11+ 2025 support thread

[AquaPeer]

Hi all,
I really enjoyed reading previous 11 plus support threads and I think we’re probably ready for a new cohort of year 5s start their prep?

so I thought I’d set up one for next year. All welcome!

we are trying for dame Alice Owen. DD currently has group tutoring once a week but we are looking to increase to twice a week before Xmas.

i am trying to get her to do a cgt GL 15 min tests a day very unsuccessfully! This half term is going to be all about embedding routine 😀

look forward to meeting other parents preparing

Great idea - I also enjoyed reading last year’s support thread in preparation for this year! My DD will be starting tutoring in the new year but she’s already got some practice books and is keen to do them - she’s got an older sister at the school she’s targeting who’s happy to pass on her wisdom and help her!

It’s not clear yet whether any of DD’s friends will be doing the 11+ so thank you for starting a support thread - it’s nice to have others to share the journey with.

Wow! The next cohort starts! As a graduate of the 2024 11+ thread, I wish you best wishes in your preparation.

Thanks both! Fun ahead 💐💐

OK so my DD is also doing group tutoring, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to commit to a thread yet ha ha!
I am trying to be very relaxed about it all… she still gets some times tables wrong, she has only just learnt basic fractions etc (state school don’t even teach them until January), but I’m hopeful that a year is a long time…! In which strides can be made!
We are looking at the SW London schools, haven’t shortlisted yet

The feedback we’ve had from DDs tutor is that her energy/ commitment is inconsistent so when she’s on it she’s full of energy and ideas but when she’s not or seems tired it’s obvious.
I’m going to try and work out what’s going on day by day this week to see if there is anything directly impacting it.

Hi, thanks for setting this up 🙂Also just starting on the 11+ journey with my son in Y5. We're currently doing 1 hour of formal tuition a week and then I'm trying to work my way (slowly it feels!) through some of the CGP books with him.

We're in Trafford where well over half of the Y6s at his school take the 11+ so he's far from alone in going through this. His older brother has also just started Y7 at one of the Trafford grammars so he has some awareness of the whole process which I think makes things a bit easier for him.

I'm reasonably relaxed at the moment - it was the build up for results after the test had been taken between my oldest's friends and other parents that had me a nervous wreck last time. Not looking forward to going through that again!

Hi,

Thanks for making this thread! My son will be taking the 11+ next year. I actually had no plans of going the 11+ route but when my son was in year 4 his teacher really advised us to consider it, she said he'll benefit from it greatly. Following her advice we started Tution in August and he's currently doing 4hrs a week.

We live in Trafford and are aiming for stretford grammar school. Am I right in thinking that if a child passes the exam they aren't offered a place until March the following year?

Looking forward to get to know you all!

Hi, yes you find out for definite at the start of March on the national school allocation day, but if you're in a catchment/priority postcode for the school and you pass you are pretty much guaranteed a place (I don't think any of the Trafford grammars have ever not had enough places for all children who pass within their stated catchment areas). If you're out of catchment there's information online for each year on how far out of catchment each school took children from.

Thanks so much @IsThatYouPam!
I'm completely new to this and don't know much about this whole process. We are in catchment and our postcode is listed on there website. You've given me some reassurance that he's got great chances of getting into our favoured school if he passes. I've read the pass mark for stretford is 334, so as long as he gets 334 or over it's all good?

Thanks again :)

@teachermum26 Yes that's right - the pass for all Trafford grammars is 334 (and you will get a different score for each one) but as long as he gets 334 or over and you're in a catchment postcode your chance of getting in is pretty much 100%!

Stretford is a great school and as a previous poster has said, if you are in a priority postcode and get 334 then you will most likely get a place.

I'm so happy to read this! Thanks so much @IsThatYouPam @peacypops

Hi all thanks @AquaPeer for starting this thread.

I'm a graduate of the 2024 thread too.... hi @yoshiblue 😊 but also have a ds in Y5 so off we go again.

I'm based in Trafford too and have 3 dc who have passed for the grammars (one at uni now, one in Y9 and one in Y6 who's just received his results)

@troppibambini6 oh wow your 4th time! I've got one more to get through after this but he's only in Y2 at the moment so I'll get a bit of a break in between!

Hi, is there a post for current year 6? Support group. Thank you

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4917412-11-plus-support-thread-for-exams-2024?page=24&reply=139341560

Hello, thanks for this thread! My daughter is in Y5, has started group tuition and we do the homework but that is it so far. I don't want to put too much pressure on. She has a lot of other outside school activities so not loads of time to dedicate. We are in Bucks so lots of her friends also go to tutor groups/ have 1-2-1 tutoring as most will take the test. What is mainly worrying me is that she is autumn born so will have to score higher than her friends who are younger. Seems unfair at this age as it all seems to have evened out, but it is what it is I guess. We only have one child so this is our first experience of this; DH and I went to grammar schools in Kent but that was many many moons ago and no-one tutored or even practiced back then.

