Totally confused about 11+/independent school entrance exams

[Yoda1976]

Help please! My DD wants to try out for Surbiton High School, Kingston Grammar and another couple! She is state primary year 5, no tutor yet (I know...maybe a little late!!) I was state educated and feel quite confused about how to begin helping her.
I want to get some Bonds Books but am confused what to get! There seems such a variety, CEM, GL, 10 minute test, practice papers...or the others? The schools don't seem to give much indication of what their entrance exam entails! No old papers available for surbiton to even see what kind of style questions they have.....

Try the 11+ website - it has a lot of information and some very knowledgeable people on it.

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/

You won't get much info on those schools on the eleven plus website.
I would put her in for the KGS 10 plus as practice- super hard to get a place but very useful particularly if coming from a state school. They give good feedback as well.

Surbiton just have Maths and English, KGS has Maths, English and Verbal reasoning.

You can find past papers on lots of websites, KGS, Emanuel, Kings etc and those will give you an idea of what is expected. If you DD is bright enough most of the value of a tutor is in exam technique if you are at a state school- I found DD knew all the stuff but wasn't great in terms timing etc.

She's just done 11+ and got offers from both Surbiton and KGS (didn't get 10+ KGS). We ended up with half of WH Smith in books- the 10 minute tests were useful if she couldn't be bothered but I think the GL etc were better for reasoning in terms of the questions etc. Bond Books are definitely easier.

Agree, put her in for KGS 10+
My dd sat it with no tutoring from state primary and got in, worth a try and if not successful it is good practice!

You don't need a tutor if you are prepared to do some Bond practise papers with her. DC did one maths or English or Verbal reasoning or NVR (which they also needed) each week, so one of each per month for one year, and got into all the schools easily - similar area and calibre (Hampton, Reeds, RGS.)
We read loads and loads to and with DC and got them to read First News too, so they had some wisdom about the world (both ended up absolutely obsessed with politics and current affairs as a result.)

Good luck

If in year 5 now, probably too late for10+exam. These tend to occur earlier in the year

Oh yes- sorry- forgot you were in year 5! 11plus it is then!

I would definitely recommend the Bond books, and there are paid for mock tests run at some of the Sutton grammars and Glyn in Ewell, which would be good practice and give you an idea of how your DD compares to her cohort. The mocks are more geared to state exams rather than private exams. Private exams have non-verbal and verbal, which can be paper or computer-based. The computer-based ones are usually administered via Durham University. The programme continues posting questions until the candidate isn't able to answer them, so the longer the candidate does the test the higher the score.
My DC have sat the grammars and in the private sector: CLFS, St John's, Epsom College and Sutton High. Sutton High is a good back up school as it is not as hard to get into as the grammars and CLFS. Both Epsom and St John's are becoming harder to get into as well, so it is difficult to gauge against them.

THANKYOU!!!! great advice.

My son's old maths teacher, the best teacher either of my kids have ever had, really pushed Luminosity for 11+ prep.

My daughter did the private exams in January and is joining Surbiton in September.
You need to practice English comprehension , creative writing and general maths. They also do a personal paper with questions about themselves, "describe a problem you overcome " - " write about something good you did for others "

We came from a state primary, my experience is anybody seriously considering private -had a tutor. Interestingly the two children who were tutored for the longest ( two years) got each school they applied for.
We tutored for 10 months and It was the best thing we did for our daughter. She was given weekly homework - something our state didn't do , affirming the basics and giving her confidence.
The best element was time preparation and understanding papers and how to cope in an exam. The states will not prepare your child for this. The first time my daughter did work in a timed environment she found it quite hard - practice really helped.
Tutoring brought a wealth of positives, a chance to pick up any areas she was weak in, get her into practice for homework and also give her confidence.
You are up against prep schools that have been preparing for these exams for years.
Book wise we used all of them - but nothing was as good or as specific as the tutor .
My daughter is exceeding in all subjects and scored high in every SAT mock test at her state primary so far - she is naturally bright ( I would put her top 15 percent of the class) - but I am still not sure if we would have made it to any of the schools without some tutor prep.
Good luck !