Just how much coaching/tutoring is required to get an bright(ish) but not that willing boy through the 11+

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And is it worth it?

DS1 (yr5) wants to go to the local catchment school with his friends.

The school works hard with the raw materials it has, but we are in an area of high SN and High FSM and most "interested" parents don't send their children there. (I suspect the parents of most of the friends he wants to stay with will do their best not to send their DC there) As a result they get only c. 25% with 5 good GCSEs and that is largely by offering NVQ qualifications that count as several GCSEs for the purposes of the stats.

We're not in a grammar school area, but do have the opportunity to take the 11+ and apply for grammar schools in a neighbouring area. The required pass mark is higher than that required if you live withing the Education Authority area though and I know no-one who has achieved this without a lot of coaching.

DS1 is a strong reader with a reading age well ahead of his chronological age, but generally does "OK" at school. His teacher assessments (apart from reading) are all at or just slightly ahead of where he's "supposed" to be. So, what would you do and if I go down the tutoring route just how painful should I expect it to be?

roadart, thanks so much for that information.

I have contacted school and they are advising me of materials they are using in class, if I find they aren't what I want I will contact you again.

again, many thanks,ssd

Are you sure that candidates from neighbouring counties need a higher pass mark? I've not come across this before but sadly I have heard parents pedal such information to keep the number of candidates down because they believe it will benfit their own child.

The eleven plus forum is great lots of helpful information on there.

Our ds is in year 4 and I'm going to go through practice papers with him myself and get his vocab up to speed but I am reluctant to do anything more formal with him as I don't want him to feel a failure if he doesn't get in. I will sell it to ds as the 11+ exam is a test that decides what type of school you are suited to rather than something that you pass or fail. Given a choice I am sure he would choose the local comp so we will have to cross that bridge if we come to it.

Lots of typos - sticky keyboard today.

As you say DS1 I gather you have other children so this will be the "trail-blazer" for the rest of the family. So whatever route you take it will have a knock-on effect on any subsequent children.
In my view this is a no-brainer. Get your son assessed as fast as you can. If the tutor thinks he has a chance of a grammar school place ( and not all tutors are out to make money) then I would do my damnedest to give him that opportunity.
All sorts of people will throw objections in your path in my own experience, and their motives are not always clear at first. They are jealous/ spiteful/ resentful/ or just plain do not like you.
Put all that aside and go for it. The local school can manage without your DS1!
The friendship group thing is probably the hardest nut to crack and you will have to sell the idea to DS1. Try to find a "running mate" that he knows and likes who will also be trying for grammar.

higher pass mark from neighbouring counties sounds to me. A pass mark is a pass mark.

Agreed. It is inconsistent with the Greenwich judgement and suspect its an unfounded playground myth.

The Admissions Code would prevent a higher pass mark being required from applicants living in neighbouring counties.

Quite a lot of selective schools have in catchment scores and out of catchment scores, in catchment requiring less than OOC

Southend has a two tiered system for Grammar school places.

There is a pass mark but if you are out of catchment you generally need to have achieved about 10% higher in the test to be in with a chance of being offered a place.

At both Southend and Westcliff grammars approximately two thirds of the places are set aside for in catchment the rest for out of catchment.

Sometimes there are more out of catchment places offered but only if the local applicants don't achieve the pass mark.

my year 5 - very young in year and not 10 till august - has just done some practice papers and got almost perfect score.
his class teacher ( !!??!! ) says he is about average and gives no encouragement to him. this is probably because he misses a lot of school whilst undergoing UVB RADIATION treatment at the hospital.
we are allowing him to sit the 11+ but without any tutoring just help from me. i believe that tutoring is wrong and only means that some will scrape through and then struggle during their time at the chosen school.
better to get in on their own basic merit - my son alos achieved a higher mark on a gcse maths practice paper than his 16 year old sister. all children are different and they need to be where they are happy.
i am a TESL teacher having gone back to studying at fourty - we all develop at different stages and forcing learning will not work.

Of the 10 year 6 boys in my class, 5 are going on to the local grammar school. In their SATs I would expect them to be all level 5/6's or possibly a good level 4's in one out of the 4 areas. I do have one going with level 3's but extensive tutoring. He will REALLY struggle!

higher pass mark from neighbouring counties sounds to me. A pass mark is a pass mark.

The Admissions Code would prevent a higher pass mark being required from applicants living in neighbouring counties

Its not quite like that, because the number of places is of course limited. Here at any rate, the way it works is that :

1. within catchment, all those who 'meet the required standard' are in. (if there were too many at this stage, the placement would be in order of result, but this never happens)

then, for the remaining places (which usually isn't very many)

2. they work through the list of out-of-catchment children who met the standard. One school does it purely by order of mark; another I think balances mark and distance in some way. They fill the places and then have a 'reserve list'.

The result of this is that in practice to get in from out of catchment you do need to have a higher pass mark. DDs school gently discouraged the parents of 'OK' pupils from attempting the exam - they had a pretty good idea from CAT scores who had a realistic chance.