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 isn’t very happy, including being pissed off her classmate who only did 2 months practise got through 😂and I know she only did 2 months because i told her parents about the schoool lol

Hi, thanks for all the information! It’s been super useful. My DS did Trafford on Monday and found it tough.
does anyone know how it is marked? I know it is age standardised. But are both papers added together? Or is it by NVR, VR and maths?

Sorry to hear it. She'll get over it I am sure, but it sounds like she's had a rough couple of weeks. Big hugs to her

I'm not sure if anyone knows how Trafford is marked (beyond the age standardisation)! I know you just get one mark for everything and you don't find out scores for the different subjects separately. Not sure if some schools put more weight on certain subject areas or one paper more than the other (the score for each school will be slightly different) but it all seems to be kept top secret!

My DS found it tough too.

That was my understanding also, 3 scores added together. It’s all very hush hush in terms of what sort of total mark might be enough for a place. I’m thinking are we talking 320? Or 380?! English is our weak spot so have to hope the maths + VR do most of the legwork.

Oh bless her, it is a hard pill to swallow for kids. We know a few kids upset with results :( I can imagine the classmate passing would be super annoying - that would piss me off too, tbh! Hopefully it'll pass soon and she'll feel better. Sending hugs xxx

I think 330 total was enough last year, but English is hard.... (a lot of writing in very little time).

In Bucks GL, English/Comprehension is weighted at 50%

I never understand why in Bucks tutoring companies say the test is weighted towards English. It’s literally 25% English, 25% VR, 25% NVR and 25% maths.

I guess if you combine English and VR then it’s weighted in favour of “words” but I’m always surprised when I hear this. Perhaps it’s significantly different in some way to other counties.

How is everyone feeling about up and coming exams ?
DS was under the weather this week so I debated whether he should sit the test at a later date. However, the thought of stretching this journey out makes me feel sick, so we've decided to just go for the exam this week.

I must admit he looks a hit haggard, this is so cruel to put 10 year olds through. My husband said that there were children in tears waiting outside of the exams earlier this week and that it made him feel awful for the kids.

We're giving DS alot more sleep over the next two days and then we are done.

Same. If VR counts as "words" to make one paper the "language" paper, then by the same logic NVR is basically just maths - so it's 50:50 maths and English.

I feel like for HB round 1 is key really and if she gets through that she is probably in with a decent chance. We haven't done any work for it specifically though as I am prioritising keeping it nonchalant and low key.

Latymer is her first choice anyway really and again round 1 results seem key. There's no round 2 but they only mark your English paper if you're in the top 700. At which point it looks like you have a decent chance of a place as lots of out of catchment people drop out. It might be a long drawn out affair until you get actual clarity though. If you're not in top 700 that is the end of it.

Then there's still mary Magdalene which is just VR and hopefully more chilled, on 3 Oct

So, in summary, pretty chilled about further exams but quite antsy about results and I now have another concern as my mum is in hospital.

And I'd also argue that some (not all) of the VR paper is more maths than English - e.g. algebraic logic (if D=2 and Y=3 and Z=6, what is 2Y type questions) counting letters and spotting numerical patterns - just because they happen to be letters rather than figures - is not in any way related to linguistics.

I am really not feeling prepared to jump back into DAO prep! We put so much into the VR I feel like we left it quite late to focus on the maths and English and now there’s literally only a week. I was quite enjoying my 11+ prep free life for a couple of weeks there.

Same here. We're not going to over do it - also because I think the chances of DD getting an actual place is slim. So I want to balance workload vs reality of getting in. But she still needs to give it a decent shot!

It's all so tedious at this point (the waiting around part). I agree that if you get through round one of HBS, she has a very decent chance of getting in. Do you live in the 3 mile radius? We sat HBS, but won't make second round. As a school and life balance, I preferred Latymer.

Just VR sounds nice - any idea how any kids sit the exam historically?

Sorry to hear about your mum - hope she gets better soon xx

Yes same. But there realistically isn’t much time as it feels mean to add stuff ontop of weekdays where there is already school homework. Think I’m going to see if we can squeeze in a bit this weekend. Very aware we are competing with some seriously prepped kids who will have been focusing only on DAO and their requirements. What will be will be.

No we are just outside the 3 mile radius unfortunately, and the journey is annoying. Latymer technically further but seems a more reliable route.

Quite a lot of kids sit StMM I think and there are only 18 governors' places this year which is fewer than previously, but it tends to sit beneath Latymer and HBS etc in people's preferences so there's a lot of movement on the waiting list. Apparently being in top 80 or so is historically enough.

Thanks for your well wishes. I'm on my way to visit. I think the latest thing is treatable and already improving but it's part of a bigger picture. Sandwich time of life!

Exactly this - many have probably been focusing just on DAO. We will do 1 paper Saturday and 1 on Sunday (so 2 hours worth each day) and maybe 30mins each day going over mistakes etc. Weekdays will be tough to do anything as my DD has resumed after school clubs.

Sorry about your mum @Magnificentkitteh and @AquaPeerim sorry for your loss.

I really feel for all the kids having to go for more than one round sounds incredibly stressful and must seem never ending!

We are done. Thank god. I feel lighter already and I feel like today was the best case scenario. Ds said comp was a bit tricky but everything else was really good. I’m going to try and forget about it til the 20th October now.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Has anyone seen a breakdown of number of children who passed the Kent test per primary school for the September 2025 intake (so the 2024 test) please?

So all our exams are done! I feel a little relieved but also a little guilty as I don’t feel I pushed DD as hard as I should have. Standing in line today listening to conversations between parents I feel a did only a fraction of what others doing the test did. It’s going to be a long wait! I’ve been seeing that mum around who told me not to tutor as it would destroy my dd’s chance. She’s actually also our neighbour 4 doors down. I know I sound petty but I hate that woman. I feel she took advantage of the situation knowing I’m new to the whole 11+ thing.

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope the wait isn’t too excruciating! Good luck to our kids!

I think the papers are all added together to get an overall mark which is age standardised. You will get a different mark for each school as the cohort sitting the exam for each school will vary (ie there will be a lot of kids who will have requested a mark for Altrincham but won't have requested to receive a mark for Stretford). Having gone through the process three times I think it's really hard to gauge how your child has done. My eldest thought it was really hard, left lots of gaps but still went on to score comfortably above the pass mark for all schools.

So do they take younger kids born in August for example into consideration? I’ve heard they standardise according to age but what does that actually mean?

thanks for this! So hard … my DS said it was relatively ok but ran out of time on some on paper 2 and then quickly put some answers down. He is June birthday so wonder how the age standardise will kick in. I know it all depends on how well the autumn births done! Feels like a long wait.