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

My DD passed Bucks 11+ a couple of years ago (she's just finished Y7). She wasn't getting anywhere near those sort of high scores - maybe in VR, but everything else was around the 70-75% mark (appreciate it depends on who is setting the test!).

Her NVR - especially Spatial was so terrible that about six weeks before the exam we totally gave up on it because she wasn't improving, and we concentrated on weak areas of Maths instead.

In the real thing - if it had come down just to NVR she wouldn't have passed (115), but everything else was in the 130-140 range, and she passed with bags of room to spare.

The nice thing about the Bucks test is that you're allowed a weak area.

That is really reassuring, thankyou. It is hard with the standardised scoring business - not having an actual pass mark to aim for, so that is really helpful.

We also went to an open day for my youngest yesterday (AHS?). My eldest is at the Floyd, so would imagine youngest, should she pass, will follow in her sister's footsteps, but important to consider which school is right for her in her own right too.

Our tutor is recommending 2 weeks of complete rest for 11+ work now. She said she wants them 'fresh' for August.

Just wondering if this is standard?

My daughter took a mock (in exam conditions external company 3 weeks ago and got 46% in maths and 54% in VR 😭 it was clear she’d run out of time and missed the last 20 odd questions. In VR she had a good rate for the ones she answered; maths was mixed.

her tutor recommended we go through GL practise papers without time pressure and go through them together. We’ve done 3 now and she’s got 80% but taken well over the time (1hr 5/10 mins!)

we found:

• after 30 questions her concentration wavered - we allowed a 5 min movement break but just recognising that was useful
• she could get stuck on VR she is weak on (letter connections) and would spend excessive time on them- we taught her to get maximum marks in the areas she’s strong on 1st and come back to the harder ones only if there is time.

she sat another one yesterday under exam conditions so I’ll let you know how she gets on- she completed the papers though, with time to spare. This has been a great exercise for us really made me believe she can turn it around. Exam technique is so important.

@Pipsquiggleits not something I’ve heard of but I can see why it might help.
Ds has been pretty good at getting on with it but last week hit a wall with it so we only did one paper all week.
I think it’s the last couple of weeks of term and they are knackered. I’m letting him lead it a bit til they finish.
Once he’s done we will ramp up the papers.

Ds has a mock tomorrow im hoping for a similar score to last time.

My DD will start year 5 this Sep. We are attempting HBS and St Paul's girls. We are struggling to find a tutor with a proven track record.
We are outside the catchment area of HBS so dd will have to work hard & rank high to have any chance of getting in.
Any recommendation of a tutor from parents whose children cleared HBS or St Paul's girls over the past 5 years would be greatly appreciated.

Feeling a little bit dejected. My daughter has been prepping at a steady pace (no tutoring but shes been doing reasonably well on the papers). We are sitting HBS but last three weeks , I've seen a real dip in scores. Her scores are at the level at which she started her prep at!
Is this common? Is she just tired? Shes also started to feel anxious about the exam. I just want her to give it her best, HBS is tough and so much of it depends on the day of the exam so I am realistic on how tough it it is to get in. However feels like a real shame for her to suddenly decline to this level , so close to the exam dates.
Looking for tips really on how I can build her back up to her best.

@phopawhat date does she finish school? We have two weeks left but maybe you have 1 which is more usual. I’d say halt all prep until the Summer holidays. Let her have a week or two off, and also zero talk about exams in the meantime.

@rg112 I would take a look on the 'Private School' chat group. You might find some great advice on there specific to these schools.
I suspect these well known academic private schools might have different exam requirements than grammars. Also you will probably have a greater chance of tutor recommendations on those threads.

so scared to do this but I’ve seriously had enough. Can’t get anything done with my daughter but the odd bit here and there. This weekend has been so hard getting her to do a VR paper and English homework from her tutor (literally did one question). We had a concert last night and she had a party today but nothing would motivate her. She’s generally a ‘little bit every day’ studier so scared of taking a week’s break, and also if we don’t pick up the pace now I don’t know how we will get through the summer. Sick of the whole thing

We have the same thing- little bit of study here and there but things have really regressed! Its also such an insanely tough system....a lot for 10 year olds.

