11 plus support thread for exams 2024

[ElvenDreamer]

Hi all,
Anyone fancy joining me for for an 11 plus support thread for those yr 5s who are probably just starting a bit of prep now ready to sit exams in September 2024?

State grammar is the angle I'm personally coming from but all welcome no matter if you're applying to private selective, state aptitude tests etc.

This will be my 3rd and final time of going through this and I've found support threads here really useful the previous times.

Yes! Absolutely. It's my first time and have no idea where to start. Everything I've read said I need to get a tutor but I can't afford that and both my children do a lot outside school at set times, I wouldn't be able to fit it in, so it'll be just me.

Hi @Emmarie123 👋 What area are you based in? 11 plus forum for your region may give you some good insight into what is needed to prep a bit. Tests are quite different from area to area. Tutoring doesn't necessarily mean hire a tutor, you can absolutely do it yourself armed with the right knowledge. I've found that the main issue has been making sure DC cover maths topics that they haven't done in school because school won't do them until year 6 which is too late for 11 plus at the start of the school year.

We're in Kent, so I think it's the Kentish exam? I have no idea. He's a bright enough boy, but he sprang grammar schools on me last week.

He's a massive cricket lover and they all have teams.

Ah OK, Kent is a fully grammar area isn't it so it makes sense that he's come up with that idea as I guess a large proportion of kids will try as a matter of course so he may have heard friends talking about it? Nice that cricket is a driver for motivation, that may help with enthusiasm for practice papers! My understanding from what I've seen on previous threads is that the Kent exams have a pass mark and if you get over that you're guaranteed a space. (We're Essex and sadly dealing with super selective so the 'pass' mark is utterly irrelevant, if we're not way above it you don't stand a chance and even if you are there's the interminably long wait to March to find out!)

Do you have to do English, maths, VR and NVR? We have mainly English and Maths with 5 questions only VR. No NVR to deal with, although that's the fun one I think! (DD had all 4 a couple of years ago as one of the schools for her used a different provider.) I used Schofield and Sims, or Bond 10 minute test books as I recall, and bought the Bond handbooks so I understood it myself 😬

@ElvenDreamer KEGS by any chance?

I am an ex-exam writer for the Essex exam.

@Safariplease oh that's an interesting perspective you'd have on a thread like this! Yes KEGS and CRGS (CCHS CCHHG when DD did it of course). Obviously CRGS is superselective anyway and we are out of catchment for KEGS and therefore would need stupidly high scores there too and I'm determined not to make it a pressured succeed at all costs type experience, it's not worth it. I feel I got the balance right with the older 2, DC 3 is tricker, bit more of a worrier, plus having seen the other 2 go to their school of choice it put a pressure there to do the same, no matter how hard we try to talk that angle away.

I'm fascinated by the exam writing angle though, do you mind me asking how they decide what goes in? The school websites all say no prep required etc, only year 6 curriculum, but firstly they obviously won't have covered the yr 6 curriculum by that point in the year for your average state primary, which really biases it to the kids in private primaries I'd have thought, and secondly some of the questions seemed well beyond yr 6. Our primary hadn't covered half the stuff. Are they thrown in to try and separate the wood from the trees as it were? (And are they harder than yr 6 really or just yr 6 but worded in increasingly complex ways if you see what I mean?)

@ElvenDreamer my colleague set up a company that I would highly recommend for mock exams but based on where you live it might be a bit too far, but they are by far the best predictors because her and her husband are both very experienced.

the exam is NOT year 6 level but is curriculum wise - this is a distinction that people don’t realise. This means the difficulty of algebra (which is taught from year 1) which is on year 6 curriculum is about year 8 level. The first few pages of a foundation GCSE paper are relevant for the maths. The English moved towards a different style, you’ll hear many children say it was easier but my colleagues marking this year are very much saying that the skills needed for marks weren’t shown.

The decision of what is in it is based on the GCSE curriculum, so as that changes and gets more complex so does our exam. It will continue to get harder each year due to out of catchment children being so very clever and heavily tutored.

If you do ever do classes or do get a tutor, make sure they’re a secondary school teacher or have been trained for this exam. There are so many ex bankers and students teaching and they’re shit, sorry.

You’ll need about 378 for KEGS and 348 for CRGS if you want to be safe.

My ex colleague runs a Facebook group for the exam (if you join it don’t tell her about mumsnet as I don’t want her to easily find my posts!) but join that, listen to what she says, don’t get caught up in what parents say! I remember her setting up the group because we got so many calls referencing it and it ruffled a few feathers… the insider secrets!

Thanks @Safariplease , that's really interesting. We said with DD and DS1 how crazily high reaching some of the past papers were. Interesting re tutors, 1st time round we used a company that hired students etc, it was all we could afford at that point, really it wasn't tutoring but more introducing the topics tbh, which worked OK as my OH has a maths brain and I'm better with the English so we essentially tutored ourselves based on their topic areas, having spotted from past papers how much harder they were than the practice material we were being given. 2nd time we hired a tutor who was extremely experienced with SEN (ds has asd) and yes, they tutor right up to GCSE level. This time round we have a tutor who seems perfect for what my youngest needs, (very inspiring and positive), and has a lot of experience with 11+ in this area so fingers crossed!
I'd probably stop clogging up the thread with talk of the CSSE now as I'm hoping others might join for more general chat too 😄

Are this year's 11 plus papers available yet

@Dispairrepair are you CSSE aswell?

Bucks

Bucks don't publish the actual papers used for the main sitting. The CSSE does publish actual papers, usually the following February, but as they are written in-house, they are of minimal specific use re the Bucks GL exam.

@Safariplease assuming the company is based in the CSSE area, please could I get their name (either here or via DM) thanks

@PencilVania sure I will send a message now

@Safariplease Can you DM me too, please? Grateful for the details of the tutor company in Essex as I am in the CSSE catchment. Thanks 🙂

We did the Gloucestershire 11 plus this September, my dtwins sat the exam and both thankfully got decent qualifying rankings. It was a stressful year and I am so glad it’s over. My fear was one getting a place and not the other, it is a process I wouldn’t like to repeat.

Best of luck!

Dd just passed the 11+ and I wanted to chip in…

Do book a mock exam or two if you can afford to over the Easter/Summer, but don’t worry if they do terribly in it. It’s just to get them used to time pressure. Mine got 30% in her first try and I nearly didn’t bother entering her for the real 11+ but she passed comfortably in the end and found the real thing much easier than the mocks. They grow up very suddently over that summer!

The CGP books are fab.

Watch out for shit tutors, there are many. You can do it just fine without a tutor but obviously it is easier with.

Round here all the charity shops and libraries have loads of donated 11+ study books at the moment, the libraries are even refusing to accept any more 11+ study books. So if you want second hand books, worth looking now or asking on local Facebook mums groups.

My sons were both at Skinners in TW . Big school for cricket and rugby.

Ooh, my thread has woke up suddenly, I thought I'd created tumble weed! Hi everyone, good luck in all your respective journeys. DS is doing OK, we're focusing on maths mainly at the moment as primary just haven't covered large chunks of what he'll need to know. Playing the balancing act of encouraging him to practice but not pressuring him.

Haha I know. I kept getting notifications about it.

You sound like you're doing well. I think my DS has gone off the idea. We've not even started.

@ElvenDreamer thanks for starting, I have not come across many 2024 threads yet. My anxiety has peaked despite there being 10 months to go, not sure how I will cope during the waiting period 😕

DS had a mock exam at tuition and did extremely well, now his attitude has changed - a complete 180. So I would suggest trying to sign your young one up to see if that motivates them @Emmarie123

PM sent

As you know I mentioned my experience with Essex. Just to warn you, not panic, but applicants are expected to rise and an increase in tutoring - mainly because the private school increases are taking over.

not sure I made sense there…

Private primaries have received letters about the effects of increases if Labour win. A large number are now directing their children to 11+ for grammar rather than private because of the concern