Are we too late to apply for the 11+?

[Dahlagain]

Aiming for NL consortium and NLCS, maybe HB as its local - are we mad to even try at this stage? No tutors booked either.

You probably need to say how old your child is and/or what year of entry you are targeting.

I’m going to assume these schools are in the London area (which I am not), because obviously this UK and beyond forum everyone should know what all those initialisms mean 🙄

Apologies - we are in yr 5 private currently

Maybe you could name the schools? North London Collegiate School? Henrietta Barnet? What’s NL consortium?

Too late to think about taking exams in November and December? Of course not, especially if you're private and hence your daughter is a bit better prepared anyway. What does your school say?

We came from a state school where no one does 11+ and started very light prep round about now. Got a bit of a shock when we put her in for a mock exam in April and thereafter stepped things up a bit. I'll be able to tell you how that worked out after tomorrow (London independent offer day), but she made it to interview at very academic places.

No, you’re not too late to apply for 2027 11+ entry — unless there’s some outlier in the mix : a school that has a firm numeric registration ceiling, for example. Or one that expects very early registration — as is the norm for a good number of west London private primaries (and boarding) schools (though no day preps I’m aware of).

As for ‘madness’/tutoring: very much depends on the selectivity of the schools you’re interested in as compared to your DC’s current level of academic achievement.

As a side note: why the sudden interest?

@IsThisRealLife I guess just chatting to other parents and getting caught up in them saying they are trying. My DD is smart but I just havent been pushy at all. I would like to apply to places like North London Collegiate but am hearing that it's too competitive to even try

You’re not too late. The offers for this year are out today and then the schools will start posting tours and admissions events for your daughter’s year in the next month or two. Sign up for yours asap as they get filled up quickly. Application deadlines are in the first term of Year 6. I toured all the schools I liked when she was in Year 5 and took her on the tours of my shortlisted schools at the start of Year 6. If you have a bright kid, she’ll be fine. IMHO tutors only make a difference if she’s borderline or lazy(!) or if her prep school is not doing its job! Subscribe to Atom Nucleus - it works like an online tutor and they have lots of practice papers that she can do - which will also help you gauge where she stands and what is realistic. My kid was in a stretch year and all the girls from her prep school got offers from where they expected to except one who fluffed the NL consortium exam, but who managed to get into FHRP anyway with pushing from the head (and because her CATs etc were pretty good and it was clear that she performed unexpectedly badly in the exam). Cast a wide net and don’t rely on one school or just the consorting exam. If she’s at a prep school, they should give you guidance. And also, make sure that they prepare her for the interviews.

No you are not too late. The independant schools dont have exams until Nov/December, HBS is earlier though (september).

Generally for 11+ private London schools you need to register sometime in September/October to take the exams in Nov/Dec/Jan.

You may want to look at booking in open days, there aren’t many and they do get booked up. Also sometimes the dates clash. Usually schools do one in the summer term and one in Sept/Oct.

Prep from now is fine. Does your junior school prepare them - do they do VR/NVR, past papers etc?

Yes NLCS is hard! We are S London but did a couple of practice papers from there, wow! No harm in having a go at these type of schools, but make sure you also apply to some less academic schools or a state school that you will get into as a back up.

Hi all, its an all through school so no prep. Im hoping to start Atom after the school hols. We have no tutor. DD very good at Maths but not a massive reader. Generally top end of class always, good at sports. Simple background so not massive holidays/not lots of money.

Totally agree with @SleepyLabrador .

Would just add that feeding curiosity, introducing new ideas and broadening your DCs interests/knowledge can also involve extending into areas beyond books.

From TedEd talks, BBC content (ambient BBC4, BBC documentaries) and podcasts, to museum visits (online or in person), digital exploration of topics your DC is organically interested in and conversations around current events (The Week Jr. is great for breadth, as is OYLA for deeper dives into science) there are so many (wonderful, low/zero cost, really enjoyable) ways to do this.

Sign up to Atom, let her practice the different islands for a month and then try out the mocks for your preferred schools and it will tell you how her scores stand compared to other children. Yes there will be children who have prepared from year 4 but there are also very bright children who start in year 5. I would speak frankly with your daughter and see if she is prepared to work hard to try these super selective schools. She may be happy staying at her through school?

Not too late and really depends on your child. We used a tutor on recommendation but did have to support the in between to keep up

Never listen to what others say when they say something is too difficult. I was told it was impossible to get into certain school. My dd got into them and we also decided last minute to do it (but from state school and end of May during year 5!). Every dc is different of course and it depends on their ability. I would not wait for last minute if you don't have to. Just start preparing now and see.