We are primarily looking for tutors or courses for Henrietta Barnett.

Thx

@sweetmelodyits so hard but take a breather both of you. I’d get to the end of term then plan together what it’s doable work wise over the holidays. We went thru it last year, but did 4-5 days per week (45 mins to 1 hour max) and the other days off. Also a complete week off when we went away. That worked for us without adding too much stress and plenty of time for fun too.

Don’t feel guilty for taking a mini step back for a week, I’m sure you’ll come back more refreshed from it.

@TwoProngedForksorry just seen this…..

She sat Ashmole and Chancellors. She also found them easy. Ashmole she scored 50 out of 57 and was invited to audition. Everyone who sits the Chancellors test is allowed to audition . Results back next term. How about your child? Which schools did she do the test for?

Thank you. This is really helpful 😊

We've been very much the same so I've had to totally change our learning approach as it was just getting too much (for the both of us)!

My DS learns better in short bursts so all home learning is being done that way (he has some mocks over the summer where he seems to focus better than at home so hopefully that will be good enough practice on focussing for longer periods).

At home we've looked at each component completely differently. E.g. in mocks he's getting almost 100% in VR every time so I'm not doing that with him anymore (obviously would change if he started to struggle).

Maths and NVR we are doing in short bursts using flashcards to cover all topics. If there's a quiet moment in the house we just quickly do one or two of those and it feels informal enough for him to not complain! For topics that he finds harder I am using ChatGPT to write questions focussing on those areas and again I might print off 3-4 questions on that topic every now and then and he seems to not mind spending 5 minutes doing those.

Comprehension and vocab are his weakest points. We are doing the 10 minute tests for those, begrudgingly, but I have come to accept that this will be his poorest area and hope that strengthening all areas of maths (which he is very good at and gets less stressed by) will compensate for gaps here!

9 weeks today for us and I just cannot wait for the whole thing to be done with!

Yes, it was AHS - we are very keen to look at the Floyd as have heard great things, and have friends whose daughters go there, so it is a shame the open mornings aren't until the end of October! I was surprised by how much we liked AHS (having not been keen on the idea of a girls school).

DD1 is at the Floyd but we want to give DD2 the same "choice" should she pass the 11+ - but the Floyd will only let them look around once they're in Y6 - a bit late to start motivating them to study!

I think if I had a DD who was very STEM focused, I'd absolutely be encouraging an all-girls' environment (no such thing as "boys' subjects" etc.), but all else being equal, from what I've seen, the children at the Floyd seem to be a little more well-rounded, and it's a lot more diverse.

I had a little panic attack about the whole thing. Just seeing how much he still has to learn. My only comfort is the fact that at one of the schools the girls taking us on tour said she never got more than 53% on her mocks but scored well on the actual exam.

Hi sweet melody- my DD also sat Chancellors- we really liked it there. Very well organised

We did MHCS and Ashmole. Just made the cut-off and so we wait now to see if she's made the top 20. 50 is a really good score. Does your DC play piano? We are struggling with texture.

She only did chancellors, where you sit both stages so don’t know how she did on the written test - won’t find out her rank until October. She’s violin, and very average at it 😂 but did get a bit of prep for the written test

Thanks for sharing @AquaPeerand @TwoProngedForkNo she doesn’t play piano (violin, work towards grade 4) but is super keen to start (after the 11+ 😅). Her music teacher says she has a good ear and seems to score highly in the aural section of her exams.

I posted on the ‘secondary’ chat about the audition as was stressing that there would be loads of violinists and all with grade 7 minimum. I know nothing really about the standard at Ashmole, only that to clear Owens she would probably need a much higher level of violin…

Looked into MHCS and we talked ourselves out of it as seemed just a bit too far for us. Kicking myself…