How much tutoring is typical for the Gloucestershire 11+?

[Exasperateddonut]

As the 11+ looms I’ve been speaking to more parents and have been astonished by the sheer levels of tutoring going on. I have been very naively thinking that a few sessions and a mock exam would be more than adequate.

For the parent's of children taking the exam this year, (specifically Gloucestershire!) what level of tutoring have you been using?

Is it possible to pass without tutoring?

What exactly does the tutoring give your child?

Are there other ways to learn the format and technique needed for the paper? One parent I spoke to talked about the order in which to do the paper to maximise results - something I had not even considered.

Panic has set in and I’m very concerned that we have not done enough - study and practice books and the familiarisation materials only.

Final question that I cannot find a concrete answer on the internet for - what ballpark percentage mark will translate into a place?

I really appreciate all the help I can get with this!

I’m not familiar with the Gloucestershire 11 plus but from experience of another area I think it depends on several factors.

1. Is admission purely score based or is there a form of catchment/ priority area so the local higher scoring children are more likely to be offered a place?
2. How capable is your child? Are they working above expected levels at school? Do they enjoy learning and very important, do they read a lot?

I have twins.Twin 1 was very average at primary school, didn’t want to do the 11 plus and went to the local, underperforming, comprehensive school where they were in top sets.

Twin 2, consistently at the top of their primary class and working above expected levels. A voracious reader. Took the 11 plus, no tuition just a few 10 minute test books and a few papers to get used to the format of MCQs and non verbal reasoning questions. Scored comfortably above the priority score for the Birmingham grammar schools, but possibly wouldn’t have been offered a place if it was purely score based.

Forwarding on 6 years: Twin 1 a solid set of GCSE results (excellent for the school!) 8s, 6s and 5s. Twin 2 mainly 9s and a couple of 8s.
Both are now predicted As and A *s at A level.

I guess what I am saying is don’t panic. The amount of tutoring some children are subjected to is unbelievable. Intensive or prolonged tutoring for a single test does not necessarily equate to the child continuing to perform well once at grammar school. There are many children at the grammar school who continue to have tutoring throughout school, just so they can keep up. Not doing the 11 plus, or indeed doing it but not scoring high enough, should not dictate the future of children. It’s a brutal process and I think some children are put under an immense pressure to succeed and may have the sense that they have somehow failed if they are not offered a place.

My practical advice would be for your child to concentrate on technique, as speed is crucial- don’t waste time - if they don’t know the answer- guess and move on. They are not allowed to go back to sections, so it’s good for them just to fill out all of the MCQ - Twin 2 says choose one, i.e, all Bs.
Reading is good as it helps increase vocabulary etc.
A solid grasp of maths up to end of year 5 level should be fine. The 11 plus shouldn’t introduce stuff that hasn’t been taught but it may test a deeper understanding and application of knowledge. The commercial maths practice papers are really tricky and often have concepts that aren’t introduced until year 7. Twin 2 tried one and had a meltdown and refused to do any more maths. The lack of maths practice didn’t disadvantage them at all.
Non verbal reasoning is worth practising just so your child knows what sort of things may be included.

I’m glad Twin 1 didn’t go to grammar as I know he would have struggled with the pace. He is doing A level subjects he enjoys and has absolutely flown.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for all of that. I’m beginning to get so disillusioned by it.

My child is working at a deeper level but panics if something ‘spooks’ them so I’m concerned.

The places are prioritised for local kids from what I can see - which is an issue as we’re out of area. So I guess a better performance is needed.

Really appreciate you advice thank you!

What school are you interested in? None of them use geography (unless a tie break) as far as I know.

Some of them do use geography now, @clarrylove - Pate's and Denmark Road, for certain.

We don’t really have a first choice at the moment but it appears Pates puts non-priority non-local children at the bottom of the list. Hopefully I’m wrong!

You are not wrong, @Exasperateddonut

The admissions criteria for each school are easily found on their websites.

I agree with @ChocoIateTeapot regarding preparation. I don't have first-hand experience of the Gloucestershire 11 plus, a friend's two children did home prep for Gloucestershire grammars and both got places at their chosen grammar. I should add that both children are very bright and their parents have Oxbridge degrees and were very proactive with preparing them.

My personal experience with DD was for the Birmingham 11 plus which is generally considered similar to Gloucestershire in terms of how difficult it is to get in - Birmingham possibly being slightly harder. DD had her pick of schools with her score, and we did home prep. This was 5 years ago though. The main thing is preparing for the style of test your DC will be taking - there is no point in practising creative writing if it isn't in the test! And, as @ChocoIateTeapot says, speed, and exam technique. Never leave a question unanswered.

Gloucestershire operates on a ranking system, with some weird catchment "fudges" for some schools - you can read the details on their websites.
It has become more competitive (I guess), because of VAT (more people taking the test). Historically you needed a top 200 ranking for Pates which also drives competition as that is the school in the Times Top 100 😉
As others have said, speed is important.
Practise getting speed up.
Also, there's no negative marking on the Glos test, so worth guessing and moving on, rather than spending ages on a question and not finishing.

We are next door in Oxfordshire so no grammar schools here but we did prep our DS for independent secondary entrance exams. He did 1 hour a week from the January of year 5 (so about a year in all as his last exam was 31st Jan this year). The school we accepted did adaptive tests on Quest. Our tutor took him through the Bond books and then gave him past 11+ papers to complete. We started on our own using Atom but it became apparent that we were not teachers (although we both have degrees and one of us has a masters) and could not explain things in a way he understood. He responded much better to a tutor, and enjoyed his sessions. I really think she got the best out of him and he got the place he wanted.

we didn't do loads of tutoring either - mainly past papers under timed conditions, speed matters loads since you can't go back to a question once you're past it. some kids just don't need tutoring if they're already quick readers/good at mental maths. we use ace 11+ day to day, their diagnostic (ace11plus.org/diagnostic) was good for showing which question types he was weakest on rather than guessing. not a replacement for a tutor if you can afford one but it filled the gap for us

Mine both passed 11+ in Gloucestershire without tutoring. Where we live it’s not well know that GS is an option.

Mine were Marling/Stroud high as closer.

Pick a school that suits your child. Pates is not for everyone.

So don’t worry about tutoring but do get some past papers to familiarise them.

good luck !🍀

We're in Bucks, so different area, but I don't know any children who have passed without being part of a formal tutor group throughout Y5. Tutoring raises the bar, and sadly makes it an unlevel playing field. A lot of it is exam technique and speed.

None in our case but DC were already coping well with school and ahead of most of their classmates. We did some practice papers and workbooks at home and that was it.

What I would say though is it was more important to us to have kids that were comfortable at that level. We didn't want to make it a big thing. If they did well, they did well. If they didn't it wasn't an issue. Well being is far more important at this stage and when you took selective entry into account the GCSE results were no different to our local good non-selective school. One DC went, another chose the local.