Channing - how smart to pass the 11+

[Meena43]

I'd like my daughters to try the 11+ and Channing, St Margarets, Highgate and SHHS seem to be the only ones which appeal to me location wise. But how smart do you really need to be? I have one extremely driven to do well, a 2nd also smart but more reserved/shy, both very good at Maths and sport. Not massive readers. Im wondering whether to give it a shot without tutoring but not sure if the children already there are exceptional.

Yikes, we have only been working through cgp 8-9 additional maths (currently y4) and doing well. Looks like i need to start on the 9 to 10 pretty soon, then 10 to 11! I'm stronger at Maths myself so its been easier to tutor myself but it's meant the rest have fallen by the wayside.

Tutoring is about introducing the child to the type of questions they will see in the papers. Not all the topics on the papers are covered by state primary schools. Children also need to learn to work to time in the exams. Our tutor also made our DC select a news story to talk about every week in preparation for the interview.

At Margaret’s is pretty non-selective but at 11+ many put as safe choice as it has only a few places you may not get in, even if very clever.
SHHS and Highgate are much harder to get into than Channing but all need tutoring, especially if not coming from a prep. You don’t really have safe choices yet, may need to expand your list slightly

@ConfuzdMum so these books are the 10-11 levels?

We did 10-11 when DD was in year 5. By summer before year 6 she was doing all the “ stretch” marked papers (( CGP and Bond), and in year 6 ( closer to the exams) she did 11-12+. This might be different for others, but it felt like the right level of challenge for DD and did not overwhelm her… good luck with your test prep journey:)

In order of ‘how difficult to get in’, it probably goes Highgate, SHHS, Channing, St Margaret’s…

@ConfuzdMum that's amazing - i havent even looked at 9-10 (in Y4) so a long way behind.

If anyone is able to pm me with tutor recs, that would be appreciated.

Done!

This 100%

Highgate was very hard to get into last year but SHHS much less so, honestly not that hard for any halfway bright kid - I saw lots of offers to children who are perfectly lovely but by no means academically outstanding. This is because:

• post-covid exodus from London
• post-Brexit exit from London/UK
• 20% VAT on school fees
• end of the 'bulge' years.

All of these things together mean that competition is not as tough as it was for places at all of these schools, except Highgate imo.