11+ DIY tutoring

[WhatWillSantaBring]

DC1 is in year 5 and seems to be very bright (and she also loves academic work). I am confident she'll pass the 11+ regardless, but after a comment from a teacher friend that she is exceptionally bright, I'm starting to wonder if she's super-selective material.

I've never believed in tutoring for the 11+, both on moral grounds, and because I think there is a risk that the heavily tutored DC will not thrive at secondary school. However, I now wonder if I should do something as I want her to achieve her potential and I've just found out that there is a super-selective in range. Our area does the CEM test.

What are the best materials for home tutoring? How much do you need to be doing, or does it really depend on the child? I'm thinking 1-2 hours a week at the most. Any tips?

For reference, I've been looking at the learning street one here

I used to be very much of a similar mindset to you and then I had a look at the 11+ papers. Some of them (not all but perhaps most) are impossible to pass if you haven’t been tutored. Not because of intelligence but because they ask the questions in a way that they don’t teach in most schools. These are questions that unless your child is being prepped bully the school they won’t know the pitfalls and double bluffing that goes on. As such if you think your DD is bright enough and has the general knowledge required I would tutor her (either yourself or professionally) in “exam technique”. That’s not pushing a child beyond their capabilities but instead giving them a fair shot at an unfamiliar exam.

I really agree with what UnsureAndUnsteady has to say about exam technique with the 11+ entrance exams and giving your child a fair shot at an unfamiliar and tricky exam. The 11+ exam is classically beyond the school curriculum and it is done in a way that is completely unfamiliar to what your child is used to-- a 3 hour exam, multiple choice questions, and content that is far beyond the start of year 6.
The 11+ exams are exceptionally hard as said above and even the brightest kids need a little guidance along the way! Maybe a bit of professional support might help you, it's hard to find 1-2 hours per week to help your child with the 11+ alongside school work too.

I've heard very good things from parents at school about 1:1 online 11+ sessions here, I would highly recommend it if you wanted professional tutoring: www.giftedthinkers.co.uk
They also specialise in the CEM exam format.

Parent of a bright child who wasn’t formally tutored first the 11+ here - and she passed with flying colours!!!!!!

We didn’t want to tutor for all the same reasons as you. Plus I wanted her to have a childhood, not one focussed purely on studying for an exam.

We used the Bond and CGP books at home. The CGP ones had examples to work through - a kind of “how to do it” explanation set of exercises and honestly that is all she needed. Once you have grasped the concept of the types of VR and NVR then you just need further familiarisation, not endless tutoring sessions. Once she had worked through the exercises we did one test on each a week - sometimes the longer papers but more often one of the 10 minute tests. It just kept things ticking over and in the summer hols we did a couple of 10 minute tests a week. Nothing like the three hours a day her friends were doing.

The other key aspect is timing and exam technique. You need to be able to work quickly and accurately so once you have grasped the concepts you should start working to time straight away.

Also, knowing when to miss a question out and go back to it (but putting an answer down anyway in case you run out of time), and eliminating all the obvious wrong answers before taking an educated guess if you need.

With a “with it” parent I absolutely believe you do not need formal tutoring to pass the 11+.

The only exceptions would be if their maths need a bit of catch up (you can work this out on whether they can do the Bond / CGP books before committing) or if you want them to have a taster of sitting a full mock under exam conditions.

You do need to be brave though when EVERYONE else around you is tutoring like crazy. I spent about £80 on books. Her friends parents spent over £3,000 on tutoring and then she didn’t pass.

Absolutely what others have said - exam technique and speed probably as important as being bright. The CEM format (I think its the same everywhere but stand to be corrected) is in sections - so Section 1 will be say 10 questions that the children have 6 minutes to answer. As soon as those 6 minutes are up, the children turn over the page and start on Section 2, say 20 questions in 10 minutes. The children are not allowed to go back to a previous section if they have spare time (so its not as if a child who can race through a Maths section then go back to the previous comprehension section to finish off uncompleted questions).

