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

Someone will be able to answer more articulate and thorough than me. I’m finding it hard to understand but I think everyone gets a raw score and then if there is a huge difference between older and younger children they will make adjustments .they never mark down an older child but the standardised score for a summer born could be higher than an autumn born- even if their raw score is the same. Have to admit! I’m not overly sure!

I'm not surprised you have strong feelings towards that lady. Why would she say that to you? Did she use tutors?

My understanding is they effectively standardise your score against those born in the same month as you, and on average that means August bons get standardised slightly higher than September borns, but only if there is a discrepancy in overall performance

Here is an explanation of age standardisation:

resources.atomlearning.co.uk/en/knowledge/standardised-age-scores-parents

Yes this is my understanding too. The scores will only be adjusted for age if there is statistical evidence that there is a difference between, say, children born in August and those born on September.

Getting through HBS Round 2 does give one a very good chance of getting in. With waitlist movement of close to 60. I think it’s over 1 in 3 chance.

I’m not too sure if I’m being honest. My DD and her DD don’t really play together so there’s no way for me to find out. She just got really angry when my DD was in year 4 and we used a tuition Centre she told me I’m cheating the system as not everyone can afford a tuition fee for their child, her included. She Also told me if the schools find out they can look less favourably on those kids! Won’t it be funny if she does actually use a tutor! I wouldn’t be shocked if she did. It just seems really underhand if she actually did do this.

She's a real bitch @Tea4216

If people ask me about the 11+, after saying:
Is Grammar school the right thing for your DC?
Have you read the admissions policy?
Do you live in catchment?

The next thing I say is get a tutor as they cover topics not covered in the curriculum, also lots of people give their DC some sort of paid support.

A lot of them are weighted heavier for English statistically, not literally. It’s not because of VR - it’s mathematical based on what the standard deviation is. The SD of English is always more concentrated around the mean, so scoring higher is more valuable than the other elements which have a wider range of scores.

How bizarre. Even the most charitable spin on that is that she was trying to level the playing field for her own kid - "I can't afford tuition therefore my smart, hardworking child will get pushed down the ranking by DCs of families who can, this isn't fair". But even then it's a still a bit insane given we are talking about 10 YEAR OLDs.

I wish that we didn’t have to tutor but the fact is, that so many people do it that if you don’t, you feel that you have put your child at a disadvantage. In our case the tutor was really good for explaining the format of the exams and how to tackle them strategically and quickly. School just don’t have the capacity to prepare kids to that level and I really wouldn’t have had the confidence to know I was doing the right thing. I hope it was money well spent but I guess we shall see

Here is a link to their spreadsheet of last years results i dont think they break it down per school

Kent Test results - Kent County Council https://share.google/zcps9LdvuR3N25c1r

Thank you Purpletoes but I’m looking for something like this if anyone has seen it? The 2024 tab on here is actually for the 2023 sitting of the Kent test (so the September intake). I would like to see the 2025 tab which will relate to the 2024 sitting and September 25 intake

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2019_2024_kent_test_11_data/response/2688714/attach/2/FOI%2048097162.xlsx?cookie_passthrough=1

That's a response to an FOI request. It's possible no one made a request for the following year.

I'd have to agree. Effectively the 11plus is a competition as unlike the GCSEs its those who beat others that get in.

I've heard and seen the most ruthless stories
Keep in mind that it's not you who has cheated the system but the system that has allowed for this to be ridiculous. If the system was fairer it would test kids based on the curriculum, but it doesnt so us, parents offer support to our kids. Also if local schools were better the competition wouldn't be so high for grammars.

First Sunday in ages that we haven't had to worry about 11 plus, and I feel like a different woman.

Did anyone else’s child take CSSE yesterday? DD found the maths to be very challenging. What did others think? English seems to be getting easier but maths harder

Any ideas on when the HBS stage 1 results will be out? In our email 25th was mentioned. But I understand people received different dates in their emails. And they have a different date on their website!

I think my letter said "by 29 sept"?

So weird to have different dates mentioned in their communication. I am sure it will be sometime next week though.

Ours said "by the 29th"

For those in Trafford, do we know what the scores are out off? I’ve seen numbers like 380, 390 etc. Really hard to find information about it online!

Last year someone's child scored 423 for all schools which must have meant they scored 100% on the test, so I'm guessing it's around 423 every year.

Oh wow! Thank you