. Maybe did a few hours a week during the holidays.

Find out next month if DD has passed.

I don't agree with tutoring for the test, if they don't have the ability then how will they keep up unless they continue with a tutor. I know someone who has paid for a tutor since her daughter was in year 2! The poor girl doesn't even want to go to the grammar
school anymore.

Roomster101 · 09/09/2017 19:35

I don't agree with tutoring for the test, if they don't have the ability then how will they keep up unless they continue with a tutor.

If you did some practice papers then you did what a tutor would do anyway so odd that you don't agree with it!

FoxyinherRoxy · 09/09/2017 20:05

I'm of the view that a few hours a week of practising = tutoring. Either in-house or put sourced. It's the same thing.

Autofillcontact · 09/09/2017 20:24

Its depends on the area too. Many grammar school areas are simply pass/ fail but super selectives take the x top marks. So they might have 3000 children sit the paper and the top 120 get spaces. Who wouldn't tutor under those circumstances?

Autofillcontact · 09/09/2017 20:35

Oops my page was so slow to load I hadn't realised that point had been made!

Hoppinggreen · 09/09/2017 20:38

1 hour a week from year 5 and 2 mocks under exam conditions.
The last couple of months before the exam DD also did practise papers every other night
She did really well but was offered a part scholarship to a Private school so we went for that instead

Toomanycats99 · 09/09/2017 20:48

We have the exam in 10 days. We have tutored 1 hour a week since September. I had planned to do more over the summer but I have cut right back as my dd is struggling with not getting everything right in the practice tests. Thinks she should know everything! I know there are some who have hours and hours every week over the summer. I really didn't want to put my dd through that and if that's what it would take then it's not right. I actually think her problem is not reading stuff properly and making silly mistakes rather than not knowing it! We will see.......

FoxyinherRoxy · 10/09/2017 10:15

That's what we practise/tutor for cats. Reading the question properly, selecting the speediest answers, making sure she marks the right answer on the answer paper, and then going back and filling in any gaps randomly (in multiple choice) in the last 10 seconds.

Technique could make all the difference. Makes the whole thing even more of a madness.

HickDead · 10/09/2017 10:35

My DD sat 2 years ago. We did 2 mock tests a week with her so that she was well used to the exam format. We did this for about 6months prior to the tests. We didn't have a tutor for her and explained any concepts she was finding difficult ourselves. The school did prepare them too.

Flip

1 2 3 4