Is it possible to buy past papers for 11 plus practise?

[EdMcDunnough]

I'm not sure if ds is going to pass - he's bright, but a bit slow and he panics a lot with work stuff.

My parents suggested we buy some past papers to give him a general ideawhat sort of questions there will be, but I don't know where to start.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Thankyou

There is no single 11+. In some areas all schools use the same test, in others each school uses its own test. Approach the school you want your son to attend and see if they can help.

Yep, WHSmith sell them. Just check with the school as to which set of papers you need. Good luck.

WHSmith provide 11+ practice papers. They are not past papers and they may be very different from the tests used by your local schools. The Eleven Plus Exam Group who produce the papers sold by WHSmith say that they are "produced in a style that is similar to the majority of 11 plus exams being sat by children in many parts of the country". If you want some genuine past papers you need to talk to the school(s) concerned and see if they can help you.

Thankyou so much, sorry, had to go and get children earlier. I really appreciate all the replies.

When you say approach the schools - do you mean the secondary schools? Tbh it's nearly 30 years since I did it and I have no idea how it works any more (didn't have much idea then!)

I am really glad that WHS sells practise papers though. That's brilliant. A few people are probably getting tutoring, but I'm not sure how to go about that either!

He's just started y5 btw.

It depends which school IYSWIM.

When you know which school you want to apply for then you can find out which papers to buy.

Do you know which schools you are interested in?

Well, yes, there are a couple I like - but surely the kids all do the same papers in their primary school?

I'm confused by this.

We're in Kent btw.

They dont do the practice papers at primary do they?

Well they don't in London anyway.

I'm not sure, tbh. They might I suppose - I think we used to when I did it.

I think I'll order a couple of books from WHS and see how we get on.

Thanks again for all the help.

Hi -
If he is reasonably competent at Literacy and Numeracy (which you can practise / reinforce fairly easily) it is the non-verbal reasoning aspect (if your area does that) which can really confuse a child, as it can be unlike anything they have ever encountered before.

Try and grab (not literally!) a friendly Year 7 child at one of the local 'selective' schools of your choice, and ask what preparation he did (if he can still remember!)

Getting on for twenty years ago our DS got into Grammar School, and the ethos is just so different it really is worth trying for.

Oh that is helpful - thankyou. I have ordered a few books from WHS now - including some non verbal reasoning, I did wonder what that was all about

Here there are two grammars for boys, both lovely, and if he doesn't pass it's one of two absolutely dire schools which I just cannot send him to.

I don't want to get him in on false pretences but I think a bit of practise won't go amiss - and if he still doesn't get through, then so be it I'll teach him at home!

My DS sat the 11+ last Saturday, so this is all rather fresh in my mind! I would first ignore any 11+ knowledge that you have from your childhood-I can safely say that last Saturday's experience bore no relation to when I took my 11+ in 1987 whatsoever!

I wouldn't buy any practice paper from smiths until you know what your region requires. I'd read this and then find the area relevant to you.

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/preparation/11-plus-preparation-in-year-5

In Essex, we do a Maths, English and verbal reasoning paper, but no non-verbal reasoning so those books would have been no use to us.

Oops-sorry, I've just seen you are in Kent. Try reading this...

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/shop/Kent/

HTH

Thankyou so much. I will try the link you've put - that's brilliant.

Hope your DS gets on Ok.

Hi, I'm in Kent and my DS has just sat the KCC 11+ papers. The junior sch didn't do any practice papers, the County don't allow it. Papers were verbal reasoning, maths and non verbal. We had a tutor, I would say 90% of children had a tutor , the parents just keep it quiet! We bought Bond papers and the bond books.

Hiya, thankyou, that is useful info - but a bit worrying! I've no idea how to go about getting a tutor. I'll have to ask around I suppose and see if anyone can recommend someone.

Website elevenplusexams will tell you what papers your area does

As mentioned above Kent do NVR, Maths and VR with an English paper being used in case of appeal (ie it is only looked at for borderline cases)
DS is now in Year 7 at a Kent grammar having taken 11 plus this time last year.
The grammars themselves have different criteria for entry in Kent - all require an 11 plus pass, but from that point on some might differentiate between children on score, and some on distance. You need to look at the grammar schools you are interested in and check out their over subscription criteria.
It's site is very useful - 11 plus forum
Best practice papers are by GL Assessment as they are closest to the format of the Kent test.
By the way - the Kent test is all multiple choice.

"My DS sat the 11+ last Saturday, so this is all rather fresh in my mind! I would first ignore any 11+ knowledge that you have from your childhood-I can safely say that last Saturday's experience bore no relation to when I took my 11+ in 1987 whatsoever!"

letseatgrandma - I felt that the Verbal Reasoning practice papers/books etc seem to be stunningly like my 11+ some 35 years ago I remembered how to do them and that's how I was able to help both DD's with speed technique a few times. Everyone's different and sits different exams but boy, did it throw me back to my day when it came to looking at them for my children. Nothing seems to change and the same old homographs get churned out to catch out the unwary

Thankyou for all the help, everyone. I'm really glad I asked.

I seem to have bought the GL papers, will see what they are like when they arrive.

There is apparently a tutor group for children here, after school one evening but it's two hours - I don't think I want to put ds through that, especially as it will clash with his sports club. But I might see what other people think of it and maybe send him along for a go.

Thanks Tough. Yes the grammar I really like has changed its criteria, not sure in what way - whether it is a higher score you need, or to live closer. We live very close so might be alright on those grounds, but if it's scoring I don't know.

I wonder if we get to look around this year or is it next year? He's y5 at the moment. If there's open days we could find out then.

Thankyou - will look in local papers for the ads.

I'm in the same position as you, DS just gone into Year 5. I was also put off by the tutor group being 2 hours after school - it made me think that if anyone running a club thinks 9 year olds are going to be happy, and able to concentrate, for 2 hours extra tution straight after a whole day at school, then perhaps they aren't the right people for the job...
I had also wondered about going to Schools' open days this year, but couldn't think of a good reason to...