Welcome @Chenanceau! I don't know much about the age thing but I've read that they standardise the test to make it fair for everyone? I hope someone else can shed some light on this.

Currently DS is doing Tution on the weekend and the homework they give we spread it out during the week. So he's doing some sort of work for at least an hour a day. What is everyone else doing? Should I be doing more?

I've heard about atom learning and practice tests but haven't started that yet.

@teachermum26 I've just gone through the process with an Autumn born child and looked into how scores are affected by age standardisation (lots of in depth articles online!)

Children are standardised with how well others do with the same month of birth. E.g all the Oct children looked at together, all the August children looked at together. It's not about having marks deducted or added on, but an older group may likely score higher in general. It's often only 1 or 2 points different.

I researched this in more detail, and the articles said Summer children are still massively underrepresented in grammar schools (both taking the exam and passing), so actually the boost younger children get isn't 'enough.' The same goes for premiership footballers, who over represent with autumn birthdays (being the oldest in their year group).

My son passed very well in our consortium test and if anything I think he benefited by generally being on the planet up to a year longer than others/always being the oldest in his class.

Hope that puts your mind at rest, not such good news for younger children TBH.

Shamelessly posting an Atom £30 discount code if anyone is considering signing up: lezphgSg - they do a free 5 day trial.

We’ve been using Atom for our Y6 DS, our Y5DD will likely start with it in Jan.

It is expensive but we’ve found it good - they make it easy to tailor the practice to those areas where your child isn’t so strong, and also show you how your child is progressing compared with other kids who have sat the exam for your target school. I try not to obsess about this too much! It also gives standardised age scores.

Well it turns out I do need this thread after all!
DD totally refused to go to her group tutor today for Maths, she started crying and said she finds it unbelievably hard. She can see that in the class she often gets stuck on the first question whilst the others are all ahead… I spoke to her Tutor this evening, who said she’s been unlucky as her group are very advanced in Maths. She said my DD is spot on for English, but lagging in Maths and it would only get more difficult… she suggested 1-2-1 tuition might suit her better, so as not to damage her confidence.

I am a bit disappointed tbh. I thought the whole
point of the tutor was to teach them the new concepts, but it seems the group setting cannot cater to her needs… I’m not sure whether she’s just not bright enough at Maths?
She is basically doing fine in school, but working at the expected level and not excelling. (English is her standout though).

At this stage, we could sack it off, save a ton of money, save her the pressure and just stick with our state school options. It is enticing.

Are all your kids excelling in Maths at school? How do we know whether they are smart enough to pass the tests?!
I guess I was hoping that as she has a whole year she could get there with the right help.

She has said that she wants to try and would prefer private sessions.

@EdgarAllenRaven I'm sorry your dd is finding it tough. It's such a hard one and I think it very much depends on where you are in the country and the type of schools you aiming for.
It sounds to me that a 1-2-1 tutor would bee better for your dd. My two dds were definitely stronger in English than maths. They both had 1-2-1 and he spent lots of time bringing their maths up to where it needed to be. They hardly needed any tuition for their English other than working on timing and a bit of grammar. I suppose the good thing about 1-2-1 is that they can go at her speed and spend more time on areas she needs to focus on.
I wouldn't give up yet maybe switch to 1-2-1 and see how that goes?

@IsThatYouPam yes I must be bonkers 😆 ds1 sat the exam on a Friday and ds2 started tuition on Saturday! At least I'm in the last one!

Maybe give 1-1 a go or a smaller group setting? The tutor we used worked with groups of four and the children were placed with others of a similar ability. A smaller group of 1-1 could offer a more focused environment for your daughter. A good tutor should be able to give some indication around whether your child is capable of passing the test through regular assessment and comparing results against those of children tutored in previous years.

Hello, really sorry to hear of the upset. We have had something a little bit similar- DD is insisting she knows how to do the maths in her small group and is wedded to her methods even when they aren’t the fastest.

the tutor has recommended a second session with a different small group which would better meet her needs which we are working through.

i think, what’s happening in our case, is apparently the beginning of yr5 is a lot of repetition in maths to firmly embed the learning. Therefore we think our Dd is sitting at school doing very well, then coming into tutoring and she doesn’t recognise that at the level they’re working at she’s no longer the maths star and is trying to tell everyone they’re wrong. Apparently when the school works starts ramping up a bit more it might improve but in the meantime we’ve been advised to just stick to the tutor homework (DD likes workbooks and things) and steady the ship.