How do you know whether your 9yo is academically bright enough for 11+

[Apocketfulofposies]

DD is 9/year 4. We have grammar schools in the next Borough that we could apply for if we want, but it is not a matter of course for parents to put kids in for the 11+ round here - you'd have to actively go that route . I know that to pass the exam even bright kids need tutoring in how to take the exam. We spoke to school (London State primary - not much experience, if any, of kids doing this) and asked whetehr they though dd is bright enough to have a shot at passing as we really don't want to set her up for a fall, but they didn't really have any experience to be able to answer. They said she is v bright, particularly good at maths, does lovely creative writing (but not good at spelling probably as she did not learn to read with phonics despite being taught that way, her brain seemed to work by recognition and context instead). So this is my question - we don't want to put her through tutoring and an exam if she isn't academically able enough for it - no good comes out of setting people up for a fall - so how do you know?

I’d book a few sessions with a tutor and ask if they thought they could get her to the required level. They should have some idea.

A lot of the tuition centres do 'assessment' tests to gauge where children are. If you are in SE London, Yes tuition do them and so do the Tutorial Foudation at Freelands Rd. I would say 90% of pupils are tutored in some way - beginning of Year 5 is a good time to start preparation as the majority of tests are at the beginning of Year 6.

We are in north east London @lightsabre. That is interesting re beginning of year 5 - I had heard to start in year 4

Perhaps look at the elevenplusexams forum. There is a very knowledgeable poster on the North London Forums who also tutors (I think in Hatfield though).

There is a wealth of information on the elevenplus forums, was very helpful to me when I needed help.

Does your school do CAT tests? That can help give you an idea.

start of year 5 is a bit late from a state primary

I disagree, personally. 11+ tutoring should be about familiarising children with a certain sort of test question more than anything else. If a child needs more than a year's worth of tutoring, then I would seriously question whether a highly selective school is the right fit.

DD goes to a GS. She always did really well at primary and she wanted to go to the GS, primarily because of certain subjects they offered at GCSE.

Does she want to try for the GS?

I bought three past papers from WHSmith the month before the tests and she did them at weekends. She found them easy and passed on the day.

She loves the school but coasts/dies what she needs to rather than what she could do. I am 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Where we live most kids are tutored, heavily. From yr4 onwards it’s part of the offering in the local fee paying schools.

If she's very bright just buy the past practice papers Bond or CGP and do those. We never bothered with a tutor and my son sailed through it we started practice papers easter of year 5.
My younger son is not naturally as bright so I'm not sure if he'll pass, he's currently in year 4 and I have literally just bought some aged 8-9 non verbal reasoning practice papers from bond to see how he gets on and if I need to practice earlier with him.

Find out from the elevenplus website what the exam in your area will consist of. If it is NVR and VR, Waterstones or WHS will do the practice books. Start slowly, with 10 minute tests. Do not time them to start with and give lots of praise. Also try and do maths and English at home, as the better your dd gets at these, the quicker and more accurate she will be. (Also, unlike NVR and VR these will be useful to her in the future). At the end of the year you should be in a better position to decide whether or not to go for the 11+ and whether or not to carry on tutoring at home or to get a tutor. Also to specify what areas she most needs help with if you do get a tutor.

Lots of good advice. Book an assessment with a tutor, if you're in the vicinity of grammar schools there wil definitely be private tutors and companies which offer them. You can also simply buy the bond assessment packs although might be worth familiarising her with the test format (again by using bond books) first.

You don't have to be exceptionally bright to go to grammar school and it often isn't obvious at y4 level who even is particularly bright. Kids who are pushed more at home naturally do better but that doesn't necessarily equate to ability. Bright kids can be turned off school a bit at primary level for all sorts of reasons (social, boredom, too much emphasis on presentation etc) and underperform.

We are in a grammar school area and both my DS attend the local grammar. I think the first thing to do is see if your DD actually wants to go to the school - have a look around it! Then if she's keen, speak to local tutors.
My ds started going over papers 6 months before sitting the 11 plus. Too much, too early is not a good indication.

Yes, I would suggest taking a look at the eleven plus website as it has area-specific sections. Some of the replies on here will be from areas where 20%+ children go to grammar school, which is completely different ball game to the London grammars and some others.
It isn't necessary to prep from year 4, nor pay for a tutor, although most do both (we did neither), but a couple of practice papers the summer before is very unlikely to cut it for these areas.

We didn't think about it until DD was in yr 5 and they did a CAT test which she did pretty well in, and she seemed to be on a trajectory similar to DH (late to read but then accelerating). Yr 4 would have been too soon to assess her. We're not in a GS area but she did well enough in the 11+ to get a residual place at one of the few left in our county. She did some Bond books in the summer before yr 6.

Thanks all