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.

Can I join?

DD taking the Trafford Consortium exam in September

Hi, welcome @slaybell, come on in. September is starting to feel disturbingly close now that it's 2024, well aware how short this next term is too!

I saw your thread and thought “that’s not is we still have another year” then realised yes it is us! So checking in.

But tutoring well under way and schools selected so feeling ok about it all at the moment

We are north of London and have decided to go for just our local well regarded Indy for DC1 with a back up of a prep in the next town over for the final 2 years and another bite of the cherry.

DC2 will be following close behind with 11+exams in 2025 so it’s going to be a marathon for us!

Hi @BarqsHasBite , yes it's a bit of a jolt when you realise it's this calendar year isn't it? I sympathise with you on the marathon too, DC1 and DC2 were consecutive years taking it for me, then I had a year to breathe before DC3, on the final stretch now, definitely a few white hairs have arrived during the process lol.

@BarqsHasBite I have a marathon too. DD2 will be doing 2025 also.

DD1 has been in tutoring since the start of Y4 and DD2 started this year (that's a fun extra marathon of costs!)

Not selected schools yet. There are four to choose from in our area but open days are not till the summer. One of them is my former secondary which is the local one so that one seems the most likely but will check them all out.

Hi all, just signing in as we are tentatively considering the idea of 11+ for our child.

• Northwest but do not live in an area known for its schools (at least, not in a positive way!)
• No prev experience on either side, DP attended state and was not enthusiastic about school, and I was educated abroad.
• Have had a past HT and a few friends 'more in the know' suggest we put our child forward for it (all rounder, top set, happy to be in class)
• Have introduced the idea to our child now, and he is enthusiastic but I don't think he understands the amount of prep nearly everyone else is doing for it!
• Realistically, due to lack of grammars nearby, we would only try for one, maybe two. Is that weird? I don’t know.

Here to gather knowledge and advice on how to go for it (or also, how to know when it isn't the right path for our kid!) 👋

Hi @evtheria 👋 welcome aboard. Is it state grammar you're looking at? If so then a look at the 11 plus forums and scroll down to find the section for your county will give you some insight into the sort of prep and expectations and experiences of others in your area, I've found it a really useful place to stalk! Most useful for me the last couple of times have been the threads where people post scores and offers, as you really get an idea of what you need.

If you're looking at private schools with 11+ , so selective private rather than grammar, then I know very little but others will know more and I can't imagine the prep period is that dissimilar. We're looking at 2 state grammars only, the test my DS will sit could get him into the running for 4 , and for 2 of those the marks wouldn't actually need to be as high as the ones we're trying for, but they are just too far across the county to be a consideration.

We are definitely doing some prep, but trying to keep it relaxed and in short bursts. My own view is if you have to really cram then your child may not be happy in that school anyway, but I do see that some tutoring (whether with a tutor or diy) is needed due to the ridiculous level of these tests now, especially the super selectives where we are. We've just allowed ourselves to be guided by our kids. DC1 wanted it and you could really tell. DC2 only wanted 1 of the 2 schools we wanted, flatly refused to even consider the other (took a dislike on open day) so we didn't even put it on our firm in the end, thankfully he got the one he tried for! Final DC is currently quite keen and working to try, but I shall see how he feels when we look round. He knows that we won't force him into a grammar at all costs, (impossible anyway as they could just go into the test day and not try) it's got to feel right. So I guess we encourage them to work for it, understanding that not all kids will just do that off their own initiative, we do have to say come it's time to do 15 mins maths or whatever, but if I'm getting strong resistance I back away. If I was getting strong resistance more than not, I think that would tell me it wasn't right in any case.

Sorry, I've really rambled on, I hope that was in someway useful, feel free to ignore if not!

@ElvenDreamer Thank you for your response! I appreciate the detail and your personal experience of the whole thing.

Yes, it's a state grammar we're looking at. Our other 'possibly apply...?' school is a selective private, but we would be relying heavily on a bursary so that's very much up for debate, it's a complex decision to make.

The next few months will definitely test what you've mentioned: if cramming is needed then it's probably not the right fit for DS. Can't afford regular tuition (our local tutors experienced in 11+ cost A LOT 😫) so I'm prepping a rough idea of a practice schedule for me and DS to attempt. I think it'll be good for him to see he'll have to work outside of school - not just for grammar, but high school in general, as his current primary stopped nearly all homework years ago...

Generally trying not to stress over it, but we don't have decent secondary schools around us so it's hard not to feel the pressure.

Are most people at home just working off the various books eg Bonds etc? Or doing 'teaching' alongside it, not just practice papers and the like? I try supplementing whatever subject he's on at school with extra relevant reading or discussions at home, but it seems these tests are just focused on mathematics and language skills so perhaps I should just focus on those?

@Ib1234567 yes 1,2 montths before the test is great.
move onto it as soon as you're comfortable with the normal cgp books.

@evtheria Hi - as you are NW I assume you will be taking the Trafford exams? Only place in NW I think does them? May be wrong.

How far away from catchment are you? I know there are a fair few out of area kids that attend DD's tutor - I seem to recall on the individual school's websites they say the furthest distances they had offered places to in years past - I think they were something like 12-13 miles so you don't need to be THAT close to Trafford to be considered

Can I join please, DD and DS both sitting for state grammars in September.

About 7 miles away from the nearest, I think!
That's helpful to confirm. We are aware of a family at school whose child got a place at one, so mainly focusing on DS's academic ability/drive as the thing to figure out.

Hi @RandomUsernameHere , welcome aboard, twins (I'm assuming?) sitting 11+, gosh, that's full on for you, I've found it bad enough doing 1 at a time! What are are you in? Is it single sex grammars round you or are they able to look at the same school?

random my twins sat the 11plus last year and it was full on with helping both of them, some days were really tough not to mention the worry if only one was successful. Best of luck!

Thanks @ElvenDreamer and @Quornflakegirl !
It's very full on but also easier in some ways to find the time to focus on it. The grammars are single sex here so at least that takes away some of the "competition" between them!

More helpful Music Aptitude Test (MAT) videos for your children to prepare for the test -
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Hi I’d like to join you all! My DD will be doing 11+ for the state grammar I attended many years ago. She’s my eldest but has two younger sisters so I’m treating this as the first step in a long journey!

Hi @OutOfNameIdeas , you are the opposite end of your journey of 3 to me then! DS currently feeling grumpy and hard done by, he wants to go to the same school as his brother but isn't prepared/finds it hard/is too scared? to put the work in. Not sure what's going on atm so we are going to take stock at Easter and have a good hard think if to carry on or not. I have no issues at all in stopping if that's what he wants,trouble is I don't think it is but he's really struggling and I have no clue what my plan B is.

anyone started attending open houses?

No, but signed up to one in June. I will just view the one school and see how the 11+ goes before viewing more. If you get offers the schools have offer holder events and I feel that is the best time to view.

Our experience with viewing and open house with our elder child was she then formed her view and we couldnt change it. For 1 school, she didnt answer questions during the interview, she showed that she was “forced” to go for it(while for the schools she likes she did really well-max academic and music scholarship). I am still thinking whether I should bring my second. We target private schools in SW London.

Hi , I am glad I found this thread. I have twins sitting the 11+ this year. Its so stressful.
They will be sitting bucks and berkshire test as we are in both catchment area

Hi @user1490043295 I can't imagine the stress of twins sitting, so many extra variables to think about there! Welcome to the thread, it's getting so close now. For us the Essex application or exam date opens very soon.

Our applications should open end of April

15th May for us, all the application information pack is made available from mid April though so I have that downloaded and am double checking nothing has changed since the last 2 times I did it!