I remember my DD getting 3/20 on a mock exam very early in the process on a Maths section (when maths is her strong point usually)- she answered Number 3 by a long-winded method, made a mistake so her answer wasn't one of the options (multiple choice). Instead of just moving on, she tried to go back to find out where she'd gone wrong. She used up almost all of her time answering that one question.

Agree with the previous CGP/Bond recommendation - both the 10 minute tests and the papers. Even if you don't use a tutor, book in for a couple of mocks - very useful for experience of "exam conditions" (it's quite overwhelming on the day) and how the timed sections work.

For CEM, I think vocab is crucial, so as important is reading together, playing word games, chatting. Antonym / synonym games in the car / on the way to school.

We did use a tutor - just because it was a set time / set place (not something that could be moved by family drama / "in a minute" mentality (is that just our house?! ) and also in all honesty someone with more patience / understanding than me (I used to get quite ratty if they made silly mistakes or rushed something) and I didn't want it to affect our relationship. I also think a tutor has more of an objective opinion about strengths and weaknesses of a child. It was also brilliant that a "stranger" told them how bright they were and they could do it rather than their mother - genuinely gave them confidence in approaching the exams.

I'm not sure if we did the right thing but DS has always been very bright. He is sitting for a super selective on Saturday and we started exam prep on Monday.
In the meantime we just did lots of reading and I gave him my own maths stuff as school was useless in lockdown.
He did a mock on Monday and scored around 111. Well retest on Friday and see how it goes but we've just been doing VR as it's the only thing he hasn't done at school.
Time will tell if it was the right choice but it's never been a priority to us, just a nice thing if it happens. He's the kind of kid that will do well anywhere as an sure most kids are. I feel very sorry for the kids doing it since y4-5.

Ooo, good luck to your DS tomorrow then @Malmontar :D.
I absolutely get that they need to learn the exam technique, timing etc, but for me its a question of whether to DIY or get in an external. So it's an interesting thought process @Africa2go on the reasons to tutor with an external.

I'll have a look at the online tutors as well, @alison5567888 - I can definitely see the benefit in an online set up in case we go into full lockdown again. I wish we could just dip in an out of tutoring rather than commit to the full 12 months that I think they'll want....

Definitely do @WhatWillSantaBring, online is a great option given current circumstances. I know from personal experience that the tutor company I suggested (Gifted Thinkers) offer complete flexibility with their online sessions. Only 1 month to cancel and you don't have to commit to a full 12 months, they can give you sessions as and when you need. Some of my friends have used them for different lengths of time and they're really good at adapting to suit your needs. If you are thinking of contacting them, let me know and I can get you a friend referral discount

@WhatWillSantaBring thanks. He came out pretty happy but said it's the hardest thing he's ever done. I think he probably messed up the VR as he said it was the easiest one he's done and it's actually his worst area.
They decided to change the rules and ask all kids to wear masks from this afternoon's sitting onwards. This did not get communicated and as they're all 10 most didn't have masks and there was a lot of frantic parents and stressed kids at the gates.

Malmonter I was thinking that the venues would have had spare masks if they were going to spring a chance on children.

We had masks for the Kent test this morning. My advice for others would be to make sure your child's mask i comfortable and they can breath well so that it hopefully isn't restrictive.

Good luck to everyone I won't say anything about the test.

OP you have had great advice here.

We started prep last November.

I would agree with what other posters have said, if you are doing your own thing you have to back yourself. I know people who have had a Saturday and Sunday tutor for 2.5 years .. some of the tutors are over 40 quid an hour so I felt my state school kid could not compete. One friend was always telling me I had not made my son work hard enough.

I got a tutor for for my son for a short period of time and where that was good was it made my child have deadlines and know they must do work each week.

Exam technique is key.

I couldn't really get my child to do proper mocks, he never seemed to have the energy. He also would not always take instruction from me.

