Interview Questions for 11+ Entrance Exams

[MalbecMummy]

Any clues please anyone? I haven’t got DS reading the newspapers or anything yet! Am I too laid back?!

Our school recommended them watching news a bit.
They don’t need to be totally clued on the current affairs, but some understanding of major events is helpful.

Surely, every school is different?
You need to speak to whomever at school advised you to apply.

In all honesty nobody can really help 'cos our experiences could be entirely different to the process at your school.

But as I remember googling madly for the same answer 3yrs ago I'll try!

Dd watched the news anyway and was pretty clued up (through choice). However neither asked anything about it. Dd said they both asked about why she wanted to go to the school, and if they were first choice. Also about her interests and hobbies etc.

Both got her to do some brief academic stuff, presumably to try and judge if her test results were a reflection of her ability or the result of hot housing. One threw a curveball with a question they can't have expected anyone her age to have encountered, let alone solve. And then asked her to explain how she'd tried to find a solution. I strongly suspect to judge how she could apply her knowledge/ her reasoning/ her approach . However we were after a scholarship and bursary so the latter question was very much part of that rather than standard.

Thehogfather - thank you so much! The perfect answer!

MMmonDD - yes I think I’ll get DD to watch the news at least. He does watch it half heartedly!

My DD was asked what her favourite book was, and why.
Also some mental maths questions.

My DD was asked about what subjects she enjoyed and why. She was asked about her hobbies and what she thought she would enjoy about the school. She was asked about a book she had read recently. So, make sure your child knows what hobbies you have listed (do not over embellish or lie), read a few books and get to know them, have a subject the child can talk about and make absolutely sure they can say what excites them about the school. Mine did no prep apart from the above. She has a strong personality and is articulate which helps. Don’t coach or get them to analyse the news in an adult way. The school will smell a rat!

My advice would be to tell the children that they will also be judged outside the formal interview. My daughter (upper sixth) was in school one day last week helping with the entrance exams/interview process. Her job was to collect girls from the room where they were waiting and escort them to their interview, talking to them and helping to put them at their ease etc,

What she hadn't expected was that afterwards the teacher who was interviewing asked for her view on each of the candidates. Obviously her view would not have been the most important factor in deciding who to make offers to, but it was taken into account.

DD was asked whether she read "first news" in one interview (she did) and then was asked what she thought about Brexit and Trump. So it would be worth knowing the main news story of the time of the interview.

Don't forget to have a question ready to ask the interviewer! They always ask at the end if the kid has any questions for them ... my ds asked the interviewer where they had gone to school, and what they like about their school!

Thank you everyone - what great ideas. Food for thought! And I didn’t think about the questions for the interviewer. That’s great. Good luck to all!

What is “first news”? My DDs would have wondered what this meant? I am not sure many schools expect an analysis of politics at 11. I think more want to see a well rounded student with decent general knowledge and interests. They want to know if they will fit into the ethos of the school, be rewarding to teach and avail themselves of all the school has to offer. So look at what your child is interested in and what they can do at the school and prep mostly on that. Conversation should come naturally and no child should be expected to have an opinion on Brexit! If they do, it is clearly informed by the parental position and evidence of over preparing being expected. That isn’t what most schools want and they expressly say so.

asking if they read "first news" or watch newsround/the news is not the same as expecting an analysis of politics!

it is a very common question.
i am sure if they say no and look blank however the interviewer will just move on...

www.firstnews.co.uk/
theweekjunior.co.uk/

Other thing I've remembered, someone who was involved professionally said the interviewer would rather hear an articulate, enthusiastic, knowledgeable response about an interest in Harry Potter or similar, to an unconvincing monotone about a fake interest in a more worthy subject. It might have been on here or the 11+ forum where I read it.

and there were a few questions on the state grammar VR exam DD sat were about politics

• who is the local MP?
• who is the prime minister
• who is the foreign secretary
• who is the chancellor of the exchequor

It surprised me...

Aaagghhhhh!!!! Let’s just get rid of January!

Careful what you wish for op, once January is done you'll have the longest ever February waiting for that letter!

rather than worry about current affairs etc. (DD2 was asked it in 1 of 2 interviews, for the less academic school) focus on those first few minutes of the interview which can be the most daunting.

• meeting the teacher, shaking their hand, smiling and saying hello.

be ready for an open ended question like "tell me about yourself" - that completely threw DD1 a few years back