Help! How do I prep my child for the 11 Plus?

[FrappeGirl]

DS1 has suddenly announced that he wants to take the 11 Plus in September.

I literally have no idea how to start preparing him for this.

School were useless - just gave me the link to our local grammar. Presumably his teacher should be able to tell me where extra revising wouldn't go amiss though, if I ask?

Google says you should start prepping a year in advance. Have we ready left it too late?!

Any help or advice from Mums of 11+ alumni would be amazing.

Thank you (very much) in advance.

If you look on the website for the school you're considering they may have familiarisation materials which would be useful. Find out what type of test they do, then you can buy books to practice and practice paper books. I'd start with a practice test, timed, and see where your DS has gaps. They they can do some practice on those areas. My DC did some practice in the summer hols, the 11+ was at the end of September and that was fine (although we don't live in a really intense grammar area, I understand that's a whole different kettle of fish!).

The main thing is getting used to the question types and timings.

There’s an eleven plus forum where you can find out what tests they use and what others aiming for the school are using for revision.

Get a tutor would be easiest. They will prep with DC the different types of questions and how to recognise each question type.

It’s not too late but you would need to work hard now to get it all done. It also depends where you live, some grammars are easier to get into than others. I never used tutors for my DC, I think they’re a waste of money. You can find out more about the type of test the school has on your local authority website and then you can buy books to help them practice.

I am an 11+ tutor.
It is certainly not too late to start. I am assuming that your son is basically clever (gets Greater Depth on school reports) and so would do well at a grammar school.

Your goal is to familiarise yourself with the stuff he needs for the exam, and do plenty of practise questions so he gets the feel of how to do it.

1. where are you, what exam will he take? There are several different ones, and they work differently, you need to find out this first. Go to the 11+ forum, and then find your area. Go to the school website, they should tell you which exam, and often they link to sample papers.
2. depending on which exam, get hold of some study books. If it is the GL exam, then I recommend the CGP Practice Book (A4 sized, don't confuse with their 10 minutes practice books, this is bigger and covers all topics) You need one for each subject, English, VR, NVR and maths.
3. Work through those books, and if you come across somethign he struggles with eg one of the maths topics, then get on google and do more practice/lessons until he gets it.
4. Use the practice tests at the back of the book. Do them timed, and IMPORTANT print of the answer sheets so that he has practice in filling in the mutiple choice answer sheets like in the exam.

You could also get a pack of vocab cards and start using them, look out especially for vocab which has one spelling and several meanings (bow, lead, contract etc) and also look out for synonyms and antonyms.

A lot does depend on where you are as some areas are much more competative than others. And some schools much harder to get into.

If you are heading for the glos grammars, then PM me and I'll give you more information

Agree it's doable but will be intensive for such a short period. My DS has been doing an hour per week with a 121 tutor since Sept, about 24 lessons and they finish all the content across English, Maths, VR and NR by week 29.

I think you may struggle to find a tutor now as they tend to structure around a year course, but you could use CPG books and also a Summer school if you wanted extra lessons?

Mocks are also important as it's as much about answering lots of questions under time pressure as well as knowing the content/question types.

Also, massively depends on your area and if it's selective or super selective? Post here and someone will be able to advise how competitive it is.

We are a standard selective area and it's nuts. Lots tutoring for 1-2 years, so go into it with your eyes open.

Thank you everyone, so much for your messages.

Have actually done some proper research tonight and found out that it's the FSCE 11+ exam for this particular school.

Does anyone having any experiencing using Atom Learning for online practice and mock tests?

Have just done a few practice questions on Atom myself and my brain hurts now!😆

I'd have a look at www.elevenplusexams.co.uk where they have a lot of help available,with a forum for each area.

I'd suggest checking if the exam is paper based or online. I'm sure ATOM can add value to all prep, but we're personally sticking to paper as my DS exams are paper based. I want as much practice using the answer sheets as possible.