Advice regarding entrance exams for independent secondary schools

[motherforceawakens]

Hello,
I have a year 5 DS and we're thinking about secondary schools that would be right for him. For several reasons he'll be going to an independent school. He's bright and an all rounder and while none of us want him to apply to a very competitive, academic secondary school he will inevitably end up sitting some entrance exams. He's not going to receive extra tutoring but I did want him to start doing some practice papers in Maths and English (and non verbal reasoning? Does he need to do that too?) Any help would be appreciated. This is our first time with all this.
Thanks.

You will probably find that the schools you might consider have sample entrance exam papers on their website. My son just did a couple of those as practice .

Get in touch with the schools you are planning to apply for and ask their advice on the best prep to do. Bond books are a good starting point.

Do remember that for the maths, if he's at a state school, he may not be taught everything on the exam in school. People tutor to level the playing field a bit between state and prep kids. You don't have to pay, but do make sure you're aware of what he should know in able to compete for a place.

Hi. My DD recently sat entrance exams. We bought CGP and Bond practice books for VR and NVR. She does a lot of English and Maths at school (including mock SATS and 10-minute tests) so we focused on what she hadn’t had exposure to. Didn’t tutor, didn’t do any other prep (for interview, etc) as wanted them to see her as she is. She was offered a scholarship place at a very competitive school. Good luck.

Some independents offer a pre-test in year 5. This gives your child a practice day at the venue and with the type of paper. School also gives feedback on performance and will indicate areas of weakness. Check with your school of choice, but I fear for you with a year 5 kid now that these are usually held around the same time as the 11+ exams in autumn or January. There is absolutely no harm with starting a dialogue with the admissions team now though, and make sure your DS visits the school. If he comes away really wanting to go, this gives him an incentive to try really hard in the exam. Worked with my DS!

Thanks for all the good advice. Contacting the schools is a good place to start and I'll take a look at CGP and Bond books too.

Just to be clear, should I be looking at the books aimed at 11+ prep (even though he won't be sitting the 11+) or is there something more suitable?
Thanks again

DD has got into a very good independent school for Sept 2018. We had done absolutely zilch at this stage in Y5. She had about 6 months worth of tutoring (with a long gap for the summer so April/May/June and Sept/Oct/Dec) which was mainly aimed at exam technique rather than teaching her anything in particular. She had no problem with the exams. She goes to a very ordinary primary school and had no other preparation for the tests. So it is definitely possible! Good luck!

And yes, look at 11+ stuff as a starting point. Also, google eleven plus forum as whatever schools you are looking at, there is bound to be someone on there with experience of them.

The 11+ books are a good start for multiple choice verbal reasoning and non verbal but really you need past papers of the exam type that your chosen school sit. Also, Independents tend to do a creative writing piece and long, written comprehensions.

Also where in the country are you looking? London day schools are fairly competitive. There is an elevenplusexams forum which has an independent schools section. It's very informative.