11+ January exams in jeopardy?

[11plusoveryet]

Just that, really? A few schools still have exams scheduled for January. Cases in London are rife and likely to only get worse after Christmas. Do you think these schools will need to change their process at short notice?

No answer, but funnily enough I was just wondering that myself… Part of me hoped these might be moved forward - to the end of this term - but I suppose that’s too short notice.

I think it’s too late now. A lot of schools are
experiencing disruption due to the rising cases so it’ll be one to watch. The schools who moved their exams to November/December did the right thing.

Don’t know the answer but my DCs are both at schools with January exams. They had tons of cases before half term but have very low numbers now. Both still planning on site exams in January.
Most teens I know have had it. It’s the y3/4/5 who are getting it now.

It's certainly possible. We had an in-person January 11+ exam bumped to online and changed in format (no written English paper) fairly last-minute last year.

They all changed last year with remarkably little fuss. Up to the week before we thought we would still do them in person - it ended up being a mix depending on the school - some in person (but smaller groups), some done at the primary school (not for us we we weren't a prep but others in the cohort did this rather than going to the school), some entirely on line, others print out at home and then send a photo within a defined period of time on camera.

Scholarship interviews/ auditions were the same mix. Good luck - my DD actually found the mix helpful. Her best results were the home ones where all the stress of being in the right place/ not knowing where things were/ journey build up was taken out.

We took London and Essex borders.

We are still waiting to be told if the tests will be online or in person. Meanwhile, I found a useful resource on the TES website with information on doing the interview both online or in person, with tips for both. Not sure if I am allowed to post the link here but it’s called “Preparing Pupils for Independent School Interviews - tips to help children succeed”. I think it was £2 well spent.

Our school went ahead in person last year (with a couple of changes) and is planning to do the same this year.

@Tralalalala21

Don’t know the answer but my DCs are both at schools with January exams. They had tons of cases before half term but have very low numbers now. Both still planning on site exams in January. Most teens I know have had it. It’s the y3/4/5 who are getting it now.

I think cases being in primaries/preps is the whole point.

The pupiis at the host school will be unaffected - they'll either have a day off or the exam is on a Saturday.

The risk is to staff from the prospective pupils, who will have come from a whole host of other schools and then be sitting together.

@Nenen - please could you post a link to the article you read? Thanks

DD was due to sit one of her 11+ exams on 6th January last year (think that's the right date - the day the schools closed). We got a holding email from the school, then the exam was moved to online with remote invigilation a week later. She actually preferred doing it in the comfort of her own home, although we were a bit more fraught when it came to scanning and submitting her answers in the time frame!

Interviews were also online via zoom. Youth be amazed at how well the kids adapt. DD got her place at the school she wanted, and now it's all a distant memory.

Honestly, don't worry. They'll have contingency plans after last year, they're just waiting to see what happens before pressing any buttons.

@Justajot The link for the tips on interviews, with common questions and sample answers is here: www.tes.com/resource-detail/preparing-pupils-for-independent-school-interviews-tips-to-help-pupils-succeed-12609773