11+ - Your child v 3,000 others

I imagine most of you who are reading this are thinking about whether or not to enter your child for next year’s 11+ exam. Before I begin, I want to outline that my intention when writing this is to simply publish my recent thoughts and observations, not to influence your decision one way or the other.

Last week, many families received their 11+ results; some will have been delighted and others disappointed. The thing that really stood out though was the sheer number of children who took the test in Warwickshire alone: almost 3,000 children competing for one of roughly 600 places in Warwickshire’s grammar schools. That number has been steadily increasing over the past few years, and there is no suggestion that it will slow down anytime soon. To put this into some sort of perspective, a few years ago your child would have needed to score in the top 30% of around 2,000 children to be reasonably certain of being offered a grammar school place; now, they would need to be in the top 20% of around 3,000.

These figures are surprising, but they take on a whole new visage when you actually consider the test itself. I would easily say that is is harder than most of the Year 6 SATS tests (the reading test being the exception), and there are plenty of highly successful adults who would struggle with it too. Children have (on average) around 30 seconds to complete each question, ranging from solving algebraic problems to identifying the most suitable synonym for a word with half of its letters missing. Most (if not all) of the children who take this test are incredibly bright and are easily close to the top of their class, and yet so fierce is the competition that one single mark can easily mean the difference between being offered a place or just missing out.

But perhaps the most surprising thing out of all of this (from my experience at least) is that most of the children really enjoy the whole experience. They love the challenge; they are excited by learning things above their age-expectation; they thrive on taking responsibility for their own learning. Sadly, there are those who are over-pressured by their parents and find the whole process distressing, but there are so many more whose parents are the right blend of loving and supportive, whilst also ensuring the right amount of work is being done! These children are the ones who take the most out of the whole process, and even if they aren’t successful, they have learned some crucial life skills that they will always need.

If you would like more information on the 11+ or any other aspects of primary education, please contact us and we would love to help you. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and you can learn more about our company or purchase our 11+ practice materials at www.ingenia-education.co.uk.