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

Hi all - hoping you can help me with a dilemma.

We are currently renovating a property that we plan to move into in July. We own both this house and our current house. Our current house we will be putting on the market in the next few weeks.

Both properties are in the catchment area for our local grammars (actually only 5 mins away from each other and same postcode area).

Registration has just opened for the exam in our area and can't figure out which address to put in. When DD sits the exam and applies for the schools we will be in our new property but we don't technically live there at present. We do have council tax bills for both.

I just feel it may be a faff trying to change address once the application is already in and they are in the same area so absolutely not cheating the system in any way!

What would you guys advise?

Hi @slaybell, I would be inclined to use the new address if you already own it and you already have a council tax bill in your name there (especially if catchment isn't affected at all)! I don't know how much faffing around changing addresses would be later on in the process but it all gets stressful enough nearer the time so it would be one less thing to think about!

I completed the registration yesterday and I think it said the exam details and the form your child has to take with them on the day will be posted by September 4th so you would be living in your new house by then anyway (and wouldn't want this to be mailed to the home you no longer own if you're out by September)!

Each school has it's own rules governing catchment and when you have to be resident from so the answer will vary. Best bet is to check the individual schools policy.

Hi how’s everyone getting on? Starting to feel like it’s getting closer. We have registered for both the exams ds is sitting which made it feel real we have the first open evening at one of the schools next week.
Ds sat a mock at the weekend but results not out til next Tuesday.
Everything feels very full on at the moment as all ours do a lot of sport and the seasons are all come to a close with cup finals, presentation days and trials for new teams I will be glad when it’s all over!

Hope everyone else is ok and not feeling as harassed as me!

Starting to feel this! We have music tests in June so May is really prioritising practise for those whilst maintaining the 11+ woek

we’ve had 2 mocks showing improvements but only ones from their tutor- they are sitting a proper in person mock in June. At least we have until September to smash out the academic stuff

but yes it’s all feeling much closer!

Well, I feel like I am here only to make you all feel better ha ha!
My DD quit her group tutoring before Xmas, as she was in tears and hated the competitive aspect… I then left it half a term to let things settle.

Now she is 4 lessons in with a private tutor and still learning the basics.. fractions etc
Still far off from doing any mocks!

The good news is, the English comprehensions come easily, and at least she likes this tutor!
If she passes it will be a small miracle, but we’re still giving it a go.

well done to your DD! Very resilient and mature

Agree, it's starting to feel close. Also registered DS last week and have the first open evening next week. Then first mock two weeks on Sunday, which should be interesting!

I feel as though he's reasonably confident at 80% of everything at the moment but very shaky on the other 20%... which of course includes all of the harder stuff! Think I'm going to make a list of the areas he needs to work on and really focus on that over the summer. We also have a lot of activities (and he just wants to enjoy the sun right now too!) so I'm trying to keep it relatively laid back for as long as possible!

Berks and bucks registrations are opening over next few days.

I think that's the approach we're taking. My daughter was struggling with long multiplication the other day which considering where we are (test in September) should be the easiest thing in the world for her. And haven't even got onto exam speed. But better to give it a go than not and always wonder. Also really good lesson in resilience and great exam practice. Went to open day yesterday- over 800 applying for 128 spaces. . . So quite frankly would be quite a major miracle!

Heyy how’s everyone doing?? @troppibambini6
How did the mock go? DS had his first mock last week we just got the results, he got 70%. I’m not sure how I feel about it, he’s been getting between 80-95% in all the tests he’s been doing at tuition and past papers at home… he found NVR very difficult.

Not long to go, hope everyone’s doing ok!!

Morning @teachermum26 he did ok. This particular mock he sat is a really hard one. For some reason they like to set them harder than the real thing not really sure why maybe so when they sit the real thing it feels easy… My older Ds who sat last year never got above 75% and he passed by a decent amount. Ds got 68% this time which he initially pulled his face at but when I explained he was ok (ish!) 😆
He was supposed to sit another (this one a more realistic one) this weekend but his football team have made the cup final at the same time and I don’t think he would ever forgive me if I made him miss that!!!
We can’t change the date of the mock exam as they are all booked up now so they are giving us the papers to do at home and return for marking. Not ideal but at least will give us an idea.

Was your son pleased with his mark?

Ahh bless him, my son wasn’t happy with his results either! Had to have a chat with him and he felt a bit better. They’re so hard on themselves, makes me feel so bad for them! I hope that’s the case and the actual exam is much easier than the mock.

Your DS must be ecstatic that his team have made it to the finals, what an achievement. Hope the mock goes well for him, how many mocks do they sit before the actual exam?

Dd had her mock over Easter and got 60 something percent overall, 78% in English/verbal reasoning but (and this really confuses me) apparently that is good and she would have passed on the day if she'd got that.

We've now settled into doing a ten minute test per day and trying to remember all the tricks for each section.

Still struggling with her not noticing questions though. Every time we come away with 2 questions not attempted as she just doesn't see them. She can answer them fine if asked and if we sit there and point to them she can do it in the time. But left to her own devices her inattentiveness kicks in. Very frustrating!

@bubonic we got the same result over Feb half term but all the tutors said that it's fine at this stage and to keep working consistently. Good luck

@teachermum26yes he’s delighted thank you. I’m not convinced they will win but it will be a great experience either way!
It is hard on them. I can’t wait for it to be over.

@bubonicsounds like she’s doing well. I thinking keeping focused during a long paper is half the battle. I know the mistakes ds is making in maths are all silly things that when you show him and say are sure about that answer? He says “oh yeah that’s wrong it should be…..” while I’m slowly losing the will to live! 😆

Hopefully they will all get there and we will all keep our sanity!!

It's the 10 min tests she misses too though. So 10-15 qs and she will miss 2! She will have a prompter we are told but I don't want to rely on that.

@bubonicthats tricky….. how much is the promoter allowed to do? Would they be able to point out which question is next?

Prompter!! 🙈

I have no idea and the school can't seem to tell us. I've heard anecdotally they aren't very useful and can just sit on their phones ignoring people.

I think we are just going to have to instill a system of crossing qs off and then going back over it all to check each question has been done. But getting her to remember that is tricky.

I have worked as a prompter (for GCSE) students. If she is in her own room, we would use verbal cues to remind them to stay focused. If she is with other students, I would potentially tap on the desk, so as not to distract, and point at the section that needs completing. We can't make children answer a question, but we can absolutely draw attention to a question that's been missed and help with reminding how much time is left.

Thank you, this is useful. Would you avoid tapping if you saw nothing amiss? Because I can imagine her getting distracted by the tapping itself!

Yes - absolutely. I'd only tap to draw attention to the next section, or to bring focus back to the paper, or to point at the clock (possibly not relevant for 11+ as they don't show a timer where we are).

If the student is working well, I don't get involved. And we certainly aren't allowed to use phones unless it's for a medical emergency!

Morning all!
Hows everyone getting on? Ds is still hanging in there… he’s had a lot on over the last few weeks with sports stuff (he didn’t win his cup final 😩) and a residential with school so feel like we’ve probably not done as much as we should.
We are away for a week at whit but after that I’m going to start gently ramping up the papers I think.
He got his mock results back and scored 79% which we were really happy with. The average score was 60 something so he’s done well.

Hope everyone still surviving!

@troppibambini6 well done to your son. We've had a residential too. We're just taking it day by day. Otherwise it's unfair pressure. Mock coming up for us