Reality check: Maybe your child isn’t that clever after all.

Maybe they aren’t ’11+ calibre’ and won’t, in the end, get into ‘that’ school you want them to get into.

“How to help my child pass the 11+?”

The reason I’m writing this post is because, over the last few days I’ve been seeing many posts appearing on Facebook groups where parents are asking ‘How to help my child pass the 11+’.

And when I read posts like that I feel those parents don’t really understand what the 11+ is, just how difficult ‘passing it’ really is, and therefore how much time, energy, and yes, quite possibly, money, they may need to put aside to support their ambitions for their child’s next school.

We’ve all read stories about how, year on year, more and more students are securing GCSE or A-level passes.

It’s as if the Government believes that somehow every student can be lifted into the ‘above-average’ category (er, that’s mathematically impossible guys).

Limited places each year

But unlike those GCSEs or A-levels, there is a fixed, upper-limit to how many children can ‘pass’ any 11+ entrance test for any school, in any year.

Simply put, no school can offer more places to children than the spaces they have available.
So if your wished-for school has 150 spaces in a year, that’s the limit.

If your child is ranked 151 or above, they most probably won’t get in.

(I say ‘most probably’ because some of those children offered a place won’t take it, but relying on hope is a risky strategy so let’s assume you don’t want to be hanging on, hoping to secure a place someone else refused to take up.)

So what do you do? How should you as a parent deal with this?

Strong preparation is key

Simply put, you need to make sure your child is VERY WELL prepared for their entrance tests, and the best way to do that is by regular and deliberate practice and preparation, starting as early as is sensible.

And the preparation you need to do will be led, in no small part, by the level of oversubscription for your target school(s).

If there is a lot of competition then it’s reasonable to assume that most of the other parents aiming for that school will be preparing their children from year 3, or from year 4 at the latest.

Many schools set a multitude of papers (eg maths, VR, English, NVR, creative writing, etc) and so those children who do best are those who’ve had a slow and steady build up to their skills.

Rushed, last-minute preparation is never sturdy. It doesn’t provide time for your child to make the necessary mistakes, and to then learn from those mistakes, that helps to cement their skills.
Yes, making errors and getting stuck IS part of the process.

Being comfortable with making mistakes

Your child NEEDS to get used to, and be comfortable with not knowing how to ‘do’ the questions, and then figuring it out on their own (because that’s what the exam requires).

‘I don’t know how to do this question.’ is not the thought you want them to have come September of year 6.

And so if your child is one who says, ‘But I can’t start on a question if I don’t know how to finish it’, they’re going to have to drop that attitude PDQ.

How long does this take?

If your child’s in year 3 there are things you should be doing NOW to help them prepare, with regular reading and building maths skills as its core.

By the time they’re in year 4 they need to be working diligently to build and staircase their skills in each of the key areas required by your target schools.

And if they’re already in year 5 they need to be building up an bank of skills in their 11+ knowledge and spending time each week preparing for those impending tests.

What do start to do… from today

As of today’s date (4th Feb), if your child’s in year 5 they will be taking their 11+ tests in 31-32 weeks time.

Please tell me that you’re already moving forward with their preparation.

You have already started, haven’t you?

How much do YOU want it?

If you want them to pass, to get into a top grammar school or independent school you need to make sure they put in the time, productively, between now and their exams, else it’s not going to happen.

Remember: only a VERY SMALL percentage of those children who sit the tests will secure a place. It’s not personal, it’s simply the way the numbers work.

My top tips

1. Go for 1-to-1 tuition

Find a tutor who can provide your child with quality 1-to-1 tutoring and have them support your child in their preparation.

Note, however, that there’s a wealth of difference between tutoring for the 11+ across the full range of papers and general school tutoring, so double-check the chosen tutor can support you and your child’s journey.

There are very many great tutors ‘out there’, so if you don’t get a good vibe from one, consider speaking to someone else.

2. Look into online tutoring

It’s not ‘just because’ of covid that online tutoring has grown – it’s because it’s very effective, time-efficient and means parents can cherry-pick the best tutors for their children, wherever you are located.

3. Listen to what your tutor says

Depending upon which year they begin they may need to allocate more, or less time to 11+ prep every week.

Some of this would be with their tutor, but a significant amount of time will also be self-study. And that includes general reading since that’s a great way to learn vocabulary and develop ideas for writing too.

That being said, if your tutor suggests your child needs to put in additional work, trust they know what they’re doing. Oftentimes that won’t require your tutors involvement, since if your child puts in an extra 15-20 minutes a day that’s going to make a significant difference over twelve months.

4. Know your own limits, then delegate

Be careful of playing the ‘we can tutor them ourselves’ card, since, if most of the other parents aiming for ‘your’ target school are working with tutors, you’ll need to prepare your child to the same level in order to secure a pass.

Rather like trying to learn to dance or drive a car by reading a book or watching a video, nothing beats focused 1-to-1 support at a time like this.

Maybe now’s the time to focus funds upon securing that pass, and if that means you need to re-arrange funds, so be it.

Every year children do pass the 11+ and with good preparation I’m sure your child stands a strong chance of doing the same.

Just remember that the majority fail – it’s simply a matter of statistics.

How to get in touch

You can contact me here if you’d like to discuss anything that’s on your mind re the 11+. Wherever you are in your 11+ journey I’d love to see if I can provide you with some useful tips or advice.

You don’t have to be ‘in the market’ for a tutor to do this – if you’ve a question, just ask it and I’d be pleased to see if I can help you.