We never did get around to paper mocks but we did use atom which helped. We also never quite finished NVR.

I also found it really hard to get my child to read books as there always seemed a bit of 11 plus work to do. So I really resent the workload and am glad he can just read for pleasure.

My child missed out some questions I had emphasised that you need to make a guess but it didn't quite come off that way.

We had nothing from the school during lockdown and it As such am so Incredibly proud of my son for sticking at it and sitting. He was very scared did covid so kept his mask on. He was also very worried about the test but in the end he was so positive.

I doubt my son will get a place as we do not live in Kent but I think he did work hard over Lockdown and I feel 11 plus kept him on his toes.

And congrats to Malmonter's child and any children sitting through this 11 plus process.

Same from me .

I did diy tutoring for 11+ Indy selective outside London for my kids who I thought would pass, but needed exam technique practice as they came from state primary. So no prior exposure to VR and NVR or emphasis on exam technique at school. I also home tutored as I couldn't see the benefit of them going to a tutor at the same time each week, taking time out of precious family weekends when they may be tired / not in the right frame of mind for it. I knew that with my kids little and often was the key. We would aim for a certain number of practice questions each week from cgp/bond/internet sources, but be open to adapt. We would aim for the same times of the week, and be reasonably strict about this. One great time was when other sibling was out at their after school club. If they started doing an exercise and were not in the mood, we would stop and go back another time. If they were in the flow, we would continue beyond maybe the time they would spend at a tutors. It has given me a much greater understanding of how they each learn and study which has been invaluable as I support them now in their secondary schooling. It has brought us closer. In my circumstances, tutoring just felt wrong for my kids. I had enough experience of doing exams to teach them exam technique. It's fundamentally just common sense. Just 'read the #$%^* question' , and practice VR and NVR. I was lucky that my kids both 'got' NVR. I'm also of the belief that if you need to teach your kids the fundamentals of doing the questions, they shouldn't be doing the exam as if they need tutoring to pass, they are just destined to struggle at a selective school.

You need to be aware also that many super-selectives are moving away from that model. Some schools now giving hugest priority to children in receipt of pupil premium then going to distance instead as long as they passed the exam. Schools will consult soon on any new admission policies so keep your eye open for those. I have a child in grammar school, no one expected him to pass, but he had a go and did pass with flying colours.

We used Bond and CGP books - the ones with the practice questions and then the summer before also the books of mock exams. We just got her to do little and often. Tbh, most of the time it wasn't much different to what we had done before, when she had done earlier Bond books "for fun" sometimes (yes, weird I know but she's actually quite a normal child, just bright and enjoys stretching herself). There were a few bits of the maths that we needed to explain to her as she hadn't done then by start of y6 but mostly it was just a question of getting familiar with the questions and exam technique (but we're in an area that does maths/english only, not VR or NVR).

She passed and is now at the grammar of her choice. She was one of only two girls in her class who didn't have an external tutor but many of them still have an external tutor as otherwise they can't keep up, suggesting to me that grammar wasn't right for them, whereas as she had only done gentle practice at home we were more confident that she would easily hold her own, if she got in, which she is, and has continued with the same work ethic. DS on the other hand had no interest in putting in the work, despite being bright, so he didn't do the 11+ - and whilst I'm not that happy with his current school, I also think he'd have struggled with the expectations at a grammar re homework / independent research etc.

Hello I'm searching and need guidance regarding 11+ test for my boy who is in yea5 . Kindly give suggestions about
Materials
Tutor
Courses
Subscription
I don't know where I start there are lots of materials in internet and I'm confused. Is learning centre courses are good and RSL subscriptions I'm thinking about them to starting preparing from their resources. I dont know which book I will buy kindly guide my ho Can I start preparations and how much time in a day . I'm thinking to apply for
Manchester grammar school
Stockport grammar school
Hulme grammar school
All in Manchester
Thankyou 🙂