2023 Eleven Plus support thread

[elevenduck]

I thought it might be useful for parents of 2023 children taking the 11+ test next school year to have a space to talk everything 11+ - tips on managing stress, approaches to the different papers, ways of relaxing etc.

Let's try and keep it positive and supportive!

You know what, not everyone has tutored or prepped much and this is a support thread. Do leave if the very concept of putting your child through the 11+ seems something you can’t get behind.

for everyone else, we’ve had a shit couple of days, dd is refusing to do her practice papers the tutor has left for us to do this week while the tutors on holiday. We’re back with the tutor tomorrow morning so will show what’s done and not push it tonight. From what I can tell, she’s got between 80-90% on the maths and English papers she did for the tutor before the meltdown happened.

if she stays calm on the day, this should be enough. Ahhh!!

@Ladybowes

Of course, every person is unique and has their own feelings and perspectives. I think you have repeated your patronising feel a few times on my prospective even I tried my best to elaborate, it is perhaps the time.

I think most dc are fed up of the extra they are doing for the 11 plus. My son is definitely getting a bit sick of it all - I’ve had to resort to bribery and little and often. Which seems to working. Good luck with it. Not long to go now!

Same here. No flat out refusal yet but the enthusiasm has definitely gone at this end. I think all of us will be glad when it's over. The lack of summer routine isn't helping either. We've got several practice papers still to do and I don't think we'll do all of them.
When are all your exams? 4 weeks to go here.

@curiousmamma we have 7 weeks to go which feels like ages sometimes just want to get it over and done with now. Agree lack of routine is a problem. Whatever the outcome I will be glad when it’s over too.

We have tried a routine of starting at 9.15 each morning and getting some work "out of the way" for 30 mins or so. Then going out and doing something fun, then doing another 30 mins in the afternoon.

DD isn't jumping for joy with the work but I agree routine and predictability helps (obviously with the occasional full day off if we have something special planned.).

Is anyone else’s DC getting really anxious about the exam? Mine is getting a bit teary some days and says he’s worried about messing it up. He’s been doing well in practice papers on the whole but takes it to heart if he gets stuck on certain questions. I have assured him whatever happens it’ll all work out and we’re proud of him for working so hard and giving it a go, but it doesn’t seem to help. If anyone else has been through this and has any advice it would be much appreciated.

This is something I struggled with @Idlovetostayhereandbenormal and I’ll be honest, it’s hard to find words of reassurance isn’t it? However you look at it, it’s pretty high stakes - especially if your Plan B school isn’t very desirable.

One thing I did keep saying is that both grammar and comprehensive schools have many pros and cons and grammar schools certainly aren’t perfect (as in high pressure, longer commutes, fewer familiar faces on the first day etc).

@Idlovetostayhereandbenormal. My DD can get frustrated if she gets stuck too. She puts so much pressure on herself.
I've just been reading about our local school. The building is no longer fit for use really and I've been reading a report by the head saying that teachers are going off sick because of mould in the classroom and that's it's sheer luck that no one has been injured yet from ceilings that keep collapsing. I don't have any other option if she doesn't get in to the grammar but I really don't want her to go to our local school. I'm more anxious than DD now.

You can put additional schools beyond two preference in the CAF form in this country. It is not a binary choice between Grammar and the local school you don't like.

Not getting into grammar school does not mean that your DD has failed or that she cannot succeed in life. It means that there is a different path to follow, and that she can still end up a school that suits her needs and aspirations, achieving great GCSE grades and beyond.

As the previous commenter pointed out, don’t convince yourself that there is no other option if she did not pass, it is harmful to the child’s mental well-being for the long term if she adopts the same mindset.

You can put additional schools beyond two preference in the CAF form in this country. It is not a binary choice between Grammar and the local school you don't like.

I’m afraid it was a binary choice for me and I lost a lot of sleep over it. There are two secondaries in the town and you’d have no issue getting a place at either, but if you wanted to name one of the further afield secondaries (just over five miles away) you aren’t necessarily going to get a place. So as much as I was free to name up to six schools, it was with the knowledge that doing so was mostly pointless. It was grammar school or local school.

@LvMH I know all that thanks however we live in a very rural area and there's only the local high school that's a realistic option. The other school is too far away for her to stand a chance of getting in. It is very much binary for us.

From someone who went through this 7 years ago. DD did half an hour a day with a few days off each week so 2 to 3 hours max per week in summer holidays. She chose to do this herself. She had chosen the school she was aiming at.

Once school term restarted no more prep. We felt she had done enough and school plus prep was too much and it gave her confidence that we had confidence in her.

Loads of other DCs went down with colds etc at start of term in perfect timing for exams. DD did too but not a bad one and she still sat the exams and did fine. Think about plan B for tests if your child can’t sit the main one.

What do you do on the day of the tests? As DD had four (three state tests in Sept, one private in Jan) we didn’t want her missing too much school. She went in in the mornings when she had afternoon tests for example, this didn’t give her time to fret. We also thought carefully about food times, a bigger breakfast for a lunchtime test for example to tide her over and a banana just before the test. You will know your DC best.

Good luck

Hello, only just joining but have been browsing this thread for a while. Only two weeks to go for us and the stress is mounting. I think my DD's worst fear at the moment is being split from her small friend group who will not be going to the local high school if they don't pass the 11+ (she will, we are not in catchment for any others and they are all over-subscribed). She seems ok during the day but teary at bedtime when she starts thinking about it all.

I'm sure many are in the same boat with GL taking over from CEM, but our consortium has been very quiet about whether or not the paper will follow a traditional GL format or if it will incorporate the style of CEM with a heavier comprehension and vocab focus in VR (they have not said there will be English and I gather comprehension in GL comes under English rather than VR, but they do allude to tasks requiring comprehension skills in the VR section). So it feels as though we are having to do extra work this year!

Anyway, I've caved and paid for extra tuition this week as the novelty of doing practice papers with me has well and truly worn off now. Hopefully a break for us both on that front will do us both some good!

@LimeCheesecake I'm curious why you think 11 GCSEs is better than 9, what advantage does this bring? You only do 3-4 at a-level and no one really cares about number of GCSEs after a-level anyway. Personally I would rather my DC did 9 GCSEs got good grades and had less stress without having 2 extra foisted upon. I did 10 GCSEs 30ish years ago and honestly, the extra one has made no difference, or if anything had a detrimental effect.

@11plusmum2023 - gives more options. Generally kids have to chose their GCSEs in year 8 or in some schools they can wait until year 9. Cutting off a lot of options - few schools will let you take to A level something you’ve not done at GCSE. The non- gcse subjects are then closed off to them, and as such degree or career options. it’s very young to be cutting our whole sections of the curriculum.

Another practical advice is to manage toilet breaks, it is normally allowed during different section of assessment. During the test some test are allowed to toilet while there are some don't, even so it will waste a few good minutes if do that during the test. You will be surprised to see there are many stress 10/11 years old need to wee during 11+ exam sessions.

If you take GCSEs in Maths, English x 2, double/triple science, an MFL, a humanity + 2 options (art, music, drama, PE, another language if that is available, a second humanity, something practical such as DT or food science), I'd be really intrigued to know what A level choices that would restrict?

I do agree we specialise too early in England, but I'm not sure it's true to say that doing 8 or 9 GCSEs closes any options – as long as you can take a wide spread.

@LimeCheesecake I know that things have changed over the decades but I remember there being 5 enforced choices and then you get 4 choices out of the rest and also knew which subjects I was better at or not or enjoyed more by year 9 even if I didn't know exactly what I wanted to study at a level. Maybe you felt differently which is why you feel you want your DC to be more widespread.

not to derail with gcse chat - but dc1 has to do: triple science (not offered in all non-grammars in our area), maths, 2xenglish, RS (his year only have to do it to 16 so the school found it easier to just make them all do it). So 7 before you’ve made a choice. Then one language (doesn’t have to be modern, they are able to choose Latin instead), either history or geography then they pick one from the group that included music, art, DT, computer science, PE, then one more free choice.

granted there’s still more choice for a lot of 9 subject schools if they do double award science rather than triple, but in our town, two languages are only available at the grammar schools, being able to do say, music and art and history is only an option at grammars. For kids whose talents aren’t in sciences or maths, there aren’t many good options bar the grammars. I’m hoping the “everyone has to do RS” is dropped for this year group to free up more choice. (They’re bound to follow that with whatever the hobby of the current education secretary is though.)

Oh and back on topic - morning started badly with a meltdown that she couldn’t do verbal reasoning questions, left it. Went to the tutor who marked her English and maths and said 88% overall for those. Dd is now buzzing about that she can do it after all.

god it’s hard keeping the cheerfulness up!

We had to have a week off and then come back in a completely new way. We’re off the app and onto papers. We’ve only got a few weeks left now as they are away for a week at the beginning of September then away for the whole weekend a couple of weeks later. So we’re just doing a last push and then what will be, will be.

DD did 10 GCSEs at her grammar, (10 was the norm, but they were flexible if you had outside sport for example that meant you needed to do fewer) you could do more with special permission, a good number did 11 if doing further maths or a niche language like Mandarin that was taught as a twilight class. Some of the nearby comprehensives don't offer separate sciences. DD's grammar had the option to do separate sciences (3 GCSEs) or combined science (2 GCSE equivalent). Doing combined science doesn't prevent you from staircasing to the A level but it can make it darn harder.

One of my daughter's friends did both Geography and history as they had enough choice, thinking at the time of choosing they preferred History but ended up choosing Geography for university, if she hadn't had that extra option she wouldn't have known how much she enjoyed the subject as what is taught in Y7-9 can be very different from the GCSE content. So even though you do not necessarily have to have done the GCSE to do the A level, how would you know what you like doing if you had dropped the subject several years earlier? Many schools only allow you to pick one or the other either through timetabling issues or limit on number of GCSEs and chasing the EBacc criteria.

For those who joined my daughter's grammar sixth form from local comprehensives where they had done really well with 8 GCSEs, they sometimes struggled with the workload of the A levels as they were not used to it and were not so well prepared, it was again that major extra step-up from many GCSEs to A levels tripping even those with a 7-9 grade.

I do like a school that doesn't have an 'all pupils do n GCSEs' policy. It is great when they are flexible according to the needs, interests and capabilities of the pupils.

Yes - while DC1’s grammar officially has them all doing 11, many drop one subject at the end of year 9 (they have to pick in year 8) and some are put on doing 10 at start of year 9.

interesting the workload shift to A levels, hasn’t thought of that.

Interestingly DD2, who went to a not terribly good Secondary Modern, did almost identical GCSEs to her brother at the grammar school. She took
maths x 3, science x 3, english x 2, history, Spanish, PE and ICT. He took only 1 maths GCSE but also did geography, so 11.

I think general consensus among educational experts and teachers is that 11-12 is too many – partly because universities often only look at your best 8 anyway – though I stand to be corrected.

@PettsWoodParadise I agree with what you say about needing to experience lots of subjects for as long as possible, but I think that is an argument against early specialisation rather than against doing fewer GCSEs.

Sorry I know this is a slight digression, but I do think it is a relative consideration for those looking into secondary school options.