A Guide to 11 Plus

What is 11+

Pupils who wish to attend either a grammar school, or who are seeking scholarship entry to an independent school, will need to sit an 11+ examination at the end of primary school (in year 6) to determine whether they are suited for the academic rigour that this form of secondary education will require.

Hang on, I thought we didn’t have grammar schools?

While many grammar schools were indeed closed, or converted to non-selective comprehensive in the late 60’s and 70’s, 164 English schools (and 69 Northern Irish) maintained their grammar status and selective intake. Kent, Buckinghamshire and Linconshire in particular still maintain a predominantly grammar system. The remaining grammars are dotted around the country , with 19 situated on the fringes of London. Needless to say, competition for places at these remaining grammars is fierce, with approximately 20 pupils applying for each admission position.

I’ve seen a lot about grammars in the news recently, are they coming back?

In 1998, David Blunket forbade the creation of any new grammar schools, and put in place mechanisms that would attempt (but fail) to phase out those still in existence. While the matter wasn’t particularly addressed under David Cameron, Theresa May is very keen to introduce new grammar schools in the UK, as detailed in the green paper “Schools That Work For Everyone” released in September 2016. There is some firm opposition to this proposal, both from her own party and (inevitably) from Jeremy Corbyn. As such, the future is currently uncertain, but we will of course keep you updated with any developments.

What can I expect from an 11 plus exam?

Unlike GCSE’s and A Levels, there is no ‘universal’ testing of the 11+.  Schools are in fact free to individually choose the manner in which they test. Some may create their own tests, but many make use of tests published by GL (formerly NFER) or CEM. A full list of schools and their examination criteria can be found here.

The 11+ exams are broken down into four parts; Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, English and Maths.

Verbal Reasoning eleven plus tests

The verbal reasoning test is designed to test a pupil’s grasp of grammar and breadth of vocabulary. Your child will be expected to respond to word based problems or spot sequences in a string of words. Generally speaking, there are 21 different ‘styles’ of question that may come up in a verbal reasoning paper:

Non-verbal Reasoning eleven plus tests

This test is similar in nature to the verbal reasoning test, however relies far less heavily on your child’s language skills. Problems will be presented as pictures or diagrams, and some may even have a more mathematical leaning. The non-verbal reasoning test can be approximately broken into 10 styles of question

Mathematics and English eleven plus tests

These are less common than the verbal / non-verbal reasoning tests, but could potentially be used to differentiate between pupils in areas where demand is high for a limited number of places. These tests are more akin to the standard KS2 maths / english tests.

11+ English exam

In English, a typical 50 minute paper is likely to feature:

• A comprehension exercise consisting of a two page piece of prose followed by 18 questions about the content
• 4 further questions about the meaning of words used in the test
• 3 questions asking pupils to identify the grammatical type of words used – nouns, verbs, prepositions etc
• 8 questions requiring the child to identify spelling errors in sentences
• 8 questions requiring the child to identify errors in the use of capital letters and punctuation
• 8 questions where the child needs to choose the best word from a list that will complete the sentence

11 plus maths exam

In maths, the following skills are likely to be examined:

The papers will invariably include 4-5 longer and more difficult questions at the end to allow for maximum differentiation of candidates. However, before setting your child to work on the more challenging topics, it is imperative to ensure that they are able to work quickly and efficiently through the simple calculations (otherwise they may never even reach these more taxing topics!)

Therefore before commencing any 11+ tuition, we highly recommend conducting a core skills assessment, and addressing any issues that arise as a result.

A note on preparing for CEM

As you will likely read in any debate surrounding the merits of selective education, while the moral purpose of a grammar system is to offer the best education to the most gifted children, an inevitable trend for pupils from more affluent backgrounds gaining places through tuition has emerged. To counter this, the content of a CEM 11+ paper is far less predictable. Furthermore, they do not publish any practice / past papers, with the aim of preventing children from ‘drilling’ on particular topics, and instead rewarding those who have developed strong all round comprehension skills.

Pupils sitting the CEM 11 Plus exams will sit 2 x 45 minute papers, which will contain a mixture of the topics detailed above.

London Grammar Schools

A detailed breakdown of the exams required by the London Grammar schools is detailed below:

Independent Schools

Many parents will likely consider independent schools alongside grammar schools, potentially hoping for their child to receive a bursary or scholarship. In order to ease their admission process, there exists a “North London Girls School Consortium” — 2 groups of schools that have grouped together to facilitate a smoother process for parents and pupils:

Both groups will offer examinations in Maths and English only. Preparation for these tests will be similar to grammar school preparation detailed above.

Resources

There is a wealth of resources available for 11+ preparation.

A comprehensive online course is available for £7.99/month here.
Alternatively, books on preparation / past papers are available to buy or download from £5.99 here.

Free sample papers are available here.