11+ Interview questions

[SamPoodle123]

As the exams are coming to an end and the next stage will hopefully come in the New Year, I thought it might be good to start a thread about the interview process.

Please post your past experience with the interview process with older kids or as you go through it. Or any questions you think might come up :) Some questions people told me about -

1. If you woke up and saw an alien at the end of your bed, what would you do?
2. Tell me about this art piece.
3. What book are you currently reading?

If you got home and there was a penguin in your lounge what would you do?

Describe the colour yellow to a blind person

It's very obvious but some dc are thrown by the question "what other schools are you applying to"?
It's good to practice this in advance and obviously be truthful. It helps the admissions team predict number of likely acceptances.

At KGS my ds answered - all the other schools were mixed apart from Hampton - interviewer replied "you realise this school is mixed" and my ds replied yes and so are XX and XX.

Also spend some time talking to your dc about the sports offered by the schools. So many of the schools don't have a swimming pool so chat about swimming ability whilst appreciated sometimes isn't the best topic.

Finally always make sure your dc have a solid question to ask - "Are there residential trips in the first year?" Is a good one.

If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?

Thanks! The describe yellow to a blind person is an interesting question.

I can't claim authorship of the below as I took it from an old thread (apologies to the original poster), but find it useful:

• What is your favourite/least favourite subject/book/film, and why?
• What superpower/magical ability would you choose and why?
• What was the last book you read?
• Talk about a current/recent topic in the news.
• Talk about a time that you found something challenging/had to solve a problem and explain what you did.
• Talk about something interesting that you learned at school/read about recently.
• What is your favourite hobby/sport/thing to to do outside school?
• If you /your friends described you in 3 words, what would those words be?
• What 3 things would you take with you to a desert island?
• Talk about something you've done that you're proud of.
• Variations on "Is it better to be happy or rich?" "What is more important, happiness or success?"
• If you could change one thing about your current school, what would it be?
• What are you most looking forward to if you come to X school?

Some schools also do some academic testing as part of the interview process - for example, some mental maths, or a poem/news article/painting to look at and comment on.

It's definitely a good idea to prep on the basics of current affairs - who is PM, which party is in government, Queen's death, who is the new monarch, what's going on in Ukraine, climate change, etc. For other questions, don't do too much practising or preparation of answers in advance as that can sound coached or over-rehearsed.

Additional things to tell your DD:

• Sometimes the interviewer will ask a left-field question to see whether children can think on their feet, so she shouldn't be thrown off her stride by a weird question.
• If she gets a question about a topic she knows nothing about or is struggling to answer, rather than say "I don't know" and then sit in silence, it is better to "think aloud" about the question - e.g. "I don't know much about that. I suppose I would start by wanting to know....I wonder whether....This makes me think of [other vaguely related topic that she does know something about]"
• If she's getting questions that seem tricky, it's quite likely to be because she's doing well, not because she's doing badly (no point in asking difficult questions of a child who's struggling with the easy ones).
• If she needs to pause and think before answering a question, it's perfectly fine for her to say that to the interviewer.
• If she doesn't understand a question, it's also fine to say that and ask for clarification.

Is there anybody who can share their experience of the Channing 11+ interview and the group activity process.

Thank you for the above! Very useful.

My son was asked ‘What is art?’ - but we were thankful he didn’t get ‘How would civilisation cope without the number 0’ which another boy did!!! Age TEN 😳

This is absolutely bonkers! I fully expected them to ask about what they enjoy doing in their spare time, what do they like about the book they're currently reading. "Describe yellow" 🤨 heads up is helpful so thanks for the thread but it does make me question what chance my state educated child really has in this process....

I think that is why threads like this are useful, so you can give your dc a heads up on some random difficult questions might pop up and catch you off guard. This way the don’t go blank. I asked my dd the yellow question and she said “yellow is like the sun.” Then she became blank. I told her she could elaborate and perhaps talk about how yellow makes you feel or the foods you eat that are yellow. Or the way yellow smells like a lemon 😀

DD attended a few last year in London and around. It's all jumbled up in my mind unfortunately and don't remember which school asked what, but roughly the folowing categories -

Common to all : general chit-chat about likes/dislikes, favourite books, hobbies, inspirations, which other schools applied to, sports/musical instruments etc.

Some expanded the discussion on books : Favourite book -> His Dark Materials -> Fav character -> Lyra -> What's Lyra's greatest weakness -> Why do you think so etc

Picture questions : Shown a photograph, describe the photograph

Expanded picture question : Become a character in the photograph, describe how you feel (specifically, a Knight saving a woman from a dragon, describe the woman's point of view, how does it make the woman feel being saved by the Knight)

Maths question : Don't have much details (DD was tightlipped), but a word problem with two unknowns and two equations. DD attempted algebraic approach, got nervous, and then gently nudged to use trial and error that worked.

Logic puzzles : Mostly knighs and knaves kind and variations around it.

Reading comprehension : Straight forwawrd, read a passage, then answer questions on that.

Philosophical questions (received with gratitude from a mum in the eleven plus forum, NW London school, 2021 batch) - DD was never asked these though -

Would you rather be a clever coward or a brave fool?
Do you think zoos are a good or a bad thing?
Do you think that animals should have rights? What would it mean for pets? Should they be set free?

Hope these help. Good luck to your DC!

Ds was asked these questions! A's?

@Lightsabre

Yes A!

for reference those thinking the ‘describe yellow’ type questions sound scary… my dd and her friend both hesitated and the teachers were quick to offer suggestions. They were designed to get the conversation going not to elicit Oxbridge level responses.

my main learning would be- have a go and if you need clarification just ask?

Just saw an email from Francis Holland SS (the interview everyone) and they mention a practical creative task. Does anyone have an idea what they mean by practical creative task? Art? Building something? Just curious really. It also mentions a taster lesson and interview. I assume the taster lesson is to assess how well the child retains the information learned during the taster lesson.

The taster lessons will be partly to sell the school to the child.

Thanks for all the contributions here. Does anymore examples of logic or critical thinking type questions? One of my schools says they will ask these. Thanks.

• picture of something obscure and discuss what you think it might be

• problem solving maths questions: how many footballs in UK? (want to see your reasoning)

• what’s your favourite book ? Tell me what you loved most about it

• discuss a topic pro and cons e.g.“all schools should be co-Ed”

Anyone have experience of group interview questions?

Hi, could you let me know what it turned out to be please? Facing the same question today. Thank you!

Setyoufree: the whole point is they ask questions that you can’t prepare / be coached for.

My children were asked:
how do you choose the books you read?
tell us about story you have read in the newspaper
how can you justify the saxophone?

The best thing for the dc is to make sure they elaborate. Try not to just give one word answers. This is their time to show who they are and to see if they are a good match for the school. Schools will most likely ask about them. What are their hobbies, what do they like to do. I just made sure my dd understood to give more then one word answers. I do X Y and Z. I really enjoy it because of X Y Z. Tell them to enjoy the process and not to stress. My dd loved the interviews.

This thread has been so helpful, thank you! I'm looking for advice about the kinds of questions that girls get asked for Channing 13+ entry? Thanks!

Well I would hope that most children by the age of 10 would have covered the Roman or Egyptian civilisations and would have understood that they didn’t use a zero, so that could have been a starting point!