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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Entrance exams - advice please

3 replies

Atissue123 · 04/10/2022 21:30

DD1 is 10 and will sit the entrance exams of 2 independent schools in January, she has a 'preferred choice'. Both are in the Midlands and in the top 100 schools in the UK, competitive but not one of the top few here (because she doesn't want girls only).

She is bright and working at greater depth in all areas but we have recently started her with a tutor (late I know) and now I am worrying she won't be ready for the exams.

Currently she is doing:

  • 15 mins a day of either maths (Schofield & Sims 11+ prep book 2), S&S Verbal R, Comprehension (CGP Verbal reasoning comprehensions) or Creative writing task. Plus her usual homework and activities!
  • 45 min one day on the weekend - usually a longer comprehension or a creative piece of writing or longer stint on the maths.
  • One hour with tutor approx every 10 days (to which she takes things she has found tricky in the above e.g. algebra which hasn't yet been covered in school.

I think she is doing 'ok' in that she scores normally 80%+ on all of the above areas and tbh hasn't had much help other than with maths where she has had approx 8 tutor sessions over the last 4 months. I am concerned though that she may not be working 'fast enough' but unsure how much of the practice papers they would expect candidates to get through and also what a pass rate would be? Is there any way of finding this out, just ask the school i guess?

Also if your child is sitting an exam what prep (if any) are they doing during the week? She is at a state primary that is definitely not ahead in terms of where they are on the curriculum but as I say she herself probably works at a greater depth than quite a lot of the class according to her teacher.

OP posts:
Edmontine · 04/10/2022 21:36

Can’t answer your substantive questions but ideally you would have employed a tutor who is familiar with the exams set by the schools you’re interested in.

Atissue123 · 04/10/2022 22:03

Yes I have, the tutor definitely knows the requirements so perhaps I am overthinking it at this point and should see how she’s getting on in another few weeks. She’s only had 2 sessions so far with her, previous to that it was w different tutor but she didn’t know this school.

OP posts:
KindergartenKop · 17/10/2022 15:10

I think time-wise this is fine. If you push too hard they won't be able to keep up if they get in to the school!

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