Dd wants to transfer to grammar school - how to up her levels?

[DishwasherDogs]

Dd is in yr 8 and hating her current school.
She has friends in the local Grammar school and would like to take the exam (in July) to see if she could go there.
At the moment her target levels for end of yr 8 is 6b.
To pass the exams she would need to be getting high 6 to 7.
Is this doable? She would be willing to put her all into working for this.
Can anyone recommend any books or workbooks that can help her achieve this?
Thank you.

My DD did this last year, I think she used the Bond books. There isn't much at the right level for Year 9 entry but the ones just below were fine. It's the techniques and the style of the questions that's important, particularly in the verbal/non-verbal reasoning. You could always ask the school if they can let you have past papers, they might. Sometimes grammar school websites have sample questions.

Has she sat the test before?

Good luck. My poor DD was utterly miserable at her secondary having failed the 11+. We found that very few parents seem to want to move their children at this stage so there weren't actually many girls sitting for each place. In fact, they had to have several rounds of exams to fill the places.

They've told me that the exams won't be the same as the 11+, it'll be exams in English, maths and science.
I asked about past papers and it's not a possibility unfortunately.
She sat the 11+ but at the time we didn't consider the grammar school for various reasons, so she had no tutoring (all other dc in the school had at least 1-2 years tutoring), and didn't try, so failed.

My DC transferred in Yr 8. There were 15 children competing for 3 places, but that may obviously not be the case for you! English may well just be comprehension and an essay/story. You can get plenty of comprehension practices by looking at tests published for 11plus (or the Bond 12plus ones), and you can make up essay topics yourself. You can get Key Stage 3 revision books for maths and science, and Bond 12plus maths tests are again worth doing, even if the level is a bit low. The material you find won't be as tailored as for 11 plus, but the key thing is for her to revise all the topics in maths and science, and to practise doing tests - watching the clock etc.

Thank you Salted.
Watching the clock and pressure from doing that is one of dd's weak points, so this is definitely something she needs to practice!

CPG have recently published some 13+ Common Entrance Study Books for English, Maths and Science - these might be useful. The grammar school might have some revision material for its current year 8s on its website as internal school exams are coming up soon - or you might be able to see what topics they've been studying. Also, check the websites for some of the selective private schools (girls or co-ed, not boys as these might be very maths heavy) as they often have sample papers for their own 13 plus exams (not common entrance); try some of the private schools in the top 50 - City of London Freemen's School or Reigate Grammar do have sample papers I think. The English exam will probably have a descriptive essay but be prepared for a discursive or persuasive essay/letter and make sure your dd knows the difference between the two.

Around here it is subject tests and also a report from the current school as to suitability. The presssure of workload in the grammar schools is higher so they are not looking for attainment, they are looking for suitability for that type of education. 6b does not sound that great for year 8. If she was already in a grammar school, a lot of their children will be on 6b in year 7 because they willl have entered the grammar school on 5a's or even above for maths. If she was 4a in year 6 SATS, she would be unlikely to be in a grmmar school around here and plenty of 5b and 5c children do not go either. Why did you not want the grammar school in the first place?

I see what you mean Milly, but this is what I was told the expected levels by the lady in charge of admissions, so I don't really know.
We didn't opt for the grammar school for a few reasons. I went there and hated every second of it, which of course clouds your judgement when it comes to choosing for your dc.
Dd has not worked well under pressure, so this is a concern of ours, and we have discussed this with dd, and feel that if she is wanting to try, and understands that there will be higher workload, we are happy to back her up and support her in this. We wouldn't be considering it if she didn't want it so much, and I do believe that having a goal helps you to focus and work harder.
When she did SATS, a number of dc had been tutored for the 11+ for 1-2 years (which I don't agree with), but the majority still got level 4 for SATS.

Thank you Clav, that's useful to know about the English exam.

It's not about how good she is, it's about how well she does compared with the other DCs who sit the test with her. There may be enough places for all of them, in which case presumably she will be offered one. or it may be very competitive, as it was for my DC.
NB my DC is quite bright but not especially hard-working. When she transferred to grammar she was behind in some of the subjects, but without doing an awful lot of homework is catching up. I love the grammar school - academic work is taken seriously, the teaching is good, the DCs care about doing well and discipline is great, and it is also very friendly and has a few nice extra-curricular activities (though far fewer than a private school would be likely to have).