11+ Exams question

[HoneyB2025]

For parents that have experience with the 11+ exams.

1.How many independent schools would you recommended to apply for?

2.How many 11+ exams did your DD or DS sit for?

3.Was the process stressful for your DD or DS, if so what advise would you give to make the process less stressful for your child?

Mine did two each, we made sure it wasn’t stressful by not putting pressure on them we emphasised trying your best and it being ok either way.
I found doing the exams helped them academically as they then revisited content during their year six year, rather than having new learning, so got better results in SATS.
its helped them in secondary school, as they already have good exam technique so don’t seem phased by them as much as their peers.
I think home stress is key, make sure you emphasise trying hard for its own sake not actual results, then they will gain from the experience rather than the results.

You should first look at the individual requirements for the schools you’re interested in. There can be a huge difference between the exams. Independents are usually easier to pass if the child has been generally well taught as they are normally ‘traditional’ exams ie: a Maths paper where marks can be picked up for working out, some creative writing and a comprehension with full answers where again, there’s a range of marks available. Grammars tend to be GL or something similar and require very specific knowledge and a lot of practice of exam technique as they’re super fast. This is why I entered one of my children for an independent school and the next one for a ss grammar. I’m not sure about my younger ones yet as I have to wait to see what their strengths will be.

@HoneyB2025 , you need to ask MN to move this thread to secondary education section

1. The answer is: it depends!

• Are you in London or somewhere else with a large number of potentially suitable options? Otherwise, logistics may determine how many schools would be viable options, depending on whether you could give lifts for the next 5-7 years, and on the public transport and coach options.
• Do you want somewhere highly academic/moderately academic/gently selective? Single sex/co-ed/don't mind? Religious/non-faith? Large/small/traditional/modern/rural/city centre etc?
• How 'sold' on the idea of 11+ and independent school is your DC? If they are fully on board with it, it may be viable to consider more schools than if they are really resistant to the whole thing.

I would say 3 is a good number to aim for - one 'aspirational' school that you would love but may well not get as highly competitive/selective, one good one that you'd be happy with and have a decent chance of getting, and then a 'banker' - one you could all live with, and which you are highly likely to get.

That said in London it seems to be common to apply for 5 or so schools. Some schools may share a common entrance exam which then makes it easier to apply to more, though each school will likely have its own interview and other assessment procedures so there would still be more hoops to jump through. Again, depends how on board your DC is with the process.

We in fact applied to only 1 school for our DS as there was really only 1 which ticked all the boxes for us - largely because our son would hate a coach journey which meant we've had to go local. Our back-up is a local prep school for 2 years and then another 2 bites of the cherry to get in the school we really want.

But for our DD (who wouldn't mind a coach journey) we're applying to 3 - aspirational, our first choice (again our local school) and a 'banker' of a less academic one where we should get a space.

How to make it less stressful - we took the approach of starting them early on the preparation, from Easter of Y4, so we could be slow and steady rather than having a last minute panic to cram stuff in. We'd also talked to them from quite a young age about how the plan was for them to go to independent school, that most of their friends would be going to the local school, and that they'd need to take exams. So they didn't feel it was all being 'sprung' on them.

And then as PP says above, stressing to them that there are lots of great school options, that wherever they end up will be fine and they'll make lots of friends etc - not putting pressure on them in relation to